Laptop run off of AA batteries

[onexrocks]

yeah why couldn't you just skip a step and add up batteries to the proper voltage of your laptop (mine would be 19.5v) ? and would it be possible to recharge your external batteries off your laptop power supply!? you know if it gives out lets say 19.5v that should be able to recharge the entire set of batteries to 19.5??

[MrPizzaman09]

@onexrocks You could, but going through the inverter allows for an extra layer of protection due to low voltage. And yes, you could charge the batteries with the power supply (I have done this many times when I don't have a proper charger). For this case though, I wanted to use the batteries like a buffer. Also, my solar panel only likes to output efficiently at 12v, so going to 19v wouldn't work as well, but it could be done.

[imback218]

can i use these for my bionic arm? It requires 20X AA batteries for the thumb and the index finger to move. Or would i be better off buying a 12V AC Car adapter just for the skin to tan?

[MrPizzaman09]

@imback218 That's a random question. I think if you have a good charger and you need to be wireless, then go with some 3000mah nimh cells off ebay for cheap. If you don't need wireless, then use a 12v wall adapter, like a laptop power supply.

20 AA doesn't equal 12v, that's more like 24v.

[imback218]

@MrPizzaman09 ok thanks, and i know, i need 12v to make my skin tan, 20 + volts for my thumb and index finger to move..

[MrPizzaman09]

@imback218 I wonder if a higher voltage cell, like a lithium ion or LiFePO4 cell might work better. Do you have a video of the hand?

[imback218]

@MrPizzaman09 no i dont, sorry

[MrPizzaman09]

@imback218 How long does it have to run? And how much power are you drawing?

[imback218]

@MrPizzaman09 10 minutes..and what do you mean how much power am i drawing?

[MrPizzaman09]

@imback218 Volts and amps. You all ready told me 20 AA cells = 24v.

I would imagine any battery would be enough power for a 10 minute run time. You could pull up to about 10 amps from a 3ah nihm AA battery, so you would have about 240 watts of power, which should be plenty.

[imback218]

@MrPizzaman09 ook thanks for the advice :)

[killzpwnz0red]

@MrPizzaman09 The small asus eee pc and the acer aspire one will run from 10 rechargable AA batteris as well as any 12v source including AAA battery pack.

See voltsxamps (dot com) and you will see how it is done very easily.

I was able to run the asus netbook right off a 15 watt solar panel without any batteries attached to the netbook. Check out the url above and you will see.

[MrPizzaman09]

@killzpwnz0red Yeah, you could do that with the small laptop, as long as the laptop doesn't pull too much power. Ideally, you want to have a buffer in their so your voltages don't spike or drop too low. I also noticed that the eee pc's use a 7.4v battery, so power usage must be low.

[MrPizzaman09]

@killzpwnz0red I looked at the website you gave me, and it says the laptop only pulled between 0.5 to 0.8 amps @ 12v. My set up was using between 2 - 3 amps, sometimes spiking as high as 3.4 while playing a game.

[THEtechknight]

i woudlnt use an inverter. i would jsut use the proper amount of batteries to amount for the DC the laptop needs on its jack. Obviously, you can only do this on SOME laptops, and not the laptops have have the ID signal lead. (newer dell, HP, compaq)

this way you wont have switching losses in the inverter.

[MrPizzaman09]

@THEtechknight I did that on a 2000 model year compaq 700m laptop. It lasted for about 30 minutes. If I use that inverter, I have a lesser chance of hurting the computer IMO. Plus, I don't have a 12v connector for my laptop.

[THEtechknight]

@MrPizzaman09 Well thats if your using enough batteries for 12v. most laptops are 18 to 20v. so you can use a few more batteries to bump it up into that range.

[MrPizzaman09]

@THEtechknight My laptop is only 10.8v.

[THEtechknight]

@MrPizzaman09 Well, there ya go. use 7 batteries. :-)

[Rockflier]

Nice! Good job

[MrPizzaman09]

Thank you. I might do the experiment again once I start charging batteries with my windmill.

[sirmasterpimp]

Pretty cool, I did this once with a 70 watt power inverter and single 1ah rechargeable 12 volt nickle cad battery......surprisingly I got only about 5 min out of it (battery was 5 years old and deteriorating). It would be cool if laptops came with the option of user replaceable cells so people wouldn't have to spend $100+ on a new battery. 5 stars

[chessyang]

what is all that noise?

[MrPizzaman09]

Most of the noise is from the fan in the inverter.

[exinco]

i love this experiment. nice job guys

[MrPizzaman09]

Thanks man