Not about computers, but nutsy boltsy. Smart people here, in my experience...
Can anyone advise me about how to find help in replacing or repairing the cord pictured here? The problem is where the cord fits into the big plug. I know this because for about a year I've been able to make the connection work (light goes on) by wiggling that part. For starters, is there a name for the cord? For the big plug end of the cord? For the other end? Should I/someone be able to take that big square thing apart and maybe do something??? Is there a name for people who fix this kind of stuff? The gadget it is connected to has been out of existence for decades.
tia
las
= new reply since forum marked as read
First of all, not all AC power adapters do exactly the same thing. If you look really closely at the bottom of the white brick, you'll see four very useful things written on it:
1) the input voltage and frequencies
2) the output voltage
3) the output amperage
4) the + and - polarity (aka tip/ring)
(1) The input voltage will be 110 volts or often a range of something like 100-220 volts if it's made to work either here or in Europe.
(2) The output voltage will be something like 6 volts or 12 volts. It's the DC voltage sent to the device.
(3) The output current (amperage) will be something like 2A (2 amps) or 1500 milliamps (1.5 amps).
(4) The tip/ring polarity is a funny drawing showing whether or not the center of the small plug is "+" or "-" (think of the ends of a battery).
Here's an example off the web, the center of the center part of the diagram represents the inside of the round plug:
So .. how does this help?
You need to just replace it with something that is compatible. A power adapter that has ...
1) Input voltage of 110 or a range that includes 110 volts (assuming you are in the US).
2) Output voltage that matches your device (e.g. 6 volts or 12 volts)
3) Output amperage that is at least as much as your old adapter output. E.g. if your old adapter says "1A" you can replace it with one that says "2A" or 1.5A.
4) Matching polarity on the plug (so you get the + and - showing up on the right parts of the connector).
An example power adapter:
- This example shows 100-240 volts input (at 50/60 Hz which is standard)
- With output volts of 12 Volts
- With output amperage of 2A (2 amps)
- With + on the center connector of the plug (see bottom left of the picture).
So you can either
1) find something compatible to buy on the web, or
2) find something compatible around the house (I keep a bucket of old adapters to reuse after the original device it attached to has failed .. the adapters often outlast the device).
3) get a generic adapter like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PXUHYA
This has a switch that adjusts the output voltage, and changeable output plugs so you can use one that fits your device (and reverses so you can match the +/- polarity). Just read the fine print and make sure it generates enough amps at the output voltage you need 
I wouldn't recommend trying to repair the existing cable. It's not worth the $ to hire someone to do it and perfectly good adapters are filling up the landfills as electronics get discarded.
Hope this helps!
Hi, sorry I was being a little sloppy. Input voltage for the US is standard at 120 volts but I grew up calling it 110. The only real thing to look at is whether or not input is about 120 volts (US) or 220 volts (Europe). Here are a couple of references ... more than you want to know: https://www.hunker.com/12490790/110-volt-vs-120-volt https://www.buildmyowncabin.com/electrical/electrical-faq/difference-voltages-110-220.html
In #12 you say:
> My adapter says Input: 120V 60Hz 8.5VA Output: 20V AC 200mA
So you have:
Input: 120 volts, 60 Hz, so standard for US
Input current (power) is up to 8.5VA (and another poster replied to that part).
So input is not a problem as long as you don't buy something designed to work only in Europe.
And it transforms the input power to ...
Output of 20 volts
Output current of up to 200 milliamps ... aka 200/1000 of an amp or 0.2 amps .. which is pretty tiny.
And while you say output is "AC" .. I suspect you've read it wrong and you have output in DC.
What you don't say is the polarity of the output .. whether or not the + is on the center of the funny diagram or on the outside. You need to match that as well.
The hardest problem is matching the plug .. they come in a lot of sizes and getting a match from a photo on the web can be a challenge. You might want to go with a universal adapter so the odds are better at matching the physical plug size. But I'm a fan of retail stores where you could bring in your old one and compare it to what's in your hand before buying
Your first link ...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HiCapacity-AC-C15-AC-DC-Laptop-Power-Supply-Adapter-Charger-Output-20V-3-16A/303179553958?hash=item4696e8dca6:g:mb4AAOSw~llcPBZ4
... says it's output is up to 3.16 amps ... which is well over 10 times what you need (i.e. it's fine). And it shows + attached to the center connector on the plug ... which is probably what you need, but you should check. So the main question with this one is whether or not that plug will physically fit (and how good they are at refunding if it doesn't match).
The one in your second link looks like it "should" work, and while the text doesn't say what the output amperage is ... if you scroll down and look at the pix of the back of the brick, it says: 20 and 24 volts at 4A. That's 4000 milliamps or a lot more than what you need. But ... it ships from China so it'd take forever to get to you. That would keep me from buying it!
There's a lot of others to choose from, eg. this would work too and ships faster:
https://www.amazon.com/SoulBay-Universal-100-240VAC-Transformer-Electronics/dp/B086JLYBQ7/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=20v+power+supply&qid=1591746715&sr=8-8
Hope this helps ))
