AC Power Adapter for Acer Aspire One

A surge protector is not going to help with the problems that can come from cutting off a plug prong. It will only help with variations in the supply voltage. Note: they also will not help against lighting strikes.

 

so both 2 and 3 pin adapters can work with surge protectors but only a 3 pin can also offer lightning protection?

 

No!

The 3 prong plug does not help with lightning. Really the only thing that can help with lightning is have the unit disconnected from all external lines. A 2 prong surge adapter will help with voltage variations with a 2 prong design, but may not help with a 3 prong design as it does not complete the proper circuit. For a 3 prong design you must use a 3 prong surge adapter and use all three prongs.

 

i didn't word my question very well.

i should've written, "so both 2 and 3 pin adapters can work with surge protectors but only a 3 pin can also work with lightning protection?"

in other words, if a device offers surge and lightning protection, then it must be a 3 pin device. taking a 3 pin and making it a 2 pin defeats the purpose of lightning protection.

 

Sorry but NO!

The only thing that can avoid lightning damage is by not being connected and thus not getting struck. However if you have a lightning rod attached to your computer to short the lightning charge to ground then you may avoid most of the possible damage but even then there may actually be such a massive variation it the voltage that even the best surge protector and the lightning rod may not completely protect your computer. Computers are very sensitive to voltage changes.

 

Can someone tell me what the earth is connected to?

The brick has a plastic case & only 2 outputs, so I figure there might be a weight reduction opportunity here.

For travel I would like to connect the brick via a very short lead to a small 2 pin plug. I gather some laptops may be like this in any case?

 

Agree with what Donec said.... a 3rd pin will not in any way protect you from a lightning strike. The only protection is to unplug.

 

Everything.

I'm not sure what you mean as far as weight reduction goes. The weight of the brick is due to the amount of wire coils used to reduce the input voltage down to what the computer needs. The fact they have started making bricks that work with both 110 and 220 voltage adds to the weight.

You can shorten the length of the cord but changing from 3 prongs to 2 prongs is not safe and will void the warranty.

 

A short lead with a 2 pin plug will be the lightest way to connect to the mains when travelling.

The earth cannot possibly be connected to "everything", as that amounts to a short circuit & it would catch fire quite quickly. Or more likely, trip my RCD or blow the fuse.

Has anyone taken the Acer PSU apart or had access to a circuit diagram so we can see what the earth is really connected to?

I figure deleting the earth on something with a plastic case will not be so dangerous -there are enough electrical appliances with no earth.

 

There will not be much difference in weight with a 2 prong over a 3 prong plug.

I did not think your question was serious and answered as Earth being planet earth. Sorry. A more serious answer is that the brick has coils and circuitry in it that transform the voltage from either 110VAC or 220VAC (Volts Alternating Current) to the 19VDC (Volts Direct Current) that the AAO (Acer Aspire One) requires. The ground or Earth lead is used for the brick and the circuits it has. The cable that is connected to the AAO has 2 lines going into it one is positive the other is negative. In DC circuits the negative is considered return or ground and is most likely connected to the earth ground in the brick along with the metal chassis of the AAO case. The Earth ground is not needed for the AAO but it is needed for your safety and the safety of the brick. If the brick shorts out while it is plugged into the AAO and the Earth prong is cut off then there is a large chance that the AAO can be damaged beyond repair. If the brick shorts out and the Earth prong is being used then the charge should be shorted to Earth, which if the electric circuit the plug is connected to is wired properly, then the charge should be eventually dumped to the Planet Earth hence the name.

You are correct that there are many appliances out there that do not use the Earth ground. These appliances are designed in special ways with extra insulating protection and use special materials to protect the user without the Earth ground. The difference in design is very important to safety.

For what it is worth I am a retired Electronics Tech, Instructor and Engineering Field Representative for the Department of the Navy with 33 years of experience.

 

You must be joking. It makes a /huge/ difference, with the weight of the cable and stuff. Well maybe not "huge", but significant.

Thanks for the technical explanation though, very enlightening.

 

Thank you for the reply.
This seemed plausible, but I used the multimeter to check continuity & can confirm neither of the 2 DC output connections are connected to the earth.
I gather some computer PSUs have RFI filtering capacitors connecting both live & neutral to earth.
Hipro quote earth leakage current figures for some of their other supplies, so that suggests they may do this.
If anyone has pulled one apart or has a circuit diagram it would be nice to know.

 

The path is probably an inductive path and would not be active unless current was flowing through the circuit or it could be capacitively filtered which would not show with low settings on a multimeter.

 

Where can I buy the Acer branded power adapter? Does SourceIT have them? Plus, are there any adapter that come with a stright plug rather than right angle? The right-angle connector serves no useful service and will actually destroy the jack over time. It puts way more stress on the jack soldered to the mobo. Also, if you accidently trip on the cord you won't end slinging the One off the table, but the plug should pull out in short order.

Thanks,
redjr...

 

Good idea!

 

I would like to get a spare power adapter as well so I have one at home and one at work and do not have to keep hauling it around. Please post links of good spots to purchase one when you find them.

Thanks!

 

http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV2jA6NJ

Samsung nc10 power adapter - notice the thin 2-prong cable Acer? :evil:

 

http://www.postimage.org/aV2j_cyS-582a7 ... 7f52ae.jpg

The white one is Asus 1000H adapter...
The middle black is samsung NC10 adapter...

 

So without resorting to eBay (which I would consider), we have:

Brando for $23

"Dell AC Power Wall Plug for Inspiron & Latitude Laptops" (Dell link?)

"8J508 3-prong duckhead from eBay"
(available anywhere else?)

DealExtreme for $20.77
70W Universal Laptop Power Supply with USB Port (15V~24V Output)

Am I missing any?

 

Has anyone found a source for just the IC-5 to Euro plug adapter thingy? The one in the middle of that photo....