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introMagSafe for the Rest of Us: A DIY Magnetic Power Adaptor
We all know that one of the most common places for a laptop to break is
its power adaptor. The combination of being directly attached to the
motherboard, heat, and constant moving and shifting leads the connector
to become loose and sloppy. Eventually the connection stops working
altogether. Apple has solved this problem on their laptops by use of a
magnetic power adaptor, unfortunately for us they also patented the idea.
This is my version of a magnetic power adaptor for an Acer 1410 laptop, You should be able to modify the steps fairly easily for work for any laptop though. It is effective, easy to build with common materials, and takes the strain off of the internal connection and motherboard. It also holds on well enough to not come off unless it is supposed to.
Edit: There have been some changes to the design, mostly involving using thin copper foil in place of aluminum duct tape. There were heat issues involving the aluminum tape, these issues have been resolved by swapping out the aluminum tape for copper foil. Thanks to instructables members jeff-o and CyberBill for their insights and suggestions.
This modification should be completely reversible and do no harm to the laptop or original power adaptor.
Please always take your time to work safe and unplug the power cord and laptop battery.
A big thanks goes to breath for his original ThinkSafe instructable located here:
ThinkSafe: A Magnetic Power Connector for Thinkpads
This is my version of a magnetic power adaptor for an Acer 1410 laptop, You should be able to modify the steps fairly easily for work for any laptop though. It is effective, easy to build with common materials, and takes the strain off of the internal connection and motherboard. It also holds on well enough to not come off unless it is supposed to.
Edit: There have been some changes to the design, mostly involving using thin copper foil in place of aluminum duct tape. There were heat issues involving the aluminum tape, these issues have been resolved by swapping out the aluminum tape for copper foil. Thanks to instructables members jeff-o and CyberBill for their insights and suggestions.
This modification should be completely reversible and do no harm to the laptop or original power adaptor.
Please always take your time to work safe and unplug the power cord and laptop battery.
A big thanks goes to breath for his original ThinkSafe instructable located here:
ThinkSafe: A Magnetic Power Connector for Thinkpads
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step 1Tools and Materials
You will need:
Tools:
Pliers
Wire cutters
Scissors
Flashlight
Matchsticks (to apply epoxy)
Materials:
Neodymium Ring-Shaped Magnets (enough to cover your adaptor plug with some overhang)
Wire Studs (to fit into the power socket)
Steel Washers (asst. sizes, make sure your magnets will STICK to them)
Thin Copper Foil (Note: aluminum duct tape has too much resistance)
Electrical Tape
Two-Part Epoxy Adhesive
Nail(s)
Calming Incense (to keep you sane while working with the fiddly bits)
My design for building this adaptor changed many times throughout the build due to trial and error, it is best to start out with too many pieces and then narrow it down to what you actually need than to be stuck without a part you really need.
Cost Breakdown:
Magnets: $2.45 each
Wire Studs: $1.65 for 10
Epoxy: $5
Copper Foil: $10
Various Washers and Nails: $4
Incense: $1.95
Total Cost: ~$32 CDN
Tools:
Pliers
Wire cutters
Scissors
Flashlight
Matchsticks (to apply epoxy)
Materials:
Neodymium Ring-Shaped Magnets (enough to cover your adaptor plug with some overhang)
Wire Studs (to fit into the power socket)
Steel Washers (asst. sizes, make sure your magnets will STICK to them)
Thin Copper Foil (Note: aluminum duct tape has too much resistance)
Electrical Tape
Two-Part Epoxy Adhesive
Nail(s)
Calming Incense (to keep you sane while working with the fiddly bits)
My design for building this adaptor changed many times throughout the build due to trial and error, it is best to start out with too many pieces and then narrow it down to what you actually need than to be stuck without a part you really need.
Cost Breakdown:
Magnets: $2.45 each
Wire Studs: $1.65 for 10
Epoxy: $5
Copper Foil: $10
Various Washers and Nails: $4
Incense: $1.95
Total Cost: ~$32 CDN
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they look similar to this:
www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachments/remotes-cables-accessories-tweaks/12700d1235502403-comprehensive-guide-splicing-speaker-wire-crimp-terminal-5.jpg
however, the ones i used had a solid copper post.
since this piece must be a fairly custom fit (the Crimp shroud must fit within the hole of the power adaptor port and the back end of the post must fit over the adaptor ports Center Pin, you may find it easier to jerry rig some other method than to look for a post that will work.
you might also have luck using something like a Banana Plug if you can find them small enough
images.google.ca/images
www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp
Can you clarify this for us?
Other than that, enjoy your summer and SEE YOU ON THE BEACH!
Let me ask you this: Why? Do you have facts and research to back up this claim? How about controlled experiments done by yourself or others? What about a few cited sources? I'll give you a hint: no. You have absolutely nothing to back up what you're saying. If you want to be heard, try providing facts and logic, data and results. What you have done is made a claim out of pure thin air just to hear yourself talk. You're not making a theory. You're not even making a valid point. I doubt you even read the other comments. You just want to throw in your useless little two cents (or in your opinion, a whopping $20) so you can sound smart like someone who knows what they're talking about.
-Y
Oh yeah it's totally worth it to me to mess up my laptop on the say so of some random person on the internet. Lets me go do that.
That is a harddrive magnet. They are hugely powerful, and can pinch the skin hard enough to cause bleeding. However, and I know this from personal experience, the field that they generate, which is quite a bit stronger than the one used in this instructable, completely dissipates about half an inch at most away from the magnet. So in a way you are right, in that you could theoretically wreck a harddrive with magnetism, but for this instructable to do so would essentially require plugging your power jack directly into the harddrive.
"The only magnets powerful enough to scrub data from a drive platter are laboratory degaussers or those used by government agencies to wipe bits off media. "In the real world, people are not losing data from magnets," says Bill Rudock, a tech-support engineer with hard-drive maker Seagate. "In every disk," notes Rudock, "there's one heck of a magnet that swings the head."
quite a nice instructable here, simple yet effective
man we suck
Ah well at least england has...
has...
er..
lots of.. um.. rain? no no that won't do. we have lots of CLOOUUDDS yeah clouds theyre nice.
Or not..
Anyway :P
And no i DONT want that leaflet to the mental home thankyou very much