I have a brand laptop that had its own charger. As those things usually do, it went kaput after a year and instead of getting a highly priced brand name replacement - I bought a universal charger for about a fifth of the cost. This has served me for 2 or so years. Of late it has been making a hissing noise. Its out of warranty so I can't take the universal charger back to the store. Is my battery about to go kaput or what's the deal?