Weird question regarding AC Adapter and potential cold damage

[cinnamonrefusal]

Hi, I've been lurking the forums for awhile trying to find answers with my headache of a laptop but I officially can't find any information via google or casual browsing anymore. Back in August I purchased a Gigabyte P55W v4, and while I'm happy with the performance when everything is actually functioning, I've had a lot of issues with it continuing to function. Two months in I had a bizarre throttling issue caused by what I and Gigabyte's tech support assume to be damage to the AC Adapter. I finally dealt with that over the holiday season, and things were working decently for awhile. But the other day, I was heading back to my dorm from class, and I left my charger in my car, which was decidedly below freezing temperature after awhile, for about two hours. When I remembered to grab it, the cables weren't nearly as flexible for awhile, and it was very cold to the touch. Now, it still charges my laptop, but when I open graphic intensive games, like Fallout 4, it does the same thing it was doing before, with the throttling and it stopping charging during game play, making actually playing the game impossible with how bad the FPS gets.

I am wondering if anyone can confirm or deny my suspicions of cold damage here, and help me troubleshoot before I have to deal with Gigabyte again, as their customer service was okay, but it would require me to put down money as well as be out of a laptop for two weeks, which isn't a great position to be in as a student.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Hamperking68]

Transformers all work in the same way. They should not become damaged at cold temperatures as they all work by wire coils, However if condensation has built up in the charger it may be causing your issues.

 

[cinnamonrefusal]

Thank you for the info! Is there anything I can do to remedy the condensation problem as its likely the cause as far as I can tell?

 

[1shado1]

Thank you for the info! Is there anything I can do to remedy the condensation problem as its likely the cause as far as I can tell?

Put the charger in a sealed bin of uncooked rice overnight. The rice will draw out any moisture.

 

[cinnamonrefusal]

What're my chances that that'll fix it/improve things? My friend suggested that too, I don't have any rice on me, but I can probably grab some, and I just want to know if it is a reasonable fix or if I need to contact Gigabyte.

 

[1shado1]

What're my chances that that'll fix it/improve things? My friend suggested that too, I don't have any rice on me, but I can probably grab some, and I just want to know if it is a reasonable fix or if I need to contact Gigabyte.

I dunno. Never done it personally, but it has been an accepted procedure for years. Spend 2 bucks on rice and try it first. If it doesn't help, then I'd contact Gigabyte.

Should probably leave it in the rice for 2 days, just to be sure.