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A good use for the DC adapter: airplanes

post #1 of 46
6/8/04 at 1:45am
Thread Starter 
I bet a whole bunch of you frequent bidness travelers have known this for a while, but I have just discovered this, since I am a bit of a laptop newbie. Last time I flew American Airlines I noticed a 12V DC "powerport" as they call it underneath the seat. Apparently they offer this only on certain planes and only underneath certain seats, so you have to check beforehand (orbitz.com illustrated where these were pretty well), but you can plug in your cigarette lighter adapter power brick and suck off the plane's juice! This was a stunningly glorious revelation as I go to school in SoCal and fly home to Chicago somewhat often. And so I was playing FarCry, Painkiller, and Manhunt on my 8790 for 3.5 hours straight while the incredulous dude next to me was stuck playing with himself. I just wanted to let everyone in the Sager community that I love so much know of this great way to make your battery inconsequential on an airplane flight.
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post #2 of 46
6/8/04 at 1:57am
That's very interesting indeed. I was under the impression that the wattage supplied by most airplanes wasn't anywhere near what almost any Sager model required. Thanks for sharing.. I might have to invest in one of those DC adaptors now..
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post #3 of 46
6/8/04 at 2:01am


DUDE!!! Where were you in the 88xx forums about a month ago? I gotta make sure I'm hearing this right... the plane power ports accept a standard 12v car adaptor? Man, that rocks. Though American Airlines and Continental (I'm flying to England with them - 9hrs ) are most likely different... I checked the AA site and sure enough, 15V DC outlets. No such luck on the Continental site... it just says 'power ports'. I've requested a full specs sheet on the output so fingers crossed.
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post #4 of 46
6/8/04 at 2:08am
Thread Starter 
I've only used it once thus far, and it worked just fine, but I suppose that there might be some variance across the carriers in terms of wattage provided, maybe even across different aircraft. But it definately warrants looking into, since it's a super-convenient resource. And you are right, AA says they are 15 watts not 12 as I said above, but it still worked with my adapter. What's the difference then?
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post #5 of 46
6/8/04 at 2:12am
Hey Chewy,

On your DC adaptor, are there any specs on it like there are on the power brick? For example, wattage, volts (which is a given), amps, etc? I'm just curious what wattage it pulls so I'll know if it'll work with my car or not. The adaptor in my car says 120 watts max.
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post #6 of 46
6/8/04 at 2:40am
Thread Starter 
Well, the model is the EDAC ED1150, and here is the link to its page on the manufacturer's site, but oddly enough, of all the models on there, the link to the pdf with the specs for it is broken. Sucks.

http://edacpower.com/product/dcdc/ed...?ID=ed1150.pdf

But anyway, here is what it says on the back according to me...

DC INPUT: 11~16Vdc
FUSE RATING: 15A/125V
DC OUTPUT: 16~24V --- 7.5A
150W MAX.

Thats whats on the label, verbatim, so if you can interpret that Turtle, I'd be interested in hearing it.
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post #7 of 46
6/8/04 at 2:43am
Thread Starter 
Oh and I drive a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 5.2 V8, stock alternator, and the adapter works fine.
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post #8 of 46
6/8/04 at 2:56am
where on orbitz does it show that? i looked and didnt find anything refering to it.
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post #9 of 46
6/8/04 at 3:28am
Thread Starter 
I guess its only after you already book a ticket and you want to change your seat, you can see a diagram of the plane and what is available in each row. So i guess you still need to research what aircraft you're flying on the airline's site, so you might as well check it all out there. But i was comforted by double-checking on orbitz.
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post #10 of 46
6/8/04 at 4:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chewygoal
Well, the model is the EDAC ED1150, and here is the link to its page on the manufacturer's site, but oddly enough, of all the models on there, the link to the pdf with the specs for it is broken. Sucks.

http://edacpower.com/product/dcdc/ed...?ID=ed1150.pdf

But anyway, here is what it says on the back according to me...

DC INPUT: 11~16Vdc
FUSE RATING: 15A/125V
DC OUTPUT: 16~24V --- 7.5A
150W MAX.

Thats whats on the label, verbatim, so if you can interpret that Turtle, I'd be interested in hearing it.
Thanks for the info and the link.

The DC input value is good.. anywhere from 11-16 volts. That's why it'll work with 12 volt car adaptors AND 15-volt airline adaptors. Definitely a plus.

The output is decent as well, and can do a little more than what the Sager power brick puts out. The Sager power brick pulls 20 volts at 6 amps, which is 120 watts.

I just wish I knew for sure how my car would do with a 120 watt load. Even though it says 120 watts MAX, I know that sometimes power transformers aren't as efficient as they're labeled to be. I wouldn't want to damage my car battery or cigarette lighter wiring or pop any fuses.
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post #11 of 46
6/8/04 at 12:44pm
Im flying continental from FL to Cali next month, and it would sure be nice if my flight had one of those outlets. I wonder where I can find out...
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post #12 of 46
6/8/04 at 1:19pm
so what models will that adaptor work with?
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post #13 of 46
6/8/04 at 1:35pm
It'll work on ones where the DC input fit the range. Most of the planes should be the same so as long as the range covers 15 than its good.
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post #14 of 46
6/8/04 at 3:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tumbarius
Im flying continental from FL to Cali next month, and it would sure be nice if my flight had one of those outlets. I wonder where I can find out...
I've emailed the Continental customer support. Will post what I find out. Saying that, I emailed them before and got the impression my laptop wouldn't work. This is what they sent me last time I asked them about the power ports:

The aircrafts that are equipped with an empower laptop power system that provides a laptop power port uses an airline industry standard connector known as hypertronics. Adapter cables may be obtained at stores that sell computer accessories or directly from IGO Inc. at 1-888-718-8308 or at www.igo.com/continental.

This hypertronics doesn't sound good...

EDIT: After posting, I checked out that iGo Juice thing they linked me to. On the technical specs page, it says the DC input voltage is about the same as chewygoal's adaptor... and I believe planes give out DC power... right? There may be hope afterall!
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post #15 of 46
6/8/04 at 4:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turtle
Thanks for the info and the link.

The DC input value is good.. anywhere from 11-16 volts. That's why it'll work with 12 volt car adaptors AND 15-volt airline adaptors. Definitely a plus.

The output is decent as well, and can do a little more than what the Sager power brick puts out. The Sager power brick pulls 20 volts at 6 amps, which is 120 watts.

I just wish I knew for sure how my car would do with a 120 watt load. Even though it says 120 watts MAX, I know that sometimes power transformers aren't as efficient as they're labeled to be. I wouldn't want to damage my car battery or cigarette lighter wiring or pop any fuses.
Don't worry about it, you will not damage anything, if your car cannot handle the load a fuse will pop, but that is it... just replace the fuse if that happens. Your laptop will not hit its max power requirements anyway, more than likely. Usually even playing games, the laptop draws much less than its max rating. You should be fine

Regards,
Sean
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post #16 of 46
6/8/04 at 8:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shank2001
Don't worry about it, you will not damage anything, if your car cannot handle the load a fuse will pop, but that is it... just replace the fuse if that happens. Your laptop will not hit its max power requirements anyway, more than likely. Usually even playing games, the laptop draws much less than its max rating. You should be fine

Regards,
Sean
Hey, thanks for the heads up. I appreciate the advice. One of these days I'll get the DC adaptor and let everyone know how it turns out.
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post #17 of 46
6/8/04 at 8:49pm
I tried using my 5680 with the cigarette adapter and it kept popping the breaker on the power port on a recent American Airlines flight. If I kept the laptop off and jacked it in it did stay on which means I can at least charge my batteries while in the air for those long flights. Maybe the 8xxx series draws less current or maybe I had a bad seat location.

Anyhow, here is a link to a site where you can find out the location of those pesky outlets:

www.seatguru.com
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post #18 of 46
6/8/04 at 9:11pm
Does anyone know for sure if the power ports on Continetnal planes are standard 'cigarette style' ports?
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post #19 of 46
6/8/04 at 9:14pm
I posted this in the 8890 fourm and I'm STILL curious about it.

http://cell-phone-accessories.com/aiadunwowial.html

Any idea if this thing would work to let you run off those little non standard airport power plugs?
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post #20 of 46
6/8/04 at 9:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by violetdream
I posted this in the 8890 fourm and I'm STILL curious about it.

http://cell-phone-accessories.com/aiadunwowial.html

Any idea if this thing would work to let you run off those little non standard airport power plugs?
Yeah, that's my point. Chewy says the AA ports are already 'cigarette style' ports. But this clearly shows there's different types. Darn them and their lack of standards
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