OT(ish) general purpose AC/DC converter

[David WE Roberts]

I have two items which require DC input but are lacking a power supply.

(1) Apple iBook A1005 Abandoned by previous users but tempting because it is a Mac. Requires 24v DC 1.875A max. Polarity is a straight line over a dotted line. Genuine Apple replacement PS is over £50 China special via Amazon is over £20 and slagged off in all reviews.

(2) Panasonic HDC-SD60 video camera. I have a battery charger and spare battery but can't find the original (laptop style) power supply. Requires 5V DC in, positive on central pin. Need a power supply to allow video rendering via the USB connection to use the chip in the camera instead of just CPU on the computer. Note that just downgrading 2 hours of HD video to SD onto a DVD takes 5.5 hours using a reasonable spec. dual processor. I can't find anything via Google as a replacement - does nobody else lose these things?

Anyway, is there a reasonably priced reliable power supply which comes complete with a variety of different sized plugs and which could supply both these requirements?

240V or 12V (cigar lighter) both acceptable.

I remeber cheapo power bricks a few years back with a selection of different output voltages (not that I remember them going as high as 24V) but they were cheapo and probably not a good investment for connecting to valuable items.

Cheers

Dave R

[John Williamson]

Get a universal one from Maplin, and it'll do for all your laptops.

This one:-

it for mine.

Maplin do a selection. I'm using one of their universal 12/24V input, 3A at 1.5 - 15V output ones to power this Asus as I type.

For your use, one of these, maybe:-

2.25A.

[David WE Roberts]

Thanks for the suggestions. Couple of things, though.

The Maplins power supply is almost the same cost as the genuine Apple power supply and won't do the camera as well, so it would be safer to buy the Apple PS. You don't explicitly say if it is running an A1005 - is it?

I was hoping to buy one power supply to do both jobs thus keeping the cost down a bit. I could possibly justify paying £40-£50 if I could power both items for the one price.

Ideally I would go for a 12V input (cigar lighter) power supply which would power the Apple (24V), my Asus netbook (12v), and my Dell XPS (19.5v) as well as the camera (5V) so I could kill 4 birds with one stone, so to speak. However this seems hard to locate.

Cheers

Dave R

[John Rumm]

see order code PW01625 on:

(2) Panasonic HDC-SD60 video camera.

That ought to be easy...

Laptop ones might not go down to 5V.

But there are plenty of 5V ones to choose from depending on the current you need:

*5v*+*psu*&isGoback=false&displaytext=&isRedirect=false> I remeber cheapo power bricks a few years back with a selection of

These were often unregulated battery eliminator style wall warts. Probably a bit crude for your application. The small switched mode jobbies (like those in the link above) would be a better bet.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you Google there are lots of articles on modifying ATX power supplies. But they have a high current 5 volt rail natively - so that would do for your camera. Old desktops can be got from your local FreeCycle.

[David WE Roberts]

> or see order code PW01625 on:

*5v*+*psu*&isGoback=false&displaytext=&isRedirect=false>>> I remeber cheapo power bricks a few years back with a selection of

Thanks - the one for the iBook is significantly cheaper than others that I have seen.

Strange (or not) that I couldn't locate them using Google. I don't think CPC index at the top of the searches.

Now to decide if it is worth £40 to find out if the laptop still works :-)

Cheers

Dave R

[John Williamson]

My place is an Apple free zone, but the supply runs IBMs, Toshibas and Compaqs. 24V at under 2A is well within its comfort zone.

There's a 90W supply on the same page in the catalogue that has an independent USB power output for £55.

I've got one of those (Nearly)

The label says "Energy Knight 1" "Model P70WD-D", made by Kerio Technologies Inc. Input 11-15VDC, output 72W continuous at 15-4VDC, by changing an insert that looks like a fuse.

Asus will need a dedicated netbook supply, and the camera could possibly be powered off a USB socket on the computer, but check for things like earth loops which can either put a dead short across the PSU, or put the full supply voltage across the output, with undesirable results.

[John Williamson]

That's 15-*24*VDC......

Bloomin' Asus EEEPC keyboards....

[David WE Roberts]

Checked with Maplins and it doesn't do the iBook and they don't stock anything that will (allegedly).

[the_constructor]

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[Man at B&Q]

Search on rapid Electronics sight. plenty of 24V supplies e.g. 85-2953

That's not the polarity.

What connnector does the iBook require. Knowing Apple that's likely to be a bigger stumbling block.

Almost two a penny. What current? Again, look at Rapid.

MBQ