i420tom

iTrader: (11)

I am trying to do some datamaster logs and im getting a ton of errors. They go away when i unplug my laptop from the cig lighter.

My battery is toast on my laptop and I get no errors when pluged into an extention cord to my house.

What should i do? A new battery is $150. I would like to stay away from that cost.

I have a usb cable from moates and and a demo of datamaster.

my other programs like freescan act the say way loosing connection with the pcm.

My laptop is fine tons of ram and processor. No programs running in the background. 99% system resources free. Works flawlessly when using 110v

LiENUS

Get a better power inverter for your laptop to hook it up to the cig lighter.

i420tom

iTrader: (11)

like what?
i am using a coleman 200 watt. i can run a 17" tv and an xbox off of it in my van.

LiENUS

Might wanna try picking up an adaptor specific to your laptop... what brand laptop btw?

i420tom

iTrader: (11)

averatec c3500 tablet pc

colman is a 12v-110v 200watt power inverter

LiENUS

Look into a direct adaptor for your laptop, one that is built specifically for plugging that specific laptop into a car cigarrette adaptor.
the power inverter converts DC to AC (as well as stepping up voltage)
cars are DC (Direct current) theres a + and theres a - current flows from + to -.
AC is alternating current theres 2 lines (sometimes 3 but im not an electrical engineer and wont even pretend to understand 3 phase). the 2 lines alternate from + to - back and forth when 1s + the others - and they alternate at 60hz. (60 times per second). In your house (which is of course AC) that curve is nice and smooth it looks like a sine wave. with a car power inverter its very blocky and the transition isnt smooth at all. Some laptops can't cope with it.
http://www.motorhomesaustralia.net/sine.gif
that outlines the difference perfectly, normal house power is a sine wave, whilst your dc-ac converter produces the "modified sine wave". You have two options either A) get a really expensive (and quite large) power inverter that produces a true sine wave or B) since your laptop really needs DC anyway get a direct adaptor made for your laptop, all it needs to do is step up the voltage and boom you're there. The reason many laptops dont like power inverters is because that brick on the power plug for your laptop. is an AC-DC converter and it expects a very specific input. If you look at yours yours prolly specifies an input of 110V x Amps and 60hz. It probably only lists 60hz. Most of the people whos laptops do work with car adaptors well likely list a range of voltages from 100-240Volts (mine) and a range of hz (mine lists 50-60hz).

i420tom

iTrader: (11)

thanks for the input. I can build something that will step up the 12 volts to the 19 that i need, heck i bet the 12 would work. The battery is is 11.1 and the charger is 19.
im going to stick the 12 volts right into where the charger 19v usually goes. I bet it works. If not ill just find a way to step it up to 19.

There should be no risk in screwing something up just putting 12 into it right?

lol now i remember that crap witht the modified sine, one of my tvs wouldnt work in the van just the 17" the 19" had rolling picture due to the modified wave.

i420tom

iTrader: (11)

my laptop ac to dc inverter actually says 100-240v ac 50-60hz

laptop works fine but datamaster errors.

and actually i've been saying 12 but its actually like 14.x in my car when its running so i cant wait to test it out. Hope i dont fry my laptop.

LiENUS

Just be sure the ground goes to the right one and it shouldn't fry it, the worst it should do is blow your cigarrette lighter fuse.

i420tom

iTrader: (11)

lol SHOULDN'T!!!!!!

a will not would have been reasuring

LiENUS

That blows that one theory out of the water
My guess is your laptop is getting an inconsistent voltage signal at the port, perhaps your laptop is going into some form of power saver mode from the unclean signal, before hooking your laptop direct up try disabling the power saver software, set it so its in presentation mode or dvd watching mode or something.

i420tom

iTrader: (11)

i disabled all the laptop power schemes in powermanagment but how to do what you are sugesting, im not sure of.

where to find such options?

i420tom

iTrader: (11)

update:

i threw an extra car battery on the floor of the passenger side, ran the dc to ac inveter from that instead of my cars 12v

NO MORE ERRORS!!!!!!

I will make sure all my grounds are good and then try the cig lighter again. It must be electial interference somewhere.

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

The 120v 60Hz is U.S. voltage/frequency, and the 240v 50Hz is most of the rest of the world. All it means is that it is compatible with both specs.
Good explanation on the sine wave. I have heard that most of these devices plugging into the OBD port do not work well with the inverter approach into the cig lighter. Just an observation.
Glad to hear you got it working; go to town now.