Using laptop charger as power supply

[Yehomilk]

Hello. I'm just getting into electronics and found an old 19v, 3.5 amp laptop charger I could use for cool projects. There is, however, a surge protector (or whatever its called, I don't know terms yet) keeping it from running current continuously. I don't know if it is there to protect the charger from overloading its components or not, but is there a way to remove it so I can have some fun with it? I have these 2 graphite rods that i'm using now to try and strike an arc which looks cool but its hard to start because of my problem.

[AdamBGames]

Note before I say this: As an engineer myself, I wouldn't suggest this, playing with sensitive electronics ESPECIALLY ones that involve mains power should not be messed around with early on. A lot can go wrong, and depending on how much it goes wrong, can be fatal. Do this at your own risk.

Please provide the model number of the charger so we know what we are dealing with.

[Hackentosher]

Most switchmode power supplies (such as laptop chargers) have an overcurrent protection at or just a little beyond their rated limit. So if you try to pull 4 amps from that supply, it will probably shut down due to overcurrent. As for removing this limit, yeah good luck. Every supply is designed differently, meaning every overcurrent system will be different. If you want to start playing around with electronics, a nice bench power supply is a good investment as they have current limits instead of a hard shutdown limit. I really like this one, it's very accurate and pretty cheap (relatively), with enough power to get you into all kinds of trouble. 

 

Now, speaking of trouble, I think you may want to pick a different first project. Something lower power and lower voltage so you don't accidentally hurt yourself. Build up to the big scary stuff. Also subscribe to EEVblog and Electroboom on Youtube if you'd like to learn more about electronics and electrical engineering. I don't want to discourage you from working on anything, but I also don't want you to get hurt. Happy tinkering!

[Yehomilk]

11 minutes ago, AdamBGames said:

Note before I say this: As an engineer myself, I wouldn't suggest this, playing with sensitive electronics ESPECIALLY ones that involve mains power should not be messed around with early on. A lot can go wrong, and depending on how much it goes wrong, can be fatal. Do this at your own risk.

Please provide the model number of the charger so we know what we are dealing with.

I have played around with electronics a bit and know most of what not to do, just not smaller components like this. The model number is "ADP-65HB BB"

[Yehomilk]

3 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

Most switchmode power supplies (such as laptop chargers) have an overcurrent protection at or just a little beyond their rated limit. So if you try to pull 4 amps from that supply, it will probably shut down due to overcurrent. As for removing this limit, yeah good luck. Every supply is designed differently, meaning every overcurrent system will be different. If you want to start playing around with electronics, a nice bench power supply is a good investment as they have current limits instead of a hard shutdown limit. I really like this one, it's very accurate and pretty cheap (relatively), with enough power to get you into all kinds of trouble. 

 

Now, speaking of trouble, I think you may want to pick a different first project. Something lower power and lower voltage so you don't accidentally hurt yourself. Build up to the big scary stuff. Also subscribe to EEVblog and Electroboom on Youtube if you'd like to learn more about electronics and electrical engineering. I don't want to discourage you from working on anything, but I also don't want you to get hurt. Happy tinkering!

I would like to eventually get a real power supply, but for now something $70+ is a big investment for something I don't know if i'll like. That's why i'm wanting to start small with this. I was hoping with it I could maybe make a woodburning pen or a (optimistically) mini welding station.

[Hackentosher]

3 hours ago, Yehomilk said:

I would like to eventually get a real power supply, but for now something $70+ is a big investment for something I don't know if i'll like. That's why i'm wanting to start small with this. I was hoping with it I could maybe make a woodburning pen or a (optimistically) mini welding station.

Maybe invest in a soldering iron and a multimeter? You could do woodburning with an iron, and it's more useful in other electronics.

[Unimportant]

7 hours ago, Yehomilk said:

Hello. I'm just getting into electronics and found an old 19v, 3.5 amp laptop charger I could use for cool projects. There is, however, a surge protector (or whatever its called, I don't know terms yet) keeping it from running current continuously. I don't know if it is there to protect the charger from overloading its components or not, but is there a way to remove it so I can have some fun with it? I have these 2 graphite rods that i'm using now to try and strike an arc which looks cool but its hard to start because of my problem.

The overcurrent protection in a switching power supply is there to protect the power supply itself, not whatever it is powering. If you somehow bypass it and draw more current from the power supply then it's designed to handle it'll simply fail.