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    T61 to T42 power connector patch cable

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by pwork, Jun 8, 2009.

  1. pwork

    pwork Newbie

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    I have an older long-life battery that i used on airplane trips to extend the battery life of my T42 laptop to over ten hours. Now that i have upgraded to a T61, the power cable from the extended-life battery to the laptop no longer fits in the laptop power jack.

    Where can I find a patch cable that will bridge between the T42-style conntector to the T61-style connector?

    Alternately, where can I find just the T61-style connector? I could create a patch cable of my own if I could find the T61 connector by itself. Radio Shack doesn't have one.

    Any idea what the official code is for the T61-style connector?

    Thanks veyr much in advance
     
    pwork, Jun 8, 2009
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  2. useroflaptops

    useroflaptops Notebook Evangelist

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    Do you mean you have some external battery thing that plugs into the power port of your laptop?

    just making sure. cause i have an extended battery too and I'd be lucky to get 4 hours from that thing. mines the t43
     
    useroflaptops, Jun 8, 2009
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  3. pwork

    pwork Newbie

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    yes, i have a relatively large external battery (in addition to the standard extended battery that replaces the standard battery). It is roughly the same length and depth as the laptop, but only 1/8" thick. It provides another ten hours of operation by connecting to the power jack on the laptop. It has to be charged overnight before each trip, but it's worth it!
     
    pwork, Jun 8, 2009
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  4. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    I think you might have an issue with voltage.

    The T61 uses a 20V adapter and has a different connector than the 16V T42 for protection ( read this).

    If you are confident that this battery pack will provide the appropriate voltage and not cause any damage, then I suppose you could hack out an appropriate cable. The easiest method may just be to procure a spare 20V adapter and cut it up (like this one from DealExtreme).
     
    jonlumpkin, Jun 8, 2009
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  5. pwork

    pwork Newbie

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    I'm aware of the voltage difference between the T42 and T61. The external battery starts out with a 19V supply, which should work fine with the T61. As I use the battery, this voltage decreases, of course.

    I actually created a patch cable of my own two years ago, but I lost it at a convention. :-( I haven't done much traveling since, so I didn't really need another one until now. I'd like something a little more professional-looking than the hacked up job I did using a connector I had cut off a good adapter. :-(

    I think i found just the part. Check out
    http://www.bixnet.com/spdcpocotipf.html

    what do you think? will that work?
     
    pwork, Jun 9, 2009
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