Charging a Laptop

TiggerToo

TiggerToo

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I may need to charge our laptop while cruising this summer.
We have a portable solar panel which delivers ~25V. The laptop charger (from the mains) is rated at 19.5V / 3.33A . Does this mean that the SP will damage the laptop if connected?

Any advice?
 
TiggerToo said:
I may need to charge our laptop while cruising this summer.
We have a portable solar panel which delivers ~25V. The laptop charger (from the mains) is rated at 19.5V / 3.33A . Does this mean that the SP will damage the laptop if connected?

Any advice?
Click to expand...

You cannot just connect a solar panel to a laptop. Get a car charger and connect it to the batteries. Use the solar panel to charge the batteries. What wattage is the solar panel.
 
been using several of these onboard for years, rock solid so far >
80W Universal Laptop Auto Car Charger Adapter 12V Fit For DELL HP TOSHIBA SONY | eBay


s-l1600.jpg
 
PaulRainbow said:
Fine with some laptops, won't fit newer Dells, for instance.
Click to expand...
Some Dells are a problem with any non dell charger, third wire attaches to an I2C device in the charger so the laptop knows that it's a 'real' charger making dell profit.

There are also issues with using these chargers with later laptops that have three wire chargers.
Click to expand...
Possible but not definite, maybe unlikely.
Other laptops like my HP the third wire is used by the charger to measure voltage at the laptop so it can measure voltage drop along the cable and calculate current output from that, laptop is unaware of this and will still charge from any source.
 
GHA said:
Some Dells are a problem with any non dell charger, third wire attaches to an I2C device in the charger so the laptop knows that it's a 'real' charger making dell profit.


Possible but not definite, maybe unlikely.
Other laptops like my HP the third wire is used by the charger to measure voltage at the laptop so it can measure voltage drop along the cable and calculate current output from that, laptop is unaware of this and will still charge from any source.
Click to expand...

Let's just say, the charger you inked to works fine with some laptops, but not all. I have two of them, worked fine with previous laptops, but they won't work with either of my new laptops.

We don't know what the OP has.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Let's just say, the charger you inked to works fine with some laptops, but not all. I have two of them, worked fine with previous laptops, but they won't work with either of my new laptops.

We don't know what the OP has.
Click to expand...
I also have a converter like the one in the link. It worked well with my Son's laptop but not with mine so I had to use the small inverter.

Richard
 
RichardS said:
It's not our current laptops as we now just use the inverter but I think my Son's was a Samsung and mine was an HP.

Richard
Click to expand...
My HP works just fine but that was with cutting the DC side of the 240v charger cable as I couldn't find a plug to fit into the laptop. Centre pin isn't connected to anything. . Might just have been the plug on yours?

Edit - quick google, could be more going on in the 3rd pin with some different HP models, looks like no one really knows.
 
Last edited:
GHA said:
My HP works just fine but that was with cutting the DC side of the 240v charger cable as I couldn't find a plug to fit into the laptop. Centre pin isn't connected to anything. . Might just have been the plug on yours?

Edit - quick google, could be more going on in the 3rd pin with some different HP models, looks like no one really knows.
Click to expand...

Mine are both Dell. Both have different plugs, neither plug is on the universal charger. I purchased an after market charger for my Inspiron 5570, not a cheap one, and as soon as i plugged it in there was an on screen warning about over voltage on USB and the USB sockets stopped working. The laptop had to go back to Dell for a replacement board, luckily under warranty, £1000 laptop only a few weeks old. There isn't a genuine Dell car charger for this model, so i'll have to run it from a small inverter. My work laptop is a Dell Lattitude, again no socket on the universal charger, at £1200 i wouldn't risk anything after market, so this gets powered by a genuine Dell car charger.

Laptop and tablet chargers are more sophisticated these days, on some models the third wire could just be voltage sensing, but on some models the chargers are multi stage. Using an incorrect charger might work or it might "sort of" work, where you get some charge, but not as much as you'd get from the genuine charger. Same thing happens with modern, top end, phones, a cheap cable or charger will charge some phones, but it might be so slow that it can't keep up with consumption and the battery slowly goes flat whilst it's on charge.
 
GHA said:
As already stated Dell is known to have comms between the charger & laptop.
Tablets & phones are generally going over to USB-C PD where the charger & device talk to see what voltage goes in.
Click to expand...

Depends which model of Dell. Do you know what the OP has ?

I'm aware of USB C, my phone, tablet and Pi are all powered by USB C.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Depends which model of Dell. Do you know what the OP has ?

I'm aware of USB C, my phone, tablet and Pi are all powered by USB C.
Click to expand...
Milliseconds on google will come up with the models back over a decade so safe to assume most models will be 3-pin with I2C in the charger. - so what? Like you I don't know what the OP laptop is when you said "Get a car charger and connect it to the batteries".

USB-C and USB-C PD are different things.... A RPI does not use usb-c PD.

Every day a school day ;)
 
GHA said:
Milliseconds on google will come up with the models back over a decade so safe to assume most models will be 3-pin with I2C in the charger. - so what? Like you I don't know what the OP laptop is when you said "Get a car charger and connect it to the batteries".

USB-C and USB-C PD are different things.... A RPI does not use usb-c PD.

Every day a school day ;)
Click to expand...

I didn't say it was, i said "I'm aware of USB C, my phone, tablet and Pi are all powered by USB C. "
 
Graham376 said:
12v car chargers are best but couldn't find one for latest notebook plug size so charge via 350w inverter during day when excess solar available. Have 3 x Asus, each has different power plug :mad:
Click to expand...

I can't get one for my Inspiron either, even Dell don't make one. Been using it on mains so far, but i have a small inverter to install, just for the laptop/ I usually get spare solar power, so i'll likely just leave it plugged into the inverter all of the time.
 
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