Funny question about ac adapters

[treehouse]

I have an AC adapter for my laptop (IMAGINE!). The end of it looks like this:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f141/oyabubbles/Miskellaneous/acplug.jpg

It plugs in snug, but the workingness of it is getting unreliable. If I jiggle the cord around close to the plug it'll flicker on and sometimes work. Before I shell out fifty bucks on another entire adapter, I'm going to try and fix it myself but I need to figure out what that plastic cylinder on the cord is, and how to diagnose what the problem is.

Anyone know?

PS: Warranty, voided, etc...

[My Lost Shadow]

From my knowledge that plastic cylinder is a tension regulator but I may be wrong.

[prizrak]

I have an AC adapter for my laptop (IMAGINE!). The end of it looks like this:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f141/oyabubbles/Miskellaneous/acplug.jpg

It plugs in snug, but the workingness of it is getting unreliable. If I jiggle the cord around close to the plug it'll flicker on and sometimes work. Before I shell out fifty bucks on another entire adapter, I'm going to try and fix it myself but I need to figure out what that plastic cylinder on the cord is, and how to diagnose what the problem is.

Anyone know?

PS: Warranty, voided, etc...

In my experience it's impossible to fix. The break occurs inside the flexible jacket and is a complete bitch. If you don't manage to fix it and end up getting another adapter get a universal one from Targus they got a 2 year warranty.

[Ocxic]

the plastic cynlinder is a small magnet or peaice of metal, with the cord coiled around it, if you remove the outer casing you will see what i mean, this is used to cancle out unwated interferince from other electronics, and the adapter itself.

[futz]

the plastic cynlinder is a small magnet or peaice of metal, with the cord coiled around it, if you remove the outer casing you will see what i mean, this is used to cancle out unwated interferince from other electronics, and the adapter itself.
It's called a ferrite ring. Like you say, it stops electrical noise from coming down the wire from the wall wart.

[DarkN00b]

IIRC that cylinder contains a coil that helps stop line/signal noise in the power cord. It helps block out unwanted fluctuations in the power cord due to (for example) radio interference. Removing it probably won't have a noticeable effect on your machine.

Not sure if removing it could cause major problems though.

[Eddie Wilson]

If you have to remove the filter to repair the power supply you can get a replacement filter that snaps on at radio shack.