Compaq Armada 7400 AC Adaptor Pin Assignment needed

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq,comp.sys.laptops,misc.industry.electronics.marketplace (More info?)

Hi there,
a friend gave me some old Compaq Armada 7400 Laptop. Unfortunately without
an ac adaptor. Since i am a bit into electronics i thought of building my
own adaptor.

Thus i need to know the pin assignment of the 4 PIN Connector on the Laptop.
Compaq told me it is a ISO EN60320 / IEC 320 Standard Sheet C13 Connector.
The Compaq Spare Sparts number of the AC Adaptor is 204434-001

However i am not thinking of spending 100 bucks for a simple ac adaptor when
all i need to know is the assignment of the 4 Pins.

So, does anyone here know what voltage, etc. goes to what PIN ?

The Laptop itself consumes about 18,85 Volts DC and 3,2 Amperes.

Best Regards

Daniel

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq,comp.sys.laptops,misc.industry.electronics.marketplace (More info?)

http://search.ebay.com/Compaq-Arma [...] QQfromZR40

Daniel "Stonegate" Fischer wrote:
> Hi there,
> a friend gave me some old Compaq Armada 7400 Laptop. Unfortunately without
> an ac adaptor. Since i am a bit into electronics i thought of building my
> own adaptor.
>
> Thus i need to know the pin assignment of the 4 PIN Connector on the Laptop.
> Compaq told me it is a ISO EN60320 / IEC 320 Standard Sheet C13 Connector.
> The Compaq Spare Sparts number of the AC Adaptor is 204434-001
>
> However i am not thinking of spending 100 bucks for a simple ac adaptor when
> all i need to know is the assignment of the 4 Pins.
>
> So, does anyone here know what voltage, etc. goes to what PIN ?
>
> The Laptop itself consumes about 18,85 Volts DC and 3,2 Amperes.
>
> Best Regards
>
> Daniel
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq,comp.sys.laptops,misc.industry.electronics.marketplace (More info?)

mike wrote:
> Airman QPD wrote:
>
>>
>> http://search.ebay.com/Compaq-Arma [...] QQfromZR40
>>
>>
>> Daniel "Stonegate" Fischer wrote:
>>
>>> Hi there,
>>> a friend gave me some old Compaq Armada 7400 Laptop. Unfortunately
>>> without an ac adaptor. Since i am a bit into electronics i thought of
>>> building my own adaptor.
>>>
>>> Thus i need to know the pin assignment of the 4 PIN Connector on the
>>> Laptop.
>>> Compaq told me it is a ISO EN60320 / IEC 320 Standard Sheet C13
>>> Connector. The Compaq Spare Sparts number of the AC Adaptor is
>>> 204434-001
>>>
>>> However i am not thinking of spending 100 bucks for a simple ac
>>> adaptor when all i need to know is the assignment of the 4 Pins.
>
>
> You need to know a LOT more than the assignment of the pins.
> Sometimes/often, the AC adapter is the ONLY thing that limits the
> battery charge current. If the charge current is too low or too high,
> this can mess up the chartge terminaton algorithm and make a real mess.
>
> Take your ohm-meter and measure which pins are connected to ground.
> Those are often the ground pins. The other are probably +volts of some
> kind. Try an adjustable regulated supply with adjustable current limit
> and meters on both volts and amps.
> Start somewhere slightly above the nominal battery voltage. Set the
> current limit at 100ma and test the pins. If you get current flow with
> the machine off, you may have identified a separate pin allocated to
> charging only.
>
> REMOVE THE BATTERY.
> Set the current limit high enough to run the machine.
> 2 amps is usually a good place to start. If you set it too low, you run
> the risk of smoking the power supply or crashing the hard disk. Too
> high to the wrong pins and your computer is history.
> See if you can make it go.
>
> We haven't even started thinking about what's a proper current limit
> for charging the battery without exploding it.
>
> Still wanna build an adapter???
> mike
>
>
>
>>>
>>> So, does anyone here know what voltage, etc. goes to what PIN ?
>>>
>>> The Laptop itself consumes about 18,85 Volts DC and 3,2 Amperes.
>>>
>>> Best Regards
>>>
>>> Daniel
>>>
>
>
>


I have tried the same, with no luck - other than blowing the fuse in my
machine. Luckly, the fuse protected the rest of the machine...

There at two pins that god directly to the battery poles, 18,5 V and GND
so the charge current limiting is in the "brick". The two other pins are
(or seems to be) one logic signal, and one high impedance signal
possibly related to battery charging. I was never able to figure it out.
And then I got a PSU for free.

I is possible to supply the machine with power from the docking-station
connector, the pinout for the docking station is available somewhere on
the HP/compaq site.

Arne