Comments on: Laptop running on a sealed lead acid battery

By: Otto Suns

Otto Suns — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:11:44 +0000

gotta get me a new laptop at some stage

By: Power

Power — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:58:49 +0000

Why do batteries gradually lose their ability to hold a charge?

By: j9

j9 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:13:41 +0000

When I did something similar, I used 6 Cyclon D batteries (http://www.advancedbattery.com/itemdesc~product~ENERSYS%200810-0004%3B%20CYCLON%20D%20CELL,%202.5AH~ic~2V2.5T1JBU.htm). Seemed like a good idea at the time, since I had originally pulled them out of some portable piece of HP equipment I found.

By: silversurfa64

silversurfa64 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:35:56 +0000

how lame is this website…

By: CampGareth

CampGareth — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:17:15 +0000

Just want to point out I’m doing a similar thing with my PSP atm. Scrounged an old SLA from a wheelchair and I have a luggage bag to carry it around in, best thing is I can also use a beagleboard with it if want.

By: mikula

mikula — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:17:29 +0000

I did this a couple of years ago got like 10 hours worth of charge

By: aztraph

aztraph — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:59:55 +0000

I wonder if he tried the Battery reconditioning technique in the laptop resurrection and upgrade article back in 2005?

By: eric

eric — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:16:41 +0000

Am I the only one who noticed the strange wording in the description? It says he used a boost converter to get the 5 amps necessary. He used it to get the _voltage_ necessary at that current.. I know that’s what was meant, but the wording made it sound like he built a current-regulated supply.

It is of course possible to have a current-regulated switching converter, but that’s not what is happening here :)

Sorry for the nitpick!

By: Steven

Steven — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:52:10 +0000

hmm I always wanted to make something similar for when im traveling. But Lead in a box is not an elegant way.

Nowadays 60 to 70 Watt LiPo pack are about 50 dollar/euro.

By: TBJR6

TBJR6 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:30:09 +0000

i had a similar situation and i handled it in a similar way

only i used a 12v to 115ac adapter and generic laptop power adapter

By: Hirudinea

Hirudinea — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:21:49 +0000

Build the converter so if fits into the battery space and it would be even better.

By: Mukle

Mukle — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:40:30 +0000

IDK, about lugging it around anywhere. but there’s a few folks who live off the power grid that are interested in this kind of thing. Use a couple of solar panels and or a wind mill along with a charger and your all set. Don’t need the laptop to waste cpu time to do power monitoring. desktop pc use way more power then the laptops which is another reason why off griders use laptops.

By: jsngrimm

jsngrimm — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:59:06 +0000

also expensive ups ones r about $30 each

By: jsngrimm

jsngrimm — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:58:31 +0000

those sla batteries are heavy – my ups takes one and when you remove the battery it gets about 7 pounds lighter

By: Haku

Haku — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:18:59 +0000

I have a laptop running off a SLA using a car adaptor – the Asus Eee 701 can be picked up & held easily with just two fingers, but the 24kg 70Ah SLA needs two hands to pick it up. No they don’t go travelling anywhere :)
I estimate I’ll get up to 48 hours runtime but haven’t tried running it flat yet.