Maguro

Have experienced continuous problems trying to get laptop power from NW WBC seats and also economy seats on NW A330. Get power for maybe 10 seconds, then power dies -- pull out plug -- green light shows again -- plug in -- 10 seconds green light, then dies -- was once successful for 30 minutes on an HNL-NRT segment a year ago, but that failed too after 30 minutes. My laptop runs on 220V/110V dual current brick powersupply, but normal use is 220V in Korea, so I wonder if it is trying to pull too much power? I have tried removing the battery from the laptop as some airlines advise, but does not help. Any suggestions?

sbagdon

It's all in the inflight magazine, in the info in the back. There's a 75W maximum, which some laptops without batteries draw. Check with your manufacturer, as to power draw with and without battery plugged in. If it's more then 75W... buy a new laptop... or carry lot's of batteries...

Steve B.

sbagdon

duplicate.

SpinzCity

<duplicate>

paulr

Or, sometimes the WBC power outlets just don't work! I bought a MacBook Pro (which draws 85 watts max) and have taken it on two WBC trips so far, both on 330s. On one flight, the seat outlets in my seat wouldn't power anything... not my iPod, not my MacBook, not my ThinkPad. I had the same symptoms as the OP. On the second flight, everything worked fine.

Maguro

carpboy

My thinkpad draws a hair over 70 watts, crude calculations. I was able to use the full load (w/ battery) for several hours with no problem. Then all of a sudden the pwer started cycling and I could not run w/ my battery no matter what.

Steve M

This exact thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I have a Dell whose power supply is rated at 65W on the label, so it's a bit of a surprise that it would overcurrent an outlet that supposedly provides 75W. I tried it in my neighbor's outlet but got the same results. I didn't think of removing the battery as has been suggested on other threads - I'll definitely try that next time, but it's a bit disappointing that I won't know in advance if my laptop will work on a NW flight (and this is an issue since most of my NW flights are between the US and NRT). I've never had a problem using emPower on CO, which supposedly is also current limited at 75W.

I'm tempted to buy a current meter to measure what the actual current draw is of my laptop.

Between this and other threads, dozens of people on FT alone are having this problem on NW (although some report it being more serious, such as disabling seats). So this would seem to indicate that it's a systemic problem with NW's in-seat power. I wonder if NW has any awareness of this or plans to address it. It seems kind of silly to go to the expense of putting in in-seat power if it doesn't actually work in normal situations (and at least in my case, in a situation well within the published specs, at least if I'm to believe the label on my power adapter).

avidflyer

You need to PULL your battery. The power is not enough to run the LT AND charge the battery. If you pull your battery you will have no problems.

Steve M

I will do that next time (as I already mentioned). But that still doesn't fully address the issue. The power supply brick says 65W on the label, so it should not draw more than that regardless of what's going on with the battery.

avidflyer

My take has always been that it is the "clealiness" of the power. I think it spikes and dips so much that it is just not a stable supply to the brick. Sorry I missed the fact that you knew that. I went several WBC trips getting p'd off until I tried the battery trick.

ControlTower

never had problem when I removed my battery.
also, I was able to charge the battery by turning off my laptop.
<my brick is 65W>
-I understand OP's problem, because I was able to Charge & RUN at the same time both on KE & OZ. (Have better 'juice' maker ? )

xliioper

I'm guessing that's the output power, not input power. My IBM Thinkpad power supply is max rated at 16V - 4.5A for output (72 Watts), but the power supplies are not 100% efficient, so input power will be higher. I'd suggest either pulling the battery or making sure it is fully charged.

Steve M

I am more than tempted - I actually did so, and was surprised by the results. My power brick for the Dell says 65W on the bottom. I measured the current draw under various scenarios, and here's the power draw from the AC side:

battery removed, dim screen: 55W
battery removed, bright screen: 60W
battery charging: 100W

So, having a battery in place (that's not fully charged) substantially raises the current draw, and pushes it well over the 75W maximum of the NWA 120VAC outlet. Based on these results, removing the battery will solve the problem.

It's still interesting that having the battery in place and charging works on CO's 75W emPower outlet, and even though that's a DC outlet, I highly doubt that the AC->DC conversion is wasting 33% of the power. CO's outlets must actually provide more than 75W before cutting out.

In any event, problem solved.

brarrr

haven't been on a NW 330 yet but have 2 flights upcoming. is the power supply AC 110/120V with standard north america wall outlet plug, or do I need adaptor?