Laptop charging

[GrahamHO]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

I had that with the previous Mac OS.... lots of debate on the net about it suggesting amongst other things that the battery was pressing against base of track pad etc etc etc ... when I started using Yosemite the problem went away on the instant....

It's a slightly different question from the original. I have Yosemite and the latest update just yesterday. As my 12 year old granddaughter pointed out yesterday the trackpad isn't very good. Maybe the battery expands a bit as it ages and presses on it but I'm not going to pull it apart to find out as it works well enough to get by.

[hellosailor]

The problem with Anderson Powerpoles is in the crimp. To properly crimp them (at least in the more common 10-30A sizes) requires another $50 for a special crimping tool. Use anything else, or try to solder the wires in, and it can be quite an exercise making them fit into the uniquely patented shape of the connector.


If you want to convert over "everything" to Powerpoles the (15-30-40?) first three ratings all use the same connector, only the crimp size is different, to allow proper crimping of a matching gauge wire in them. At that point the crimping tool becomes very reasonable since it will last forever.


But they are damned robust connectors.


Theatrical lighting supply houses also sell high-amperage connectors for theatre lighting (duh!) and normally those are bullet-proof and require only a screwdriver to hook up the wiring. FWIW.

[fryewe]

I use this

Amazon.com: GPK Systems Car Charger for Apple Macbook Pro 15- Or 17-inch 85w Magsafe Power Adapter Portable Charger Laptop Notebook Power Supply Cord Plug: Computers & Accessories

charger for my MacBook Pro. A bit over 7 amps at 12V...well within the 10A rating on my 12V receptacles. And the receptacles are wired with 14ga tinned wire to 12V terminal boards.

A similar model is available for MacBook Air.

[Sternwake]

Ciggy plugs, the male ends, are horrid connectors, and they only get worse with age.

The problem is the ground springs on the side are steel( not a great conductor), and the nipple contact can also be steel.

When the steel gets hot, as it will passing 7 amps at 12 volts, it loses its spring, and then the nipple spring can push the plug out of the receptacle. Then less surface area is passing even more current, due to the voltage drop, and this just gets worse and worse, until the spring on the internal fuse gets so hot, it melts into the plastic housing.

Check out this discolored compacted spring



I've been using DC to DC car adapters on my laptops for 10 years. My ciggy plug receptacles are wired with short lengths of 10 awg. The male ends of the car adapters are the issue. I've never gotten more than a few months before I replaced them.

It did not matter how pristine the contacts were, how tightly the springs grasped the sides of the receptacle or how tightly the nipple spring was pushed against the end of the receptacle. Failure was always just a matter of time.

And it always happened with a depleted laptop battery when streaming a Movie or watching a DVD and the laptop was drawing 90+ watts.

Last time it happened, I wired up some 30 amp Anderson Powerpoles. Problems ceased entirely.

Now I have 7 ciggy plug receptacles, and I will only use them on devices that draw 50 watts or less.

Ciggy receptacles might be ubiquitous, but they are a horrible, unreliable connector. It is just a matter of time before they fail. The quality of the receptacle means little when the male plug is China's cheapest.

And, Before they fail, they are wasting battery power as heat.

I used to have a 12v mattress heating pad, and it had a quality, but fuseless Ciggy plug, and it would pass 6.2 amps maximum. When I cut off this ciggy plug and installed Anderson powerpoles, the pad was able to draw 7.4 amps, and it heated up significantly faster, and overall used less battery power and was significantly more effective when temperatures got cold enough to turn it all the way up all night long

Cut the Ciggy plug off, and stop wasting battery power as heat on horrid connections.

BTW the anderson Powerpoles, 15 amp/30 amp, and 45 amp are all the same size and mate with each other. The actual contacts inside are slightly different where the wire is crimped into them. 15 and 30 amp versions require a normal crimping tool. The 45 amp ones require more crimping skill or the use of their speciality tool.

I've taken to crimping and soldering the 45 amps ones, no longer bothering with the 30 amp versions.

I use these inexpensive watt meters inline anywhere where i have employed Anderson powerpoles:

130 Amps Power Analyzer with High Precision G.T. Power RC Watt Meter - - Amazon.com

I remove the 12awg aluminum leads and solder 8awg tinned marine wire to the circuit board shunt, and pass 40 amps through it and it barely gets warm.

Here is one on my fridge:



Here is one on my Meanwell rsp-500-15 adjustable voltage power supply:



Right now I have one on my Dell latitude e5500. the laptop battery is full, the meter indicates 54 to 67 watts, and it has consumed 12.34 AH since I plugged it in some time this morning.

It is accurate down to about 0.8 amps according to my larger shunted battery monitor, and my DC clamp meter. At 40 amps, it reads about 1 amp high.

So hardly a perfectly accurate tool, but much better than guessing.

The wattmeter also reads Watt hours, Watt peak, amp peak, and minimum voltage. I'd not trust it to pass much more than 20 amps continuous with the 12awg leads provided. I only trust mine at 40 amps because of the 8awg I installed.

[hoppy]

I got some Anderson connectors and wired it up with 4mm2 wire to a fuse box that is connected to the 12v switch with 6mm2. I will eventually add all 12v outlets to this fuse box. I really need to figure out how many amps the breaker switch is rated for.

When I charged my laptop, no heat and it seemed like I was drawing less amps. This probably correct as no amps are being use to generate heat 😃

When installing the Anderson connectors I first tried to solder them using my battery powered solder iron but it would not heat up enough. Then I tried using my inverter with the cig lighter plug to power up a 25w solder iron and it worked perfectly fine. I did not even need to start up the motor.

I might replace the cig plug on the inverter with an Anderson plug, but I need to wait until I have shore power

I bought a spare Mac car charger and will swap the plug over to one of the 20A plugs. Will be interesting to see if the better cig plugs survive.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[GrahamHO]

[QUOTE=hoppy;1892929]I got some Anderson connectors and wired it up with 4mm2 wire to a fuse box
When installing the Anderson connectors I first tried to solder them using my battery powered solder iron but it would not heat up enough. Then I tried using my inverter with the cig lighter plug to power up a 25w solder iron and it worked perfectly fine. I did not even need to start up the motor.
I might replace the cig plug on the inverter with an Anderson plug, but I need to wait until I have shore power

Check out butane powered soldering irons. I've got a grunty one that has different sized soldering heads, and a very useful hot knife for cutting and sealing marine cordage.

[hellosailor]

Butane irons:
Portasol are nice, not the hottest, and the tips regularly burn out.


Isotip is much bigger, much hotter. Not sure how the tips will hold up, but the butane tank leaks out between uses, which is not good.


Then there's that one that takes "cigarette lighter" butane packs in it...not a bad torch but those "lighters" also crack and leak as they age.


A good Weller soldering gun, and an inverter or extension cord, still unsurpassed.

[GrahamHO]

HelloSailor, you just reminded me of the name of my butane soldering iron. It is a Weller. It's half a world away at the moment and I couldn't think of its make. I've had no trouble with it at all and it has been used and used and used. It was their biggest model I could find.

I did have another Weller butane soldering iron which rolled off the cabin top and into the (salt) water at my berth. Not hot at the time. A diver conveniently appeared working on the next boat and retrieved it within 20 minutes. For some reason it would never work again.

[hellosailor]

The butane irons normally do not work with a flame, but there is a mesh in the tip which is actually a platinum catalyst. That is supposed to get red hot as it converts the butane in a "burn without flame". Those catalysts in the tips are very easily contaminated, and stop working if you give them any excuse. So the odds are, a new tip would be needed.


I'd guess it is also possible that salt water could have gotten in the fuel tank, since they usually are just stoppered by a rubber ball which is displaced by outside pressure. If salt water DID get in...contamination from the fuel might kill a new tip as well. Filling partially & purging 3? times before trying a new tip might cure that.


What can you say, they're all a mixed blessing.

[GrahamHO]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

The butane irons normally do not work with a flame, but there is a mesh in the tip which is actually a platinum catalyst. That is supposed to get red hot as it converts the butane in a "burn without flame". Those catalysts in the tips are very easily contaminated, and stop working if you give them any excuse. So the odds are, a new tip would be needed.


I'd guess it is also possible that salt water could have gotten in the fuel tank, since they usually are just stoppered by a rubber ball which is displaced by outside pressure. If salt water DID get in...contamination from the fuel might kill a new tip as well. Filling partially & purging 3? times before trying a new tip might cure that.


What can you say, they're all a mixed blessing.

Thanks
I thought there was some sort of catalyst but I didn't know it's platinum. I had also wondered about fuel contamination. I just chucked it out and bought a new one.

The other good feature is an attachment small hot air nozzle. Very useful for shrinking heat shrink tubing over soldered joins.