AznArkitekt

Well, I just got my Carnetix P1900 yesterday and finished reading the manual. I also looked on these forums to find info on hooking it up to my laptop (Gateway NX500) but I'm confused as to the proper way of doing it. It looks like some people spliced the Carnetix wires into their laptop adapters while other people opened up their laptops and directly soldered the Carnetix wires to the internal circuitry of the laptop. I don't really understand the way it should be done. I do have the adapter that came with the laptop...it's a standard 2 piece adapter with the big brick part in the middle. On the back of the brick, it says INPUT: 100-240V 1.6A 50-60Hz and the output voltage is 19V...so how does this work if I am only supplying 12V from my car battery? Do i need to splice the wires somewhere past the brick part of the adapter?

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billmee

The brick is putting out 19 v dc to the laptop.
The connector on the end of the cable that connects to the laptop will either have to be...

1. Cut off the Brick and soldered to the output of the carnetix.
2. Replicated by the same type and soldered to the carnetix.

You could also open the laptop and scab it on inside.


Me ...I'd go for #1.

DarkStar02

Sorry to bump this thread but I ordered the p1900 a few days ago and I am wondering the same thing. Which would be a wiser/easier choice?

2k1Toaster

Well I think the best solution would be get a dc-dc plug (the barrel part of the cord that actually plugs into the laptop) and solder it that way. That way the laptop can still be used with the regular AC brick inside, and the carnetix in the car.

You can get those barrel connectors everywhere. Radioshack, has some, as well as most cheap electronic junk that you could cannibalize the plug off of. You just need the plug.

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DarkStar02

Thanks for the quick reply.

I forgot to mention that this laptop is a pile with a broken keyboard, no battery, and will never be used anywhere but my truck. Should I just cannibalize my AC power charger?

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2k1Toaster

In that case, yes you could cannibalize the plug. Of course you could do it both ways, and it is just opinion at this point. I think it would look cleaner with the plug. But if you are going for beasty wired Frankenstein laptop, then solder to the mobo!

I would do the plug though.

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RickS

There are two connections you need to make out of your P1900 to the laptop, one is the power (external) and the other is the on/off signal (internal). Use the barrel connector from the end of your AC power supply for the power (on my first install, I added a molex between the ac adapter and the barrel connector and another to the P1900 so I could swap the barrel end between the AC brick and the P1900). The on/off signal is where you get into soldering things inside the laptop...you have to connect the P1900 to the power switch somehow so it can tell the computer to turn on or off.

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