CF-28 Randomly shuts down

Aloha,
Newbie on this forum...have been lurking for quite a while. I obtained my old field computer from my former place of work. It is a CF -28 and probably has not been booted up in 5 years as it was in storage. I booted it up this morning, ran fine. I acciently unplugged it, plugged it back in and a few minutes later, it shut down. I reboooted, it booted to through to the desktop and shut down again. Pulled the battery, HD and memory to reseat and is still doing it randomly at various stages of powering. I am incline to believe it has something to do with the battery as I recall some sort of calibration was required. That was some 8 years ago....
Any direction would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
M

 

Try either removing the battery and using the AC adapter (If it is a stock Panasonic type!) and booting then... Or you can try charging the battery and trying again but I'd bet the battery is shot... If you get the flashing red light it's dead...

Do you have a manual for it? There are several available for download...

 

Also make sure Windows isn't crashing... Look in the event log for anything that would say "Save Dump" - that could be a sign of a corrupt OS.

 

Yep, thanks folks....runs fine w/o the battery. Is it absolutely neccessary to runa battery in these? I am going to use this on my boat...What is the best way to wire it? Can I go straight 12v? The reason I ask is I put plug on my other laptop and it was 12v at the plug. I suppose it would not have any protection against surge if I ran it straight...
Thanks again!
Aloha,
M

 

msurf, do NOT wire straight to 12 volts on your boat... I have my boat wired up as well to the cranker battery - I have it going to a simple cigarette lighter socket then from there I run it through a 350 watt inverter (that has two plugs on it) so I can plug the Toughbook (and any other small appliance like a coffee maker ) - This provides protection from surges which are VERY common with 12 volt batteries.

It's best to use the cranking battery for these things because the motor of the boat charges the battery while your going. (VS hooking it to a deep cycle marine battery that would normally power your trolling motor/s - that would die and need to be recharged)

Also, no you don't need to keep the battery in the laptop to run it

 

If you want the extra protection against power failure put a new or used battery in
That way it acts like a uninterruptible power supply ( UPS)

The cf-28 requires 15.6volts input, so no direct connection to your boats battery
You can hook it up as Rob suggests to a 110vac inverter you will need a 150watt or larger, just to be safe
Or you can purchase a Lind Panasonic 12v dc to dc power supply
These are available used for about $30 or so and that’s the best option

For powering of the boat batteries don’t start the laptop before starting the boat as it could cause a voltage drop, and possible crashing of the laptop
If you boat has a separate house system battery ( found on larger boats) its ok to have the laptop started first as the start battery’s are isolated from voltage drops as the engine is cranking

Alex

 

Thank you all very much! I do have a house battery. Makes sense to run it off of this instead of the cranking batt. I have completely rewired my boat....well, should I say rebuilt everything. If you are a boat fanatic you can check out my site at mauigeosciences.com for the entire rebuild.
I would like to purchase a lind 12v power supply....can you guide on where to purchase one...preferably used?
Much mahalos!!!
Mike

 

Nevermind....found some power supplies on Ebay

 

JB007 -

Boats are a complicated thing; small boats (like your average bass boat or pontoon boat) often (tho not always) use the storage battery in "total loss" mode, with no charging from the motor, as most smaller boat motors do not have a high current charging system as needed to charge 2 or 3 batteries at once.

Larger "recreational" boats like cabin cruisers or party barges often DO have high current charging systems with a battery isolation system similar to that found in most motorhomes; they WILL charge the storage batteries while running, yet still keep the starting battery safe from discharge. Of course, I've seen people with large "recreational" type outboard motors on their bass boat and have this arrangement installed; I've also seen cabin cruisers without storage batteries of any sort, running entirely on diesel & propane.

I personally recommend against running electronic appliances directly from the starting battery of a boat, especially smaller ones... the voltage regulation on them can be very poor or nonexistent, depending on who may have hacked the boat before you.

mnem
Ze ocean, shee eez zee cradle ahv life... baht she eez an unforgeeveeng meestress...

 

I would have a battery if for no other reason than to have it stay up in case there is a dip or spike... Or you shut it all down...

 

We run Toughbooks off DC power supplies while aboard MYST, from the house bank.. One for Com work through Winlink, 2 '27's for Nav work... No sweat

73
Semper Fi
Ed

 

Thanks much! Power supply on the way, and need to order a new battery.