Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

I had an old Toshiba laptop with a worn out battery that wasn't readily
available. Since it was a 12 V battery pack, I took out the cells and wired
in a cord to a 12 V. lighter type socket so the kids could use it in the
car. It worked great except that the keyboard developed some dead keys
before we used it much. I'd now like to do the same thing for the boat since
it will be more effecient than running it through an inverter.

Does anyone know offhand of any particular models that have 12 V batteries?
I'm looking for something used and cheap for occasional evening trip
planning and writing; not for continual navigation use or Wi Fi connection.

I've been looking at the collection of laptops around the house and
batteries in this random sample run from 10.8 to 14.8 volts. This brings up
another question. How sensitive are the power supplies in most laptops? Do
I have to find one with a battery very close to 12 volts or would any of
these run off the boat battery?

--
Roger Long

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

"Roger Long" wrote in
:

This brings up
another question. How sensitive are the power supplies in most
laptops? Do I have to find one with a battery very close to 12 volts
or would any of these run off the boat battery?



Your boat's not 12V so it won't matter. When the engine's running it's
over 14V and when the batteries are dim it's only 10-11V.

They won't like it much, but they'll tolerate it.

One thing is VERY important! MANY laptops are POSITIVE GROUND! So, if we
hook 'em straight to the battery, they MIGHT have battery + ON ALL THE
GROUND LEADS!

Japan still uses positive ground, you know.....

Larry
--

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Roger Long" wrote in
:

This brings up
another question. How sensitive are the power supplies in most
laptops? Do I have to find one with a battery very close to 12 volts
or would any of these run off the boat battery?



Your boat's not 12V so it won't matter. When the engine's running it's
over 14V and when the batteries are dim it's only 10-11V.

They won't like it much, but they'll tolerate it.

One thing is VERY important! MANY laptops are POSITIVE GROUND! So, if we
hook 'em straight to the battery, they MIGHT have battery + ON ALL THE
GROUND LEADS!

Japan still uses positive ground, you know.....

Larry
--

They make their electrons flow backwards? How can that be?

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:30:35 -0800, ray lunder wrote:

I understand there are department stores
with a counter you can take your pack to and they will rebuild it.

Here's an outfit that claims they can rebuild/exchange your old
battery packs:

http://www.batteryrefill.com

I have no experience with them.

There are also a number of DIY web sites with instructions on how to
do it yourself.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...+battery+packs

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

"ray lunder" wrote

Now I'm not sure why you can't leave your old dead battery in place

That was my plan if I found a laptop with a nominal 12 V battery. I was
going to wire the lead from the boat system in so they were in parallel to
provide some buffer to the laptop and let me use it on a beach for writing.

The dual input gadget sounds like a great solution. I'll look for something
like that.

--
Roger Long

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

"KLC Lewis" wrote in news:3IKdnUWo3bh-2LXbnZ2dnUVZ_u-
:

They make their electrons flow backwards? How can that be?


Just turn your battery around! Works great!


Larry
--

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"KLC Lewis" wrote in
news:3IKdnUWo3bh-2LXbnZ2dnUVZ_u-
:

They make their electrons flow backwards? How can that be?


Just turn your battery around! Works great!


Larry
--

Hey, you might be on to something. If I turn my batteries upside down,
wouldn't that make them weigh negative too?

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

"KLC Lewis" wrote in
et:

Hey, you might be on to something. If I turn my batteries upside down,
wouldn't that make them weigh negative too?




They're a lot lighter if you dump the electrolyte overboard. Empty 'em out
and the boat'll go faster!...


Larry
--

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:04:11 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:

If I turn my batteries upside down,
wouldn't that make them weigh negative too?

Don't do that, the electrons will fall out.

Laptops suitable for hot wiring?
 

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:04:11 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote:

If I turn my batteries upside down,
wouldn't that make them weigh negative too?

Don't do that, the electrons will fall out.


They shouldn't if it's a sealed battery, I'm thinkin.