I was reading in the instructions about not hooking up a DC to DC power supply but is it safe to use the laptop's power supply to power the laptop while scanning, reading or flashing????
Thanks
I was reading in the instructions about not hooking up a DC to DC power supply but is it safe to use the laptop's power supply to power the laptop while scanning, reading or flashing????
Thanks
The instructions also say not to do so.
They say "use laptop battery only"
I can't remember where i read this and i got mine from summit racing and it is very vague on the subject but you would think it would be designed to be stable with the laptop's power supply.
Another question i have is that i read somewhere is that you can install the application on 2 computers(laptop/desktop). Of course you are only going to use the laptop to flash/scan,but for convenience i thought i read you can do this...is this true??
I use mine all the time. It's not a converter but a DC power cable for my computer. I'm not saying it won't cause problems but I haven't had any. Also, there's no problem putting HPT on two computers. It works fine.
2006 Tahoe
Iron ls2, built up 4l60e w/vig 3000 stall, 232/234 114, 4.30s, LTs, ORY NNBS intake and LS2 TB etc.
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...except partial differential equations.
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laptop battery only...
laptop battery only....
I say it twice , one for each interface I fried trying to use an invertor and then a not so cheap 12v/120v power supply cord
if you need to charge your laptop do it with the interface disconnected then once your charged up enough to resume tuning unplug and use laptop battery only...
laptop battery only...
PB's 1/4 mi 12.21 117.75 trap ,1/8 mi. 7.779 93.99trap , 1.949 short time (FWD W body)
The only way I would power my good electronics in my vehicle is with a Pure Sine power inverter, especially if you can get one with a battery supply that it can charge at the same time and be used unplugged as well. Cheap inverters = BIG problems.
'03 Chev Silverado 5.3L
'04 GMC Sierra 6.0L
'07 Mustang GT/CS 4.6L
'08 Ford F-350 6.4L
Scanning is not a problem with an inverter as the car is running and you are not burning the tune.
You do not want to use any type of inverter with the laptop for applying the tune it does not matter if the laptop is fully charged or not. The reason is that it can cause power fluctuation and additional draw on the battery that could reduce the power going to the PCM causing it to not complete the burn frying your PCM. the problem is not the laptops power but the PCMs power.
Correct, that's why an inverter with battery backup would be best if you are loading tunes, unplug from cig lighter (draw gone), load tune, plug back in and off you go. If you are doing this on a 3-4+ year old battery you are asking for the same issues as well
'03 Chev Silverado 5.3L
'04 GMC Sierra 6.0L
'07 Mustang GT/CS 4.6L
'08 Ford F-350 6.4L
just to clarify , your talking about what can fry pcm's , what I was referring to was frying the hpt interface , I fried 2 hpt interfaces a couple years back before going battery only when hooked up to hpt , hpt interfaces now come with a note to only use hpt interface with battery power.Originally Posted by Phantom
I have never fried a pcm , only fried interfaces while scanning not flashing with laptop plugged into an invertor one time and a $165 Targus 12v /120v dual attachment ( 12v/120v cords) power cord the other time
PB's 1/4 mi 12.21 117.75 trap ,1/8 mi. 7.779 93.99trap , 1.949 short time (FWD W body)
Seems like people just tend to throw the instructions, help file, and the DO NOT DO THIS in the trash and ignore it. Then, when someone tells someone else, hey, this fried my crap, you get, ah who cares, i do it anyway.
Some people just NEVER learn. Even when slapped in the face with proof.
The reason some have good luck, others not so much has to do with voltage potential. An AC converter with an AC power supply will create "its own" 12 volt for your laptop. This 12 volts will be different than your cars 12 volts. When you connect the laptop to your car with the interface you are shooting all that voltage into the car and the weakest link fry (your expensive interface, sometimes the USB port on the laptop).
That said. Technically its very possible to have the same voltage potential if you use the a 12v plug and a laptop charger specifically designed to use said 12 plug. You will not have a voltage potential and this is how some folks get away with having the laptop hooked up. I've done it for years.
Now the manual states only battery so you are at your own risk doing this. There could be other factors for blowing up the interface so don't do it. But if you do, always use a quality 12v charger :-)
Pete
I have a question on this my laptop battery only lasts about 20mins so that being said is not enough of time can i have my laptop connected to the wall charger?
No, it will most likely blow something up. Get a new laptop battery, its gonna be way cheaper.
i'm assuming this only applies while the interface is connected to the vehicle. if i'm in my house, and need to check credits or something, i can connect it while the laptop has a charging cable plugged in, right?
That's correct, only applies when connected to the vehicle.
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