Magnetic Laptop power connector

Step 2 Decisions...

Initially, my idea was to use round magnets and try to keep the footprint as small as possible. I was also going to use a spring loaded mechanism like the Thinksafe, but that went by the wayside later. The problem I had with my original design, which was a 3/8" inch round magnet for the ground with a smalled diameter magnet beside it for the positive terminal, was that it had to be connected one way, and one way only. While I like breath's design, I did not want a live positive terminal carrying 5 amps at 15 volts exposed to negligent fingers or anything else that it might come in contact with. As it was I couldn't get the magnets spaced properly with a spring loaded terminal that was centerline in the small magnet hole, so I abandoned the idea for the aforementioned one.

Later, I decided that an ambidextrous connector would be easier and more appropriate, and, in order to have the connector self correct for orientation, I switched to 1/4" square by 1/2" long magnets. by using two of these, the connectors want to connect in the right way, saving a lot of fiddling.