derekc

dbtoutfit,

ACC wire is off when the engine is cranking, do you know?
If you tie the inverter to ACC wire, it will be off-on-off-on when you start the engine.
The ON-wire (when I said "ignition 12V" in the above postings, I meant the ON-wire, not the ignition cranking wire) has 12V even when you are cranking. I recommend you use the ON-wire to signal the TR-7 which drives a relay to power the inverter from an a constant 12V.

If I understand your situation correctly, your laptop doesn't have a working battery and powering up the inverter AND the pulsing the momentary button at the same time doesn't really turn on the laptop (because the laptop doesn't respond to a pulse when it has no power) and you need to delay the "pulsing the momentary button" 5 sec or so? I think TR-7 Feature #18 does allow a programmable delayed pulse and it was suggested above.

Again, you use the TR-7 to drive a relay which will open or close a circuit. You don't want 10A current to go thru the TR-7.

I will see if I have time to draw up the schematic. I don't have the right program to draw. Maybe I will draw by hand.

BTW, why an inverter, there should be a 12V car adapter/charger for your particular laptop. 12V DC to 19V DC instead of DC to AC to DC which is highly inefficient.

MP3Car.com

 

dbtoutfit

Yea I didn't think about that (the laptop car adapter)

We are on the same page with everything.

If you want Circuit Maker 2000 send me your email.

Its free but I found out there's sites that host the file just to get you to see ads etc and most are dead ends.

It is not pirated software.

derekc

Here is a hand drawn one. Any comment welcome and even better if someone can do a bench test on it.

derekc

Something is not right. When Windows reboots, it will turn the USB port off and on, that will create the pulses we don't need.
Oh man, this gets more complicated.

nserpa9248

is there a way to grab the +12v off the laptop power supply, then use that +12v instead of the +5v usb, and use another +12v relay?

wouldnt that solve the "pulse" issue

derekc

nserpa9248, if we can grab the 12V off the laptop, not the power supply, then the problem is solved. Somehow we need a signal that is on IF AND ONLY IF the laptop is powered up, be that in BIOS mode, or Windows rebooting, or loading drivers, etc..

Can the com port give that signal? Does it "pulse" when Windows does a reboot?

nserpa9248

thats what i meant, grabbing +12v from the laptops internal power, (what powers the processor, ram, HD, etc) im not too familiar with laptops, but there must be some connector or pin or something that we can get power from. ill ask some of the techs at my work about this..brb

nserpa9248

they are not sure if the com port (or other similar ports) "pulse".

I would see if you can get the pin out for connectors and see if you can test it with a meter

MP3Car.com

 

fatali

The original setup looks great and is almost just what I need. I'm not good at reading schematics and I was wondering how I could modify it for my needs. I need the momentary power switch to be 'pressed' when a on/off switch (similar to that on the back of some ATX power supplies) is clicked to 'on'. I'm also unsure about the parts that are needed. I'm new to the 'making your own hardware' category and I'd appreciate the help. I have a Dell Inspiron 600m that I need to turn on with a on/off click switch as the momentary power switch will be inaccessible in it's final permanent location, so I don't need to be able to disconnect it and reconnect it.

dbtoutfit

This thing is just going to have to have an IC timer.

I was using an AC/DC Inverter for my laptops power supply which was causing a delay. Due to the transformers charging for a few seconds before it would allow power to the power supply for the laptop.

Now I have a dc-dc converter. But the issue is the same for a different reason and as I can imagine most everyone probably has this issue as with any radio or 12v device in a car when you go to crank the car the battery is drained for a second or two as the starter turns the engine and only leaves a very small amount of amps left and the 12v device goes dead for a second or two.

Since the switch uses very little amps it switches yet the power converter (or even a inverter) is not supplying power to the laptop thus the switch is not seen.

The press has already happened and the bios ignores the consistent press the 12v relay is supplying. Since the 5v from the usb has not disengaged the 12v relay.

There needs to be a IC timer and we need to come up with one with a "variable pod"
This way anyone can adjust the delay for the switch timing depending on their car and laptop needs.

An IC can also eliminate the issues with turning the laptop on and off when it shouldn't be doing so.

Whether we come up with it or not I have to because I am about to my ends with this crap. The Pac is nice and has it's place but after much research I just don’t seeing it being a all in one solution that we or at least I need and doubt ably for everyone’s common general issue we are all having for the most part.

This new device needs to solve these common issues, be simplistic in design and installation and be reasonably inexpensive.

dbtoutfit

ok i got it.

I suck at schematics but if you want one of these things let me know, email me.

Since I have to buy so many things at a time I will sell some if anyone wants one.

No big deal

silvi4000

why dont you just grab power from the "powered on" LED. This LED is not affected by anything "software". Its ON if the laptop is ON and its OFF if the laptop is OFF. It will stay on even trough restarts and OS crashes. I have worked with a couple different laptops in the last few years and all of them have the power LED very close to the power button if not in the same place.

In my set up I wired the power switch and the power LED. That way I have a remote button to turn it on/off plus the LED that gives me the status. I was thinking of getting the auto-power on module but its doesn't have a LED pass trough I want for status display. It shouldnt be difficult to wire the LED instead of using the laptops USB to tell if its ON/OFF and add a LED to the remote power switch of the module. One of those lighted switches would be awesome.

Vinster03XR

^ I like your idea of using a CAT5 plug and cable.... I used a molex connector and its clunky to plug/unplug... Good Idea

Vin

__________________
Carputer works... but will never be complete....

silvi4000

the only thing to keep in mind when using CAT5 is that the wire is a little too stiff. I tried soldering the CAT5 wire directly to the LED but it would come out once the wire started to move and flex. I used a thin flexible wire and soldered it to the ends of the surface LED and then joined it to the CAT5 wire. The thin wire flexes really easy without putting stress on the solder joint on the LED.
Soldering the CAT5 to the switch contacts was no issue though.
Im sending the power button and the power LED trough the CAT5. It still has 2 more wire pairs available for future use, maybe I could send the microphone and the HDD LED. The color coded wires make it easier too.

Vinster03XR

If you would have use stranded CAT5, you would not have had the problem with the wire being too stiff... Be-heading a pre-made 10ft cable would have worked well too..

Props to you.

Vin

__________________
Carputer works... but will never be complete....

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