[ltp] Power Adaptor for ThinkPad T530

[Rubin Abdi]

I think with almost any legacy power adapter for a ThinkPad, just as long
as it's 20V coming in it won't care how many watts in total, however the
less watts the slower it can charge the battery (if at all, in which case
it'll only keep the machine on). It's going to really be dependent on CPU
consumption and display size what Lenovo thinks should be an appropriate
amount of juice coming into the machine. I don't know if there's a ceiling
limit to the max your laptop will accept (but you can still have a larger
power adapter plugged in, won't cause any harm), that's something you'll
have to research and test this out.

I'm assuming you're in the USA, so here are some USA Amazon links. I've had
really good luck with USB Type-C PD/Power Delivery trigger modules. These
go by a bunch of names like decoy adapter, step down or buck converters.

You can roll your own by grabbing a 20V one and solder on the barrel
connector that your T530 accepts (though finding barrel connectors
at 7.9x5.4mm seems hard to source)...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=type-c+trigger+20v&i=electronics&crid=2U21H2UE0NOSW&sprefix=type-c+trigger+20%2Celectronics%2C110&ref=nb_sb_noss

Or you can grab one of these extremely clean looking ones with the right
connector at 20V (which are a little cheaper to replace than a whole new
3rd party ThinkPad branded power adapter, and creates less waste in the
long run)...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08331PF5R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Be sure to measure your current barrel connector and double check you're
getting the right one. If you have a few USB Type-C chargers that support
PD (many chargers don't support PD and simply mimic exactly how much power
is provided by a standard Type-A charger), see how fast of a charge
something in the range of ~40W to ~65W gets you. There's a good chance you
don't need 100W, however this little adapter will support 100W without
issue.

If you couple this with a GaN USB Type-C PD charger and a good USB Type-C
cable that supports ~40W to ~65W (not all support 100W), you'll only need
to replace the connector, and you have your pick of small power bricks to
go with (possibly with some extra ports)...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=usb+GaN+60W&tag=shopwithed-20&ref=nb_sb_noss

I cannot say that I've specifically used this configuration to power/charge
an older ThinkPad with a barrel connector, however I've used them for
multiple other applications where I didn't want to lug around an extra 20V
charger the size of a brick. There's also an added benefit of being able to
use this adapter in a car with a Type-C ~45W charger that plugs into the
12V port. One example is a Canon Selphy photo printer running in the back
of my car printing postcards while I drove cross country, plugged into a
100W Type-C charger. I've also soldered together a 12V one into one of
those annoying half oval plugs that charge up an electric shaver, again for
traveling and to rude the number of power bricks I was bringing with me.

Good luck.

On Sun, 4 Jun 2023 at 11:14, Stefan Monnier <monnier at iro.umontreal.ca>
wrote:

> > Current part number is ADLX90NCT2A; this is the one with the round
> connector
> > tip.  Searching for this part number on Lenovo's site yields no results.
> > The only round-tip adaptors that turn up are a 45-watt model
> (ADLX90NCT2A,
> > $17) and a 65-watt model (4X21K07718, $53). Don't find any 90-watt
> > models. Can you use either of these smaller ones on the T530?
>
> On my T201s, a lower-power adapter works just fine except that it causes
> the machine to throttle the CPU unless there's a (working) battery.
> So I suspect that the same would happen for your T530.
>
> > Before I order one, what is the yellow USB connector on the back,
> right-hand
> > side (viewing from front) of the T530? Is it an alternative power adaptor
> > connector?
>
> AFAIK it's a normal USB connector where the yellow color indicates "this
> USB connector provides power even when the machine is turned off".
> I'd be very surprised if you can power the T530 via this connector.
>
>
>         Stefan
>
> --
> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
> http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad



-- 
Rubin (he/him <https://en.pronouns.page/he>)
rubin at starset.net
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