2 19VDC laptop chargers in series

[jason701802]

Originally Posted by Ether

Can someone explain what aspect of the supply's output circuitry does not like having a voltage applied across it... said voltage being of opposite polarity so that said voltage is attempting to push current through the supply in the forward direction (as would be the case we are discussing with the two supplies in series)?

There may be more, but the first thing that comes to mind is the electrolytic capacitors. They will fail even under small reverse voltages, and if they aren't properly vented, they can fail quite catastrophically: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-RZ5RTAdSg.