I have a dead Dell Inspiron 5160 laptop, I am a TV technition, so am familiar with most of the power connectors. The suppy connector to this laptop is different from anything I have seen before. It has an outer ring that is negative, an inner ring that seems to be positive and a small center pin that has a lower voltage on it. Is anyone familiar with this connector and do you know for sure if there should be the full 19.5 volts on this center pin.
Thanks in advance
Bob

Not all that familiar with your plug type but I'll make a stab at it. Full power is supposed to be delivered at ALL times when plugged in to unit. If power drop is noticeable at that time it should ring a very big bell, i.e. internal short and/or defective power adapter.

R. Jamieson
I just inherited a 5160 with the same problem. The tech at my favorite shop put a voltmeter on a used adapter right in front of me to test it before he sold it to me. He tested from the outside ring to the inside ring (hardly visible) and told me to avoid testing to the center wire for any reason.

I see this thread is 7 months old so I am probably not helping you RJ but maybe the next reader can use this. I'm not into tweet or blog but forums work for me. This is the first PC forum I have run across that works well for PCs. I am an Apple dude and have spent hours on the Apple forum. I finally have 2 PC machines and I am glad to find this site.

Good luck to all, Thales