power to laptop

kduffy101

hi,
i was given an oldish laptop from a friend,he had it for about 3yrs.
the problem is there is no charger+battery is flat so i cant fire it up.
ive been unemployed for last 10 months so ive not got any spare cash to go+buy a new charger.
i was wondering if there is any other to get power into it to see whats needed to get it running again.
can i get power from my pc to it?(usb cable?).
thanks inadvance.

Basil1234

basically the usb idea is a non starter you will be looking at the charger and the battery its sort like trying to run a car without petrol. you might try ebay or such like for a cheaper way of doing it some other people might be able to point you to specfic cheap sites for chargers and batterys.

Oscar_The_Grouch

What's the make/model of the laptop?

googler

Look at Maplin for the specific plug that fits the charger socket on the back of the laptop.

Find some cable to connect to this plug

Find out what voltage it should run on (12v, maybe?)

Buy batteries (8 x 1.5v for a 12v supply - the larger and higher voltage the individual batteries the better) and a battery box or boxes (Maplin again) to suit this voltage. Connect battery box with batteries to plug, plug in to laptop, and it should work for a while.

It's not going to charge the internal battery to any degree, but it may power up for a while.

The heavier duty the batteries are, the better, but there's limits - I'd suggest a 12v car battery is just TOO much.....

kduffy101

its a acer3050 zr3

Hammyman

googler wrote: »

Look at Maplin for the specific plug that fits the charger socket on the back of the laptop.

Find some cable to connect to this plug

Find out what voltage it should run on (12v, maybe?)

Buy batteries (8 x 1.5v for a 12v supply - the larger and higher voltage the individual batteries the better) and a battery box or boxes (Maplin again) to suit this voltage. Connect battery box with batteries to plug, plug in to laptop, and it should work for a while.

It's not going to charge the internal battery to any degree, but it may power up for a while.

The heavier duty the batteries are, the better, but there's limits - I'd suggest a 12v car battery is just TOO much.....

A completely daft idea. The current drain would kill AA batteries in about 5 minutes flat. Also most laptops run on 17-20V.

The OP is just going to have to buy a charger from Ebay. They're around £7 for a compatible or up to £20 for a genuine one, depending on model. Personally, I'd avoid the compatibles - I've known too many fail and also kill batteries.

Oscar_The_Grouch

kduffy101 wrote: »

its a acer3050 zr3

Sorry - I don't have a spare that would work for that model.

There are loads on ebay, but make sure you get one that is the adaptor and the 3 pin cable, or you won't be able to plug it in to the mains!!

kduffy101

just took it to local pc repair shop,he tried a cable but there was no power,he will check it later+tell me whats wrong.

pendulum

*Bit confused* you normally have to pay when you take an item to a computer shop for diagnosis etc, their time is chargeable.
As chargers are cheap surely it was better just to buy one and see, you could always sell it again for a small loss if it didn't work.

kduffy101

this guy looks at it then tells you whats wrong+gives you a price for the repair.its then up to you if you want to go ahead with it.
as i said he checked out the power with a differant charger+its defo not powering up.

googler

Hammyman wrote: »

A completely daft idea. The current drain would kill AA batteries in about 5 minutes flat.

Who said anything about using AAs? I said the heavier duty the battery, the better. i.e. C or D cells at least, possibly heavier

Hammyman wrote: »

Also most laptops run on 17-20V.

Which is why I said "12v, maybe?"