AC adapter stripped, still ok?

Ok well a piece of my ac adapter got stripped and is exposing some of the wire...at first i just heard a *kisk, kisk, crack crack* sound and then i saw it...no electricity jolted out or anything, just sounds...i wrapped it in electrical tape and no more cracking but is it ok to use with my laptop? its a Dell Inspiron 6400 btw...

btw its an ac adapter FOR my laptop....just want to clarify..

If you can replace just the stripped cable, I'd do that.

If any conductive wire is exposed (metal), I'd probably replace the adapter just to be safe and avoid a potential short.  If you're just talking about the external cable jacket being stripped with some internal shielding intact, I'd probably just trust the electrical tape.

Then again, I'm no electrician.  You might be fine or doomed either way for all I know.  I do know that sourcing Dell replacement parts is pretty easy regardless of the age of the part or system, but can be expensive depending on the part.