Dell laptop DC power jack pinout

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi,
I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original broke
and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new
motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather
straight forward project. The size N coaxial power jacks available at
Radio Shack will fit nicely in the chassis in place of the original. As
I was determining voltages and polarity of the power plug I was
surprised to find a second voltage present. I have voltages of
approximately 8VDC and 20VDC present with one common lead. On the plug
end the 8 volts is from the center pin to center barrel and 20 volts
from center barrel to outer sleeve (which I assumed was just an RF
shield). Can any one enlighten me what's going on with the second
voltage? Any one care to share their story of a successful resolution
to a broken power connector on this model (third party replacement jacks
are available for other models)?

By the way, I've heard the same jack is found on Inspiron 5150, 8500,
500m, 600m, and Latitude D500,
D600, D800.

Thanks,
Al T
Spokane, WA

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-- All incoming and outgoing mail is checked with Norton AntiVirus
2005 --

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

<William P. N. Smith> wrote in message
news:1hfpi11mu7i44650nf4ff1fv5eie8u09nk@4ax.com...
> "Al T." <itspersonal@comcast.net> wrote:
>>I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original
>>broke
>>and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new
>>motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather
>>straight forward project.
>
> You've discovered the third power supply connector for modern Dell
> laptops. This third lead is used for communications between the power
> supply and the laptop, so that the laptop can ensure it's got a valid,
> legal, OEM Dell power supply, and what it's power capacity is.
>
> I have no idea what the communications protocol between the two is,
> but I know Dell laptops will reduce charging current (and extend
> charge time) when operated with 65W instead of 90W power supplies,
> will refuse to charge if operated from a non Dell supply, etc.
>
> Let us know if you find out anything else!

Thanks for the reply, William. Now I have conflicting stories as to
whether or not it will charge with the center pin broken or not
connected. I read a post of an instance on an 800D where the center pin
completely broke off and yet the AC adapter continued to function,
albeit with "Unrecognized Power Adapter" messages. I also had a reply
this evening on a Dell sponsored forum that one can disable such
messages in the BIOS 'Adapter Warnings: Enable/Disable' option. Leading
me to hope that I can get by without tying in that odd pin and just
using the 20 volts. As a last resort I can always hardwire the adapter
to the MB or use an ungainly external 3 lead connector wired to the MB
but of course would rather not. Guess I'll try the coaxial connector
without the center pin and see if it'll work since it fits so well and
looks like it belongs there. I'll drop a note with the end results but
it may be a couple of weeks before it gets reassembled and tested.

Thanks,
Al T.
Spokane,WA

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

You can get a kit that converts your laptop and your adapter to a different
jack here: http://www.computekinc.us/dell_project.htm

I have ordered jacks from them and they have good service.


"Al T." <itspersonal@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:QvudnT1mOsBs7LHenZ2dnUVZ_sudnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Hi,
> I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original broke
> and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new
> motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather
> straight forward project. The size N coaxial power jacks available at
> Radio Shack will fit nicely in the chassis in place of the original. As I
> was determining voltages and polarity of the power plug I was surprised to
> find a second voltage present. I have voltages of approximately 8VDC and
> 20VDC present with one common lead. On the plug end the 8 volts is from
> the center pin to center barrel and 20 volts from center barrel to outer
> sleeve (which I assumed was just an RF shield). Can any one enlighten me
> what's going on with the second voltage? Any one care to share their
> story of a successful resolution to a broken power connector on this model
> (third party replacement jacks are available for other models)?
>
> By the way, I've heard the same jack is found on Inspiron 5150, 8500,
> 500m, 600m, and Latitude D500,
> D600, D800.
>
> Thanks,
> Al T
> Spokane, WA
>
> --
> -- All incoming and outgoing mail is checked with Norton AntiVirus 2005 --
>
>

I want to use my Inspiron 8200 on a boat. I have a 70W DC/DC converter but without the 3 pin connector. Has anybody learnt anything new since the posts above about how the 3rd pin is used and whether it is possible to make a non-Dell supply work?

Has anybody found success? I also have this identical problem with my inspiron 8600. A power dock station sort of thing seems easy enough to build, but does anyone know how?

Thanks!

Please see http://www.notebookpowerjacks.com They have a pinout of the 9-pin dell jack with an explanation of what each pin does. Hope this helps!

Check out the following links:

http://www.fonerbooks.com/laptop_7.htm

http://www.laptopjacks.com/view_pa [...] L7450.html

Hey Dude, is your cutting tourch out of gas?? 790 is a bit high to be working on a multi-layer pc board. If you can find one, use something like a soldapult(sic), kind of a small hand held vacuum pump. If not get your wife's favorite table lamp, cut the power cord off (disconnection from wall highly reccomended first) strip out the copper wire and use it as a solder wick. You can also buy wick braid for the same purpose. Or just take it to a tv repair shop, and let them do it; cause if you mess up one of the internal traces on the board, your gonna have one b---h of a time trying to add a flywire(s) to the board without a schematic and pc board layout.

Yours Truly,
Dave from Slime Hole Mississippi

I have been trying to adapt a stock 65W (2-Wire) Sony power adapter to replace a dead 65W (3-Wire) Dell adapter. All your posts were helpful and then I found a site which describes in detail the 3rd wire power adapter I.D. circuit. The following site is a must read before you will understand the rest of my post:

http://www.laptop-junction.com/toa [...] y-revealed

Using this information, I was able to identify the power adapter I.D. circuit in the dead power adapter. In my case it was three components on a 3/8" x 5/8" 'perf' board. (one 330 Ohm resistor, one diode looking device across the single line memory I/O port (probably surge suppression) and the single line memory device in a plastic transistor case, with only two wires connected to anything. I removed that circuit assembly from the dead adapter, and moved it from between the third wire and the minus power supply reference in the old adapter to the place in the d.c. cable where I spliced the Sony 2 wire cable into the 3-wire plug-tail from the old Dell cable, (on the adapter side of the ferrite RFI suppressor).

As has been told by others, without this adapter I.D. circuit, the two-wire adapter would power and run the laptop fine, but the error message indicated there was trouble with the adapter. After the I.D. circuit was added to the cable, the error message concerning the power adapter cleared and the battery charges.