DC power problem

I have a Inspiron 5160(just over a year old) that I use as a GPS in my car with Mircosoft Streets and Trips 2005. I am powering it with the use of a 325w AC/DC power inverter and the AC power brick but the problem I am recently having is the laptop is constantly switching between battery power and AC. I have checked the fuse in the inverter and it is fine, I have even used another inverter and it does the same thing.

I don't have this problem at home, power brick works just fine.

I'm stumped, any help would be appreciated.-Matt

 

sounds like a loose connection somewhere between the plug in the car to the back of the notebook.

 

I've connected and reconnected every point. Everything fits very snug and shows that it is getting power. The only connection that could be considered "loose" would be where the brick connects to the back of the laptop...but that works fine at home.

 

When I use my laptop in the car on my GE power inverter. The thing will get overloaded and shut off and needs to be physically turned back on. (No fuse blows, still works fine) This usually happens when the laptop is trying to charge. Do you have to turn the inverter back on when it stops or does it do that by itself?

 

maybe it's happening with the movement of the car?

 

The inverters aren't turning off/on but one of them has a blue light showing it's on and will flip back and forth between red and blue when the laptop is plugged in. The 325watt transformer has an overload light but the laptop doesn't trip it when it's flipping between the power sources.

drumfu,

It does it when I'm parked. I just finished messing with it for 20 minutes while parked and it still does it.

 

The two power inverters are:

Sima Model# STP-325

Xpower by Xnatrex
pocket inverter 100

 

...and why is it there is a DC power adaptor for every dell laptop except the 5150/5160 series?

 

I found a site that said this about the dell AC power adaptor.

"It often includes an automatic circuit breaker or overload detection. If this gets tripped, you can generally reset it if you unplug it from everything for a few minutes."

I don't know if this is the problem as it still works at home but it's worth a try.

 

I think I just figured out the problem!! My new car's power plug is only rated at 115w and the Dell AC power adaptor is rated for 130w so it's not getting enough juice no matter how big of a DC/AC inverter you use.

I'm going to go hard-wire one of the inverters directly to the battery.

Let this be a lesson learned, not to overlook the obvious.

 

Here's an update:

Hardwiring the power inverter did not solve my problem. I'm no electrician so I've cut my losses and dug a little deeper to find a DC adapter. Found one that is for the Inspiron 5150, 5160, XPS Gen 2, XPS-M170 series.

Model # DE2060-1398

Can be found here.
http://www.lindelectronics.com/cgi-bin/store/shop.cgi/!ORDERID!/aaa/DE2060-1398/dbx_gen_detail_product

Should have it here Wednesday and will let you know the results.