(non) HP Smart Power Supply owners lounge and FAQ

I own and use a number of (non) HP Smart Power Supplies that I use with various HP business/professionell/workstation notebooks with varying degree of sucess. Since HP does not provide any information on what's the secret of beeing smart means, nor the differences to stupid power supplies I'll post what I could deduct from what little information is around or can be measured.




What is the difference between a HP Smart Power Supply and a "stupid Power Supply"
From what I read it is the ability to inform the notebook about the power rating of the HP Smart Power Supply to supply current to the notebook.
The necessary information supposed to be transmitted via the center pin, which in term informs the notebook and the batterys charging circuit.
The AJ652aa supplies the notebooks only with power but does not charge the battery until the button for charging is pressed. This worked fine for all my notebooks except for my zBook 15 where the battery is very slowly discharged. SInce it is rated 90 W like other Power supplies for the zBook 15 I am awaiting an answer from HP on this



Can the DC cable be replaced?
For most of the HP Smart Power Supplies arround that is only possible if you manage to crack the plastic case in such a way to acess and replace the cable.I cracked a few Power Supplies sucessfully making first slitts where I wanted it to crack and then using a vice to get it to crack right where it's glued together. However unless you know how the case parts fit together you may crack the case not just at the slit but also other places.
The only exception I know is the AJ652aa which uses screws below the rubber band.


Can the DC cable be ordered?
To my knowledge no, since I could not find a service manual for the power supply nor a part number anywhere.
You can either salvage a cable from a broken power supply or shorten the existing cable and permanently fix it to the case since after shortening it you miss the plastic feeder part which is permanently attached to the cable. I tried to use several cement type materials to diy such a cable fedder without sucess, since they detached/widened around the cable?


Are the DC cable different?
I would assume so, since with increased power rating the amps running through the cable will increase when the voltage remains around 19.5V. Between the 65 W and 180 W that would be 3 times the current.


Is the voltage always 19.5V?
No, the various HP Smart Power Supplies that I own and meassured vary about ±0.5 V unloaded at 230 V AV Voltage. Depending on the design, regulation under load will most likely vary somewhat for different input voltages within the defined voltage input range, but should not affect the function to suplly a notebook with power.
The only exception from the 19.5V rule is the AJ652aa, which at power on supplies abpout 16 V unloaded, and is only raised to 19.5 V when the charge button is pressed. I own several AJ652aa and used them on 100 V, 110 V up to 220 V, 230 V, 240 V AC and 12V to 15 V DC in.


Are the HP Smart Power Supplyshort circuit proof?
I don't know for the many HP Smart Power Supplies HP sells, but the AJ652aa is. The DC cable on my first AJ652 was less flexible then the newer ones I bought, and it broke/shorted at the feed through. turnin/bending the cable helped at first to remove the short and supply my 6910p with power again, but later I had to open it and cut cut and shorten the cable to remove the short. I can't recall if it restarted or if I had to disconnect it from power before it restarted.


What is the difference betwen the various Power supply types whith different suffixes/letters after the # sign?
To my knowledge only the connector and cable used for the AC-power line. While ther is only one for the US/Canda there are many different connectors arround for the rest of the world. It saves HP a lot of money and effort when they just have to provide the necessary cable (connector) for different countries/regiongs compared to a power supply with a permanently attached AC cable.
The same letter combination defines also the naturalization of the notebooks, meanin to my knowledge the language and keyboard layout.

 

Is there a HP Smart Power Supply compatibility list that lists the HP Smart Power Supply compatibility for my notebook
If there is I could not find it.
Furthermore the compatibily list for any of the many HP Smart Power Supplys seems to be incomplete and/or frozen to asubset of notebooks available at the time they were introduced.
The 200 W HP Smart Power Supply that came with my zBook 15 did not list the 8560p, even though it listed previous versions of the 85xxp.
The Smart P90 W HP ower Supply for the zBook 15 does not list the 8560p and but many of the other 85xxp. Looking at other 90 W Smart P90 W HP ower Supplies you seed most of the 85xxp listed including the 8560p. My conclusion is they are interchangeable even if they do not list all notebooks, if they are HP Smart Power Supplys and have the correct connector and a19.5 V ±0.5 V DC out.

However since HP is not willing to provide significant information on the HP Smart Power Supplys, I cannot be held responsible for problems or damages if you apply/follow my reasoning/information contained in this posts.