Multi in mullti out charger?
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From: Lars on 26 Apr 2010 12:11 Hi group, A friend of a friend went to some electronics fair in Shanghai, and came back home with tales of a new laptop charger "one size fits all" type of thing. Small too. I already have a charger that I can plug into any Voltage between 100 and 240, and Ampage between 0.7 and 1.3 as well as different frequencies. But its output is fixed, and is not supposed to be used for laptops rated for different juice. This Chinese thing comes with a whole bunch of different plugs and is meant to be used for "all" different laptops. It is supposed to "sense" what kind of juice the different laptops need. Is this at all possible? Lars Stockholm
From: BillW50 on 26 Apr 2010 13:29 In news:4hdbt5pml3dlcmjv4mkh1pbqvjnq7uho2f(a)4ax.com, Lars typed on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:11:01 +0200: > Hi group, > > A friend of a friend went to some electronics fair in Shanghai, and > came back home with tales of a new laptop charger "one size fits all" > type of thing. Small too. > > I already have a charger that I can plug into any Voltage between 100 > and 240, and Ampage between 0.7 and 1.3 as well as different > frequencies. But its output is fixed, and is not supposed to be used > for laptops rated for different juice. > > This Chinese thing comes with a whole bunch of different plugs and is > meant to be used for "all" different laptops. It is supposed to > "sense" what kind of juice the different laptops need. > > Is this at all possible? > > Lars > Stockholm Yes it is quite possible. Sometimes we techs have no idea what kind some off brand laptop takes. So we have to figure out the polarity first. A ohm meter usually can figure this one out. And then we slowly raise the voltage until the laptop will finally power up. And a microprocessor controlled power supply could be programmed to do all of this. The ones without a processor control has been around for decades. You need to change the plugs and select the correct polarity and voltage. They even make them for cigarette lighter plugs so you can use them in your auto too. I have something similar as what you are talking about. But it is a multi-battery charger. And you can charge lead-acid, Ni-Cad, Ni-MH, and lithium batteries. It is pretty smart. Senses if the polarity is wrong and it tells you to reverse the wires. Some types you don't have to tell it the voltage as it autosenses it. And you can control the current in small steps. And it also tells you the true capacity as well. And for Ni-MH and lithium batteries, it has a temperature sensor which you can stop the charger at any temperature you want too for added safety. -- Bill Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
From: Barry Watzman on 26 Apr 2010 13:39 These have been around for over a decade. They are sold by Fellowes and Radio Shack and Targus. Nothing new. Lars wrote: > Hi group, > > A friend of a friend went to some electronics fair in Shanghai, and > came back home with tales of a new laptop charger "one size fits all" > type of thing. Small too. > > I already have a charger that I can plug into any Voltage between 100 > and 240, and Ampage between 0.7 and 1.3 as well as different > frequencies. But its output is fixed, and is not supposed to be used > for laptops rated for different juice. > > This Chinese thing comes with a whole bunch of different plugs and is > meant to be used for "all" different laptops. It is supposed to > "sense" what kind of juice the different laptops need. > > Is this at all possible? > > Lars > Stockholm
From: BillW50 on 26 Apr 2010 14:02 In news:hr4j4n$1u0$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, Barry Watzman typed on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:39:30 -0400: > These have been around for over a decade. They are sold by Fellowes > and Radio Shack and Targus. Nothing new. Autosensing power adapters? Where you don't have any switches to set? Just plug it in and go? I only know of the old universal power adapters where you have to select the correct polarity and the voltage. Radio Shack used to have a nice 30 watt one that would plug into the cigarette lighter many years ago. And they didn't have it long and discontinued it. And I inquired about it and it turned out that many people didn't know that 30 watt supplies couldn't power their high powered laptops. So they burned up those 30 watt power adapters and Radio Shack was getting too many returns on them. I still have mine and it still works fine. -- Bill Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
From: Barry Watzman on 26 Apr 2010 17:30
You change the "power tips"; they don't "auto sense" the needed voltage, that was the OP's misunderstanding of what was happening. Here was what he posted: "This Chinese thing comes with a whole bunch of different plugs ...." The plugs are not JUST to change the connector; they also set the polarity and the voltage. I've never seen anyone use 30-watt adapters for laptops, or claim that you could. Even 1995 laptops drew more than that. But a number of older universal supplies are 60 watts, which is really too low for many of today's laptops. You can, however, get away with a lot less than the stated power requirements. The laptop's OEM power supply is rated to handle a worst case situation .... maximum load on everything while charging a discharged battery. And the laptops still usually draw 10% or more less than the rating. I routinely do use 60 watt adapters with laptops rated for 75 to 90 watts, and have never had a problem, although I would not say that I never would have one. BillW50 wrote: > In news:hr4j4n$1u0$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, > Barry Watzman typed on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:39:30 -0400: >> These have been around for over a decade. They are sold by Fellowes >> and Radio Shack and Targus. Nothing new. > > Autosensing power adapters? Where you don't have any switches to set? > Just plug it in and go? > > I only know of the old universal power adapters where you have to select > the correct polarity and the voltage. Radio Shack used to have a nice 30 > watt one that would plug into the cigarette lighter many years ago. And > they didn't have it long and discontinued it. And I inquired about it > and it turned out that many people didn't know that 30 watt supplies > couldn't power their high powered laptops. So they burned up those 30 > watt power adapters and Radio Shack was getting too many returns on > them. I still have mine and it still works fine. > |