Car Chager Info

Hey all,
Just wondering about the car chager set, like how its done and whats needed for it?
Is it a special transforma ( AC to DC), or could I use any car charger?

 

You know, you'd get better answers if your question was better...

Car chargers are DC/DC. You need a car adapter that outputs the same voltage with the same amperage (or higher) on the same plug as your original one.

 

yer ture and I may get better answers then that one the you give. which dont give me any info about the cf-28 car setup.

Do you know anything about the car setup??

Was hoping for more along the lines of part No. wire diagrams and sizes , fuse setting, and other general info

 

What do you want to do????
i have a car charger which i bought of ebay some time ago.....
are you thinking of building ur own charger and wiring it up in the car, caus if you were,
i'd advice just buy the charger in the uk you can get them for £15quid....
not sure how much in austraila
but take a look if it is a good price you be better of just buying the car charger

 

i think what we mean is, that you can get a generic dc/dc converter from maplin or radio shack etc dependging on where you live.

for example mine came from radio shack is a small plastic box with a slider switch where you select the voltage of your laptop, a wire to go in the cigarete holder (which has a tube fuse inside) and w ware that goes to the laptop... on this end you get a selection of plugs that fit various laptops.

they are very cheap (£15 or as usual about 20$)

main thing to check is the amperage is high enough (give yourself an amp spare or you wont be able to boot your laptop from a dead battery - i learned this)
and this is my opinion, please be sure and happy doing this youself!
I ignored the '.' point in the voltage requirement for my laptop eg 19.5 and just selected 20 (cause 19.5 wasnt available on the selector), my sony happily ran for 2 months continuous like this.

if you are looking to build your own, i like to build **** myself just for the hell of it sometimes.
you basically have the fused cigar plug, a regulated dc/dc convertor chip and the required resistors to set your output voltage, you will want a reasonable size heatsink for that. i'd go for 10 amp cable in and out, and seeing as you are customising it for a single laptop you could fuse the output side to your laptop too for extra paranoia.

if you go find a data sheet for a dc/dc converter you will have the wiring diagram you need, it is a real simple circuit

hope this helps

 

Maybe I didn't comment on the cf-28 because, like, you didn't mention it? Just a thougt.

Your battery pack is 11.6V, which means it will most likely run directly off the 12V of a cigarette lighter. Not sure if it will charge. Probably not when the engine is off, maybe when it's on.

I've run quite a few notebooks like this, but that doesn't mean it's a 100% safe method.

If you want a DOY approach, you need a buck boost converter to the same voltage as your adapter and the same amperage or better. You need to design for 25V input probably.

 

yep ice-tea is spot on, i didn't look at the cf-28 battery voltage (didnt occur to me)

it will run direct from the 12v, but maybe not from the dc input as this is 15.6V, you might have to power in through the battery terminals or media pocket
I would use something for isolation if you go down this route.
dc/dc converters offer (i believe) 100,000V or more of isolation while giving a stable output voltage, i think you can get dc/dc that offer 12v in 12v out, sounds silly but that isolation is what you are after.

i wouldnt be comfortable connecting the laptop direct to the car, the alternator output can be quite variable, ignition coils and the various electric motors(windows etc) on a vehicle can give all sorts of voltage spikes.
the cf-28 may well have built in isolation, and maybe some voltage regulation but you'd have to look that up and be sure for yourself, in which case you can get away with a cigar plug with the right plug on the end

if anyone knows the dc plug spec on the cf-28 i would be grateful to know myself actually, i need to buy a new tip for my car charger

 

the car charger should produce between -
Input: 8-16vdc
Output: 15.0vdc

and of cource it will run of a 12volt battery car charger,
the specs above are from my car charger which i use for my cf-28 and have been using it for a very very long time with out any problem,
also it does charge no matter if the engine is running or not long as the cigarette light is rewired direct from the battery,
also i have a 12v power pack which i always take with me on my tours/trips and use that some times over night to power up my toughbook and that also works great and charges the toughbook........
my advice will be just buy one it will near enough cost you the same making one so ur better of buying one.....

 

Thanks for all the great info,
Tho i had a look deeper into the big green box lol and found this.........







Has anyone see this model before? Any ideas on how to contect it to a car plug with that type of plug is on the end of it? Or I could just hard wire it in the car with that type of plug.

 

is that complete, are you sure????
might have another connectro missing????
am not sure never seen one before???
have you googled it????

 

yer done the only goolge thing, but still no joy.

That is all that is there, I blieve that this chager would have been hard mounted in the car, and the other half of green 3pin conector would have been hard wired in the main batter/power line.

I'm sure if i hunt around I can find the other half to that conector and then hard mount it in the car somewhere out of the way.

Just not sure on what to do with the "C-Shield" on the input line?
Should I just leave it out or add it to the "B-Zero Volts dc" so its earth??

 

best bet will be too earth it, but i aint seen that charger before so not sure how it works???
am sure if you look around for a 3 pin adapter/conector you'll find one,
my mate has a dvd/tv/sat nav system in his jeep and when had a accident and the insurance company for coming to take it we took it out and it had a similar conector to that one but it was 4pins, we never took the adapter out and left it in, if we did i would have known abit more.....
anyway will try and look around and see if i see one for you.......

 

oops forgot to mention by not test the 3pins with a multimeter fist if ur getting the live and the other are negative then you can rewire it ur self by cutting into the wire but first check with a meter of any kind....

 

Thanks for that info, Tho I'm not all that in favor on cutting it if I dont have to.......
As for not seeing this type of chager before, I dont blame you lol nor have I. I can't even find the maker of it here and it's Aus made!!!! LOL

All I can think is that is was a contract job done for Panasonic/Fujitsu and the Aus Army. Done in a large lot for them, and hens why no info on the net about it at all.

 

Why not get a CD to AC inverter? I have one stashed away in my Hummer's storage box. I think it's rated at 300 watts or something like that. It's a little large to tote around but it protects you from spikes and all the other little gremlins that can get you if you straight wire your laptop to your car!... Plus you can power a lot of other stuff. I was thinking about buying a lsightly larger one and then hiding it under a seat or something... Then run wiring to outlets! One in the front... One in the back.

Then you can run your laptop in the front and a TV and a blender in the back !

 

Yer I can go down that road too Toughbook, But the cost of an inverter, I'd like to spend on the engine management system software tho. Where if i can find the 3pin connector for a few dollars, and have a good Pre-Regulator with a fuse build-in to it. No need to speed money if i don't have too lol.

As when I get back from over sea's, this Lap'y will be turn into the engine management system / body control module for one of my street rods. So if this lap'ys not in the car, the cars not going anywhere. No need for a TV or blender unless it makes it go faster lol

 

OK found a site in Aus, that can supplier me the plug ends!!!!!!
I can get it in a in-line or wall mount type, so I'm getting 2 wall mount ones and mounting 1 in the glove box and the other as a space if I need it for a another car

heres the link so you can have a look if you want to, or if you need info on other MS spec connectors. I didn't think that you could get so many different types of connectors lol.

http://www.airmotive.com.au/