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Laptop power supply Voltage
Name: betty Date: November 21, 2006 at 15:28:10 Pacific OS: windows 98 CPU/Ram: 64mb Product: compaq
Comment:
I just won a compaq armada laptop off of Ebay. It came with no power supply so I bought a universal power supply. The thing is, I don't know what voltage to set the universal power supply to and the instructions said you could tear up the universal power supply if you set it to the wrong voltage. How can I tell?
Name: StuartS Date: November 21, 2006 at 15:46:01 Pacific
Reply:
You need to get hold of a manual for the laptop. To many volts and you will destroy the laptop. To little and it won't work.
Not only to you need the right voltage, you also need a power supply the can deliver the right Amps. To many amps is not a problem, to little and it won't work.
Generally you need a power supply that is designed to power a laptop. Any old universal power supply will probably be to unstable to do the job. You would be better of getting a power supply designed for the laptop. More expensive but a lot safer.
Stuart
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Response Number 2
Name: StuartS Date: November 21, 2006 at 15:51:29 Pacific
Reply:
Actually it was the batteries that caught fire on the Dell, not the power supply.
However, an underated power supply could casue it to overheat and catch fire.
Stuart
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Response Number 3
Name: joejoe Date: November 21, 2006 at 18:42:35 Pacific
Reply:
LOL, was my post offensive? just said about the dell caught fire? LOL! my message is deleted.
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Response Number 4
Name: LinuxOS2 Date: November 21, 2006 at 19:03:34 Pacific
Reply:
For what its worth my ARMADA 7710MT is 14.4v
Keep the old stuff running
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Response Number 5
Name: cliffpage Date: November 21, 2006 at 23:04:59 Pacific
Reply:
my compaq/hp laptop power supply says on it the output is 18.5 volts, 3.5amps, 65 watts.(other models will of course vary) As StuartS says you need to pay attention to the amps as well as volts. Most universal power supplies won't be any where near to 3.5 amps.
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