Why Does My Gateway Laptop & Digipower Charger Heat Up After a Few Minutes?
Your Gateway laptop and its Digipower charger may become hot during normal operation because of waste-heat created within them. Both of these devices use electricity to perform work, and because electrical circuits are not perfectly efficient, they give off heat as you use them. By learning more about these devices, you can gain a better understanding of why they become so hot after only a few minutes.
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Heat Within the Gateway Laptop
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Your Gateway laptop generates heat as you use it. Every operation that you perform requires millions of calculations, and these calculations are executed by the laptop's CPU. As the CPU performs these calculations, energy in the form of heat radiates off of it. This heat builds up, and must be moved out of the laptop by the Gateway's CPU fan. Under normal circumstances, the laptop may not become very warm, but if you watch videos or play games, a substantial amount of heat may build up as the fan struggles to draw it all away.
Heat Within the Battery
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The lithium-ion battery within your laptop may become hot when you are charging it. It begins a new charge cycle as soon as you connect the computer to the AC adapter. As the battery charges, lithium ions move from the positive terminal of the battery to the negative one. This process is not perfectly efficient, however, and some of the heat that you may feel near the battery is called waste heat or secondary heat. A small amount of heat at the battery compartment is normal.
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The Charger
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Your Gateway laptop's AC power adapter is a device known as a "transformer." A transformer takes the amount of current that is entering your home and converts it to a voltage that is safe for your laptop to consume. Typically, the power adapter takes a 120-volt current and drops it down to somewhere between 8 and 16 volts. You can find the exact voltage that your laptop uses listed on the power adapter itself. This conversion process creates a large amount of waste heat, and it is not unusual for a power adapter to become very hot.
Warning Signs
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Generally speaking, none of these laptop components should become too hot to handle. A power adapter that is too hot to pick up is likely defective and may be dangerous. If you see sparks or smoke emanating from the adapter's cord, discontinue use at once. Similarly, discontinue use if the adapter smells as if it is burning. The laptop itself should not be so hot that you cannot hold it comfortably on your lap. If it is, you may have a blocked or defective fan. If you suspect that your fan is not working, you should cease use of the laptop to prevent damage to the CPU and motherboard.
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