Does anyone know how safe it is powering your laptop from an AC outlet (with extension cord), and then plugging your laptop into the OBD port for using EDIT?

The biggerst problem with Edit is the car battery or laptop battery dying while uploading a new program -- good-as-dead PCM.

I know that Carputing says using a battery charger on the vehicle is a big NO. And, I've seen some problems with people using a laptop with a DC-AC invertor having incredibly bad luck (frying PC or PCM). Anyone know about the risks of powering your laptop though from an AC outlet? Anyone do this? I'm thinking its usually not good to power two different items from different sources, causing a ground fault.

 

Wow this is the first Ive heard of this . . . I was just going to run it through the inverter like when I tap it ?? Keep us posted as to what you find out .

 

. . . Also Ive nver used edit , how long does it take to flash the pcm ?? I heard the new efilive programmer is supposed to be fast which may get rid of some of the problem/ worrie

 

i have programmed by pcm via tunercat many times, and i've always used a ac/dc converter thingy to power my laptop.

I've yet to have any problems

my battery was even junk, and i've since replaced it... but it never died while writing thankfully!

jeff

 

when I would program with LT1_Edit I used an AC outlet for power 90% of the time. Didnt trust the laptop battery and didnt have an inverter for the car.

Not sure if LS1_edit would be any different

 

I've contacted Carputing about it and await an answer.

Twitch, it takes about 15 minutes to read your PCM, and you can't harm you PCM doing this... if something fails, no harm done. The only sconcern is that while dumping a new program onto your pcm, if something crashes (screeen saver, Virus scan comes on, etc...) it will essentially damage your PCM (with a flawed program), and your car will be dead (dealer visit needed to reinstate PCM). Downloading a new file you have created only really takes 2 minutes, but my luck with computers is that I can crash ANYHTING in less time than that...

 

Craig, I'm pretty sure LS1 will be the same. I think it really comes down to which pins in the OBD port are being used that can create the problem, and likely they are the same.

I am thinking an extension cord will be ok, but I don't know how a ground fault will affect things.

 

I always just plug my laptop into the GFI outlet in the garage. My laptop battery is toast, I just make sure than I don't accedently unplug anything.

I've done 50+ uploads this way and never had a problem - just make sure the laptop has no screen savers or snooze functions turned on.

I also ensure that the car battery is reasonably charged by starting the car and running it for a few minutes first.

Full erase and upload takes about 2 minutes.

I've also done it plugged into a 50' extension cord - in the days before the garage.

 

I always use my AC/DC inverter from the car battery .. must have done 50+ loads this way on my car alone

but i've always had a good battery

 

Ok. Thanks for the feedback.