By the way, it is an "Auto Adapter" or an "AC Adapter", nobody makes a "Auto AC Adapter" to the best of my knowledge, although it would be nice. This would be a single power supply that could use either AC mains power or auto power. Possible but I know of none unfortunately.
At 8:56 AM -0700 5/22/02, Sionnach Aisling wrote: >--- Janice Freeman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Does anyone know how to tell if the generic-looking >> PowerBook Car Adapter >> I've been given will work with my PB5300? The donor >> said it would work with >> a PB 170, but doesn't look like it would fit the >> 170. The 5300 and 170 are not even close in power supplies. The 5300 power supply is 24V at 2A, uses a very small coax power connector. I don't know what the polarity is. The 140-170 and some others use a 7.5V at 2A supply with a large coax power connector. Again, I don't know off hand what the polarity is. > > Thanks, >> Janice > >Look on the Auto Adapter and see if it has an Output >Voltage reading... if that voltage reading matches the >required voltage reading for your PB, then your all >set. Funny, very funny! I bought a third party car adapter that was a generic power supply and a connector cable that was specific for the machine it was sold for. The supply was rated at 27W but my 5300s AC supply has a 48W power output rating. The third party device overheated and melted the solder holding the main output diode of the switching power supply. First time I've seen that happen. I knew when it happened as I heard the diode drop inside the case. Voltage is definitely NOT the only consideration. > >Actually the different voltage readings will each have >a different plug... the higher the voltage, the >thicker the plug, so, theoretically, an auto adapter >that supplies higher voltage than what you need won't >plug into your PB becasue the plug will be too large. >Likewise, one that doesn't put out enough voltage will >likely be too small and will not fit properly in your >Powerbook. Where have you been? Any correlation between voltage and connector size is due to a small sampling. As an example, my 5300 power supply uses about the smallest connector around and runs at 24V, about the highest voltage for a laptop. A power supply needs to match in four ways: Voltage Current Polarity Connector Voltage must be pretty close. Current supplied by the power supply needs to be the same or greater than that required by the laptop. It shouldn't be too much higher though or else the voltage may be too high due to poor regulation. Generally speaking a power supply for a laptop needs to be one built specifically for a given family of laptops. >Just becasue it plugs in, though is no gaurantee... >check the voltages if you want to be safe. -- Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting [EMAIL PROTECTED] "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
