Powerbook 520 power pinouts

[mr camouflage]

Hi

I rescued a 520 from the scrap pile at work yesterday, but I couldn't find the power adapter.

I found an apple pdf that says it takes 16 volts, but I need to know which pins are positive and which pins are ground.

Looking at socket there are 4 pins in a square configuration

eg:

. .

. .

Anybody know which ones are +ve and -ve?

 

[mr camouflage]

Alternatively, maybe I can hook up some volltage to the battery connectors?

Just until I can work out if the machine is dead or alive.

The battery has 4 contacts. top edge is -ve bottom is +ve. What are the 2 other contact between the 2 for ?

 

[leosadvs]

hi!

you need to conect it like this: http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1510/imagen167wi4.jpg

in the Apple Service manual says it need 16v, but i use a 12v generic laptop charger and works great.

and i did this mod to my PW http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6544/imagen168it8.jpg

 

[jhvaughan2]

you can have mine for the price of shipping. PM me your address and I'll get you a quote (it will have to be UPS).

 

[beachycove]

Could you explain exactly what the the four pins are in the image? That would be really helpful.

 

[leosadvs]

Could you explain exactly what the the four pins are in the image? That would be really helpful.

like this? http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5871/imagen167vr1.jpg

i dont know what exactly the "GND SENSE" does, i guess that is used to supply power to the VBATT only when the battery is plugged

 

[mr camouflage]

So to clarify, the two at the top are 16V and the bottom two are ground?

 

[beachycove]

I think he means that the top left is negative and the top right is positive, that the bottom right is ground and that he's not quite sure what the bottom left is.

The fact that a new plug was installed and works means that there was surely method in the madness. Still, I think I'm a-gonna get me a voltmeter before I play around with my 540c and its troubled power supply any further.

Must ... however ... restrict ... the ... monthly ... outflow ... of ... pennies ... on ... antiquated ... electronics. (That means I'll probably wait and tackle this one sometime in the new year.)

 

[mr camouflage]

Haha. Yeah I know what thats like. Just saw a Cube I want to buy, even though I don't need it and wouldn't use it much. I have 2 iBooks. Had a wallstreet in excellent condition, that I now regret selling, and a black apple keyboard & mouse to go with it too.

I tried 12 volts to the battery connectors, no life. Clips were too big to fit on the power supply pins at the rear. Was going to open it up, but couldn't find the right driver that was skinny enough to fit in the deep holes in the middle. I have one somewhere, just need to find it.

 

[manimal347]

Uh... bump, as I've also got trouble. Busted mine open, and a Traicon primary cap is clearly bulged to heck. Hope I didn't cook my PowerBook, because I repeatedly forced the machine despite the supply's loud and sickly buzzing sound. Figure I'll buy a generic chinese laptop power brick for $20, but I wanted to ask if I probably cooked my motherboard. Hope not, as I've got a 100MHZ PPC board and 40MB of RAM inside!

 

[msieweke]

I was able to get my PB520 working with a 1.3A@15V power supply from a cable modem (free). I cut the connector off of the dead original power supply and wired the orange/red wires to +15V; the black wire and braid go to ground. The blue wire is not connected.

IIRC the PB520 will run on any voltage from 12-18V. Don't try a higher voltage because the protection circuitry will shut down. I found this out by powering mine with an 18V solar panel that put out >18V when cold. As the solar panel heated up the voltage went down, and the PB started drawing power.

 

[equill]

PB 5nn series AC adapter:

• Input: AC 100-240V, 50/60 Hz

• Output: two outputs, DC 16.6V, 1.0A and DC16.6V, 1.5A (nominal).

The pin-pattern (4) is a rhombus (the upper two pins are further apart than the lower two pins), not a square, to ensure correct polarity during insertion of the female plug.

de

 

[manimal347]

Yeah, I'll look for a 16v power brick. Still, I'm worried, as that supply was emitting more than 500mv of ripple! Seriously, I could just watch the needle wiggle on my multimeter. From now on, I'll test my older power supplies before using, and I suggest others do the same. If it's not fairly stable when it's not even at load, it needs replacement.

No wonder why the darned thing was crashing!

 

[James1095]

The electrolytic capacitors in laptop power bricks and most switchmode power supplies for that matter take a real beating. High ripple currents, high temperatures, long hours of operation, it's amazing they last as well as they do.

If you can crack the thing open, you'll find several capacitors in the output section that will be bad. If you have access to an ESR meter, they will likely test very high resistance, sometimes even open. Often they will be bulging or leaking electrolyte, but I've seen plenty of bad ones that looked just fine. Once in a while even the large main filter capacitor (careful, that one can zap you!) will also be bad. If the supply works at all, then 95% of the time replacing the capacitors will have it running like new.

All that said, I have a PB520 which is missing the power brick entirely. If anyone has a dead but complete one they don't want, I would gladly pay postage.