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DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 12:04 pm
by jm98
Folks,

What's good source for dt366 car charger? Any universal car chargers available?  I done google search for 42Watts 12VDC and 3.5 Amp output but no luck.

I have Targus laptop charger 3-14V input 9-15VDC output up to 8AMP and 70Watts continues output but not working...

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 5:38 pm
by Foxx
Thats a 42W max power draw.

12V @ 3.5A max output. You can get an adapter that goes over that amperage. The Amperage rating is telling you the max that can be safely drawn from the PSU before it might crap out. Make sure you have the head of the physical connector going into the DT's polarity is correct. The charger states that it is a positive tip, meaning the center pin is positive voltage. Look on the PSU, it looks something like this  (+)---o)---(-)  That is the best I can do in text.

The cigarette lighter and Aux' voltage line in the car just so happens to be 12V @ 3A. You could put together an adapter. I do this with my ham radio stuff. Just take my advice, put a 3A fuse on BOTH leads! If at any time the DT draws more than 3A or short out, the fuse will blow out, instead of your DT or car circuitry.

If you need help, pop on the live chat and stick around, I am usually on. Id be more than willing to help you out.

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 5:57 pm
by david_halliday
Umm, It looks to me like your Targus Adapter should have worked, 8A > 3.5A and 70W > 45W (These are really the same thing as Watts = Volts x Amps.)

One thing to check though is the polariity. Sometime the center pin on a PSU plug is +ve sometime -ve I believe there is an unwritten rule the center should be +ve but not everyone follows it.

Also I would be a little wary of just plugging a DT 366 directly into the Cigarette adapter, some crappy cars dont isolate it correctly dropping the voltage allot when the car starts and if you get a fault in your cars charging circuite you could send 40+ volts to your WebDT. To do it correctly you would need to buy or build something like this:

http://eegeek.net/content/view/20/31/

But this probably amounts to what you have in your Targus adapter.

An alternative simple solution might be to get a small DC-AC inverter and just use the power supply that came with your WebDT. Beneficent but should work.

Dave.

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:15 am
by jm98
Thanks! I also suspected that It might be polarity issue.  There are no switches to change polarity on charger. I will try different laptop charger.

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 8:45 am
by jm98
Assuming polarity matches. Would it be possible/safe to use laptop charger with 19VDC and 90Watts output for dt366?  I have two HP and Fujitsu for laptop chargers to test with.

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 9:01 am
by david_halliday
Umm, may be a little high, im not sure what the voltage regulators in the WebDT are but I would guess they will probably be for sources around 12V.

In the Pollariy issue my WebDT seems to have +ve as the center pin of the PSU. You can check this, there should be C symbol with a dot in it something like.
               _
              /  \
  +Ve -----O|--- -Ve
              \_/

Dave

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 12:15 pm
by jm98
I will check polarity on Targus.  If it does not work I am thinking of going to AC/DC inverter route.

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 2:47 pm
by jm98
I found one may work.

Itronix 12Vdc Car Adapter

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 7:58 am
by jm98
Update: My car charger has mis-match on polarity, I ended up using AC/DC inverter.

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:47 am
by rectic
I bought my flash chip from this company and found their online store. Looks like they sell the actual auto chargers, and from what I believe, they work for the older models too. I believe all of them have the same power supply:

Auto Charger

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:56 pm
by jm98
Dang that is good.  I will definitely consider this place.

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:57 am
by rc211e
Anyone ever buy one of these adaptors.

I want one but the website doesn't support overseas purchases

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:31 am
by rectic
rc211e wrote: Anyone ever buy one of these adaptors.

I want one but the website doesn't support overseas purchases
Maybe contact them? I know some places don't offer online, but will in email / phone.

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:58 am
by rc211e
rectic wrote:
rc211e wrote: Anyone ever buy one of these adaptors.

I want one but the website doesn't support overseas purchases
Maybe contact them? I know some places don't offer online, but will in email / phone.
I have I will let you know response

Re: DT366 - auto car charger

Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:22 am
by apaulsalerno
Doesent the DT have a 12V internal battery? If so it should be ok to connect directly to the cars 12 volt system, as long as it is fused. The 12V input charges the internal battery, I dont think it bypasses it, I dont see how it could charge the internal battery if it bypassed it. The battery should allways be between the input power and the actual unit I think.

Please correct me if I am wrong, otherwise I am going to use mine directly off the cigarette lighter, actually my Garmin GPS adapter fits it exactly.