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Vanuber
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2020
Posts: 411
Location: Virginia
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 Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:40 am Post subject: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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Hey folks,
I installed a 100 Ah auxiliary battery system including 2 x 12V charging sockets. My plan was to use the PWR charger/converter linked below to power my laptops. However, I am pretty sure it fried the logic board in my Dell 5750. It's a new computer and had been stored for the weekend. I plugged it into the PWR charger and it wouldn't boot up. I had to send it back to Dell and they replaced the logic board, however, I am afraid to try it again or try it with my Macbook Pro.
PWR charger - https://www.amazon.com/Laptop-Charger-Replacement-...17-catcorr
The specs aren't quite right for the Dell, so I am thinking that is the problem. Both laptop have USB-C charger connections. Specs:
2021 Dell Precision 5750 - 20.0V 6.5A - 130W
2017 Apple MacBook Pro - 20.2V 4.3A - 85W
PWR charger - up to 20.0V 4.5A - 90W
The Dell is my work computer and I was hoping to work from the van occasionally. I can't find any off-the-shelf converters that can reach 130W. The options I am considering are:
1) DIY a DC to DC converter with the exact specs I need. I am pretty handy with soldering, etc.
2) Find a small and very efficient DC to AC converter. My intention was to avoid this inefficiency at all costs, but not at the expense of not using my laptop.
Any thoughts are appreciated!
_________________
'85 Westfalia 1.9L
'72 BMW R75/5
'71 BMW R75/5
'02 Subaru Forester 2.5L
Last edited by Vanuber on Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:59 am; edited 3 times in total |
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pdm777
Samba Member
Joined: August 06, 2012
Posts: 348
Location: Clovis, CA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:51 am Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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a few years ago I bought a power supply
for my MacBook Pro.
Plugs into 12V cigarette lighter,
(house battery) works great!
No inverter losses, direct 12V to MacBook.
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1990 Westy Full Camper |
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Vanuber
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2020
Posts: 411
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:56 am Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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| pdm777 wrote: |
a few years ago I bought a power supply
for my MacBook Pro. |
Do you know the brand/model?
_________________
'85 Westfalia 1.9L
'72 BMW R75/5
'71 BMW R75/5
'02 Subaru Forester 2.5L |
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vanis13
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2010
Posts: 3092
Location: ABQ NM USA.... Except when not
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:58 am Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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I'm using a targus universal power supply that can be plugged into 12v or 120v with a cable change. So far so good.
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83.5 Westy with Subaru 2.5, 4 spd manual, center seat, COLD A/C on 134a!, Winter camp heated with an Espar B4 gasoline furnace
www.SuperVanagon.com - some stuff I make |
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MarkWard
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 17114
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 11:18 am Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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I purchased a 12 volt power supply for my Compaq laptop. Same deal, 12 volt cigarette lighter plug.
If you use an invertor, you should be looking for a Pure Sine Wave unit.
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Vanuber
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2020
Posts: 411
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 11:36 am Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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I appreciate the input so far. I am fine purchasing a charger such as the PWR I have already purchased. The problem is I cannot find one with the proper specs and I don't want to destroy another logic board, hence the option of DIY building one with the proper output. The 130W draw from the Dell is pretty massive.
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'85 Westfalia 1.9L
'72 BMW R75/5
'71 BMW R75/5
'02 Subaru Forester 2.5L |
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pnwkayaker
Samba Member
Joined: April 01, 2008
Posts: 919
Location: Sammamish, WA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:03 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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Looking at the specs of the PWR unit in the Amazon page I see the following
| Quote: |
Output Max:
5V 3A, 9V 3A, 12V 3A, 15V 3A, 20V 4.5A (30W 45W 60W 65W 85W 90W)
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I'm not sure how the PWR unit does its magic, but it seems that as the power demands increases, it's raising the output voltage faster than the amperage.
I'm not an expert, but my guess is that, since the laptop is requesting 130W, the PWR unit ended up sending a voltage higher than 20V (frying your laptop). I wouldn't try to plug your Dell laptop again to this specific adapter, better get a different one that's within spec.
_________________
87 Syncro Westy EJ25 ("Tardis")
Seattle Meetup at Marymoor (link)
A collection of Simple Useful Mods (SUM) (link)
Last edited by pnwkayaker on Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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MarkWard
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 17114
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:04 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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So, Dell does not have a 12 volt charger for your laptop? That seems odd.
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DeLvxe
Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2019
Posts: 106
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:14 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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I have a Dell XPS 13 (model 7390) from 2020 and use the below charger for it. It has worked for me just fine. Not sure if the specs between our laptops are the same.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075WQQG7C/
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1991 manual camper with EJ25 |
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MarkWard
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 17114
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:15 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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They are looking for 130 watts. The amazon one is listed are 45W.
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16501
Location: Brookeville, MD
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:31 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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| Vanuber wrote: |
| I appreciate the input so far. I am fine purchasing a charger such as the PWR I have already purchased. The problem is I cannot find one with the proper specs and I don't want to destroy another logic board, hence the option of DIY building one with the proper output. The 130W draw from the Dell is pretty massive. |
I have never found a 12V charger that can handle above 90W.
My Macbook Pro is fine with one like the Pwr+ unit. But my son has an Asus gaming laptop that needs 230W. There is no direct 12V plug in charger that the internet could find me.
I do have a 700W 12V to 120V pure sin wave inverter in the westy from long ago and we just plug his laptop house cord into that. It has worked fine for years. It is not as efficient energy wise as a 12V charger but it is all we can seem to use.
YMMV.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD
"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson
MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646
Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371
The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794 |
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mitch5
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Joined: October 17, 2019
Posts: 132
Location: phoenix
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:40 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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i have a similar dell work laptop that came with a 130 watt brick charger, the laptop will still charge just fine using a lower wattage travel charger or one for a lower spec model. Just get one with the same type plug.
The only draw back to not having a 130watt charger is if you go to boot a dead laptop with a lower supply it will throw an error, simple solution is to let it charge for 5 minutes, unplug charger then boot. |
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Vanuber
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2020
Posts: 411
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:08 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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| pnwkayaker wrote: |
I'm not sure how the PWR unit does its magic, but it seems that as the power demands increases, it's raising the output voltage faster than the amperage.
I'm not an expert, but my guess is that, since the laptop is requesting 130W, the PWR unit ended up sending a voltage higher than 20V (frying your laptop). I wouldn't try to plug your Dell laptop again to this specific adapter, better get a different one that's within spec. |
I think you may be right, though I have read about many cases of using an adapter with proper voltage and lower amp output. Usually, it will just charge more slowly, or not at all while using it.
| dobryan wrote: |
I have never found a 12V charger that can handle above 90W.
My Macbook Pro is fine with one like the Pwr+ unit. But my son has an Asus gaming laptop that needs 230W. There is no direct 12V plug in charger that the internet could find me.
I do have a 700W 12V to 120V pure sin wave inverter in the westy from long ago and we just plug his laptop house cord into that. It has worked fine for years. It is not as efficient energy wise as a 12V charger but it is all we can seem to use. |
Thanks for the input. 230W - wow... I am afraid I am up against the same issue. Especially as the logic board seems to be delicate.
| mitch5 wrote: |
| The only draw back to not having a 130watt charger is if you go to boot a dead laptop with a lower supply it will throw an error, simple solution is to let it charge for 5 minutes, unplug charger then boot. |
Interesting. The laptop was pretty dead when I plugged it in, so maybe that had something to do with it. I guess it's possible the incompatibility of the PWR fried it on the boot up.
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'85 Westfalia 1.9L
'72 BMW R75/5
'71 BMW R75/5
'02 Subaru Forester 2.5L |
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jimf909 
Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2014
Posts: 7466
Location: WA/ID
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:17 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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| dobryan wrote: |
I have never found a 12V charger that can handle above 90W.
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This has been my experience as well. I have a Lenovo P50 laptop work station that needs 165 watts or so. Last April I moved my office into the van and have been working in it daily for over 250 days. I spent hours/days searching for a 12 volt power supply that would run the laptop and charge the battery and had absolutely no luck. There are people on the internet who will argue that no laptop needs and inverter and they all can be powered by a 12 volt power supply but no one showed me an actual 12 v power supply that would work. I tried some 12 volt power supplies but they couldn't keep the battery charged while running the laptop.
Even discount 400watt inverter that I had in the van would trip its breaker if I tried to plug this laptop into it so I installed a Victron 500 watt inverter. I don't always run off 12 volts but with this I can.
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- Jim
| Abscate wrote: |
Do not get killed, do not kill others.
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Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.
Past: 1985 Westy Camper - 1.9 wbx, 2wd, manual trans, Merian Brown, (sold after 17 years to Northwesty who converted it to a Syncro). |
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Vanuber
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2020
Posts: 411
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:34 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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| jimf909 wrote: |
| I installed a Victron 500 watt inverter. I don't always run off 12 volts but with this I can. |
Funny, I was just browsing Victron Phoenix chargers. Thanks for the input. I think I am going to go that route.
My setup is looking similar, but no room for an inverter!
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'85 Westfalia 1.9L
'72 BMW R75/5
'71 BMW R75/5
'02 Subaru Forester 2.5L |
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Vanuber
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2020
Posts: 411
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 2:23 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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| jimf909 wrote: |
| I installed a Victron 500 watt inverter. I don't always run off 12 volts but with this I can. |
Question - How do you calculate the fuse size on an inverter? Are you using a 60A fuse where 500W / 12V = 41.67A max draw?
I would love to run a small inverter off my 15A 12V outlet. But even with a 250W inverter I am still looking at a potential 20A draw if I am doing the math right.
Does anyone know how to calculate when using an inverter?
Input is 130W ~ 1.8A for the Dell power adapter. So 130W/12V = 10.8A draw on the battery side? Is there also a draw from the DC to AC inversion?
Thanks.
_________________
'85 Westfalia 1.9L
'72 BMW R75/5
'71 BMW R75/5
'02 Subaru Forester 2.5L |
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pdm777
Samba Member
Joined: August 06, 2012
Posts: 348
Location: Clovis, CA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:33 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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Here's the Amazon charger for MacBook Pro.
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1990 Westy Full Camper |
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16501
Location: Brookeville, MD
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kourt
Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2013
Posts: 1940
Location: Austin, TX
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:44 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop Charging Solutions |
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I used this one for my MacBook pro for a few years:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VVZ5G7A
It's no longer available, but it's still working well.
kourt |
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Glenn
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