# Powering my LCD direct off the battery – No Hookup



## The Meerkat (Apr 24, 2009)

As the caption goes and as the price of “lecy” is on the rise I’m looking to get the most out of my 12 volts and was looking to power my Mikomi LCD via this method – Two options would be the inverter approach but I have been told this isn’t very efficient or powering it with a 12v cigar lead, I have a standard 99p one would this do the trick just as good or would the voltage have to be regulated? 

Managed to find a voltage regulator from a company called Amperor, does anyone have one and know if they are any good?

Any suggestions/tips or where I can find a suitable product are most welcome


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## oldiebutgoodie (Apr 24, 2009)

If you are handy with a soldering iron/wiring there is dc/dc convertor I have the pin-out for this if you are interested.


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## Pioneer (Apr 24, 2009)

The Meerkat said:


> As the caption goes and as the price of “lecy” is on the rise I’m looking to get the most out of my 12 volts and was looking to power my Mikomi LCD via this method – Two options would be the inverter approach but I have been told this isn’t very efficient or powering it with a 12v cigar lead, I have a standard 99p one would this do the trick just as good or would the voltage have to be regulated?
> 
> Managed to find a voltage regulator from a company called Amperor, does anyone have one and know if they are any good?
> 
> Any suggestions/tips or where I can find a suitable product are most welcome



Hi Meerkat,
I used to use an Amperor regulator with a Sharp Lcd, but this was a 240v to12vdc inverter, recommended and sold by Sharp with the TV. Very Good, but expensive, I think it was around £45.

I now run a 240v/12v 19" Lcd TV direct from the leisure battery via a two pin caravan socket, and plugged into this is a cigarette type plug with 5amp fuse inside, all cabling out of sight.  A solar panel trickle charges the battery, so no pay for "lecy".

Happy Camping


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## The Meerkat (May 6, 2009)

Thanks for your help guys

I purchased the Amperor stabiliser last week with the 4 pin connector block, tried it over the weekend there and it is working a treat!!


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## derekfaeberwick (May 7, 2009)

I find the Amperor a great piece of kit. Can be used in the van or lorry and the price is small compared to buying a 12-230v telly. Another good thing about them is when something else is switched on, i.e. the water pump, my telly does not go on standby because of the Amperors wide input voltage range. Highly recommended.P.S. The pin for my tellies is a round one and is the same size as a few other 12v  chargers I have so I can use them in the truck - 24v.


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## oldiebutgoodie (May 8, 2009)

"derekfaeberwick:	I find the Amperor a great piece of kit."
But very pricey compared to the item I posted which covers 9-25v input!


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## derekfaeberwick (May 9, 2009)

oldiebutgoodie said:


> "derekfaeberwick:	I find the Amperor a great piece of kit."
> But very pricey compared to the item I posted which covers 9-25v input!



 Good price but I'm not that handy with a soldering iron. 25 v would be marginal in the truck, especially when the motor is going for the a/c, not that it has been needed too much the last couple of years though!


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## BedfordMJ (May 9, 2009)

A lot of tv's these days seem to be 12v with box of tricks attached.


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## messenger 2.5td (May 10, 2009)

Bought a new one for my van 2 weeks ago asked the technical guy at Tesco if there lcd tv's worked on 12 volt dc shrugged his shoulders never been asked that one before.sorry don't know.So ended up at Asda purchased one of their own brand onn 19"tv/dvd with built in freeview for £150,bargainAndy.


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## gordon (May 10, 2009)

if you look on the black box that plugs into the back of the tv it will tell you what voltage input the tv needs then all you need to do is set the voltage regulator and away you go.


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## Nosha (May 19, 2009)

I've been running a kenmark/Comet 15" LCD TV with DVD straight off the leisure battery since the day we bought it 2 1/2yrs ago with no problems, sometimes 'wild' and sometimes on hook-up with the on board Zig type charger topping up the battery.


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## olpoll (Dec 6, 2009)

hi im new to motorhoming and just got my van last week,
any how i haven't been out over night yet so ive just been playing with things in the drive before i hit the road,
Ive just got a 20" meos 12 volt tv and was interested as to how long it would run on the leisure battery having no experience of leisure batteries i thought if im lucky ill get about 4 hours (how pleased am i!!) i switched the tv on the other morning at 9.30am and it was still running at 11.30pm 14 hours later, im amazed!! if i leave the cd player on in my old work van for longer than 10 minutes it flattens the battery, 
iv a generator for the motor home but if the leisure battery is that good i dont think ill need to use it that often.


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## rickboy (Dec 6, 2009)

*Word of warning.*

If you use the generator,start if up and let it stabalize before you plug into the camper or you may damage the internal electrics.
Your new tv will have the power consumption on a label in watts (20-50 ish).Divide it by your voltage (12 ish)that will give your amps consumption.Take about 1/2 your battery ah rating  and divide by your amps consumption. This will give you a rough idea of how long a film to watch.

40/12 = 3.3  amps 
 1/2 100ah battery =50 ah
 50/3.3 =15 hours of telly         If you start with a full battery (another full    
                                                                                        topic)
Enjoy your new toy,there's lots to learn.


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## derekfaeberwick (Dec 6, 2009)

***** said:


> I think that all of the flat screen tv,s are 12 volt but they do need a voltage stabilizer to run efficiently direct from a battery



  Not the case but they used to be in the majority for 15" sets.They are becoming a rare breed nowadays.  Unfortunately.


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## biggirafe (Dec 6, 2009)

I think I might have said before on these posts, we use a laptop as our TV. It made sense to me not to carry more than one screen. I have a usb video / audio gadget to take a feed from the satalitte dish and a usb digital tv gadget just in case we can't get satalite.

The laptop is great it will last 2-3 hours on its own battery anyway and I bought a cigarette ligter charger so that it will charge when we are on the move. If we plug the cigarette charger into the leisure battery it seems to last for ages. I left it turned on for 2 days at home and got bored waiting for it to run out. If we use the inverter to charge it the same thing it goes on for ever or at least until I get bored waiting for it to run out.

I plugged it directly into the solar panel when it was sunny and it showed as charging the laptop, not sure how well it was charging but in the summer I will see how long it takes to recharge if from zero using sunshine


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## Sean128 (Jan 12, 2010)

***** said:


> I think that all of the flat screen tv,s are 12 volt but they do need a voltage stabilizer to run efficiently direct from a battery



I think thats right, I know that my Dell 14" LCD monitor that I want to stick in my van is 12vDC and the electrics in the back of it take it from 240vAC to 12vDC.

I just can't seem to work out what bits of the PCB are supplying the signal and where I could tap in with a regulated 12vDC supply 

(I have some high res pics of the PCB if anyone thinks they be able to help?)

Sean


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## drewdt3 (Jan 28, 2010)

I have a small 15" lcd in the MH, which is 240v down to 12v. To run it direct from the 12v socket i will need to make up a cable (possibly cut the output cable in half and fit with female to male conector). How can I find out which wire goes to which pin in the 4pin socket that goes into the back of the tele?

Cheers

Andy


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## Deleted member 9849 (Jan 28, 2010)

drewdt3 said:


> I have a small 15" lcd in the MH, which is 240v down to 12v. To run it direct from the 12v socket i will need to make up a cable (possibly cut the output cable in half and fit with female to male conector). How can I find out which wire goes to which pin in the 4pin socket that goes into the back of the tele?
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Andy



Easiest thing would be to buy a voltage stabiliser,this would protect the LCD TV from over voltage and also have the correct end fitted to the cable into the TV.

The other end is a cigar lighter type.
Try giving http://http://www.amperordirect.co.uk/ a ring.

If you tell them the details of your make and model they will send you the correct stabiliser for your TV,I have used them and found them to be very helpful and efficient.


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## Deleted member 9215 (Jan 28, 2010)

hi olpoll, i also have a 20" meos 12 volt tv  mine was on for 4hrs and the battery was still full charged , also has a good pic..



dunk


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## Goaskalys (Jan 28, 2010)

Hi Chaps, Maplin are selling a 12v to 240v (150watt) inverter for £19.00, reduced from £39.


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## bevdrew (Jan 29, 2010)

And Argos are selling a 500W inverter for £19.99 - was £59.99

Buy Challenge Xtreme 500W Power Inverter. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for .


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## antonia (Feb 1, 2010)

*TV on 12v*

Hello folks.

One of the problems in running a TV from the 12v supply we had was, Voltage drop. The longish wire taking 12v from the leisure battery to the TV was too thin. As a result the wire was getting hot and LOTs of energy was lost before reaching the TV. 
My TV was 100W and so with more than 8amps running thru the cable I needed to use a Very thick mains type cable to prevent voltage drop.

To see if this effects you, place a multimeter across your battery when the tv is running and record the voltage. The do the same thing ( carefully ) at the TV end ( inside the plug ) if the voltage difference is more than 1 volt, then you need a thicker cable. Hot wires are also a good indicator of this kind of problem problem.
I used very thick 5mm twin and Earth mains cable from B&Q in the end, cured the problem.

Regards

Antonia


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## Kontiki (Feb 4, 2010)

Looking at getting a new TV for the van, the one we have doesn't have freeview & is quite large looking at some of the ones around now. Our old one is a Technosonic 15" which we run direct off the battery. I have been thinking about the KENMARK or the FERGUSON does anybody have either of them? If so how do you rate them?
They are both 28 watts but the Kenmark seems too have a smaller viewing angle. I think they stock them in Comet but not our local one, I was going to see if they have them in one of the larger branches then buy it from Laskys.


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## dorset boy (Feb 5, 2010)

*asda tv*

Hi All...

This was going to be my next project - fitting extra battery + invertor + television + 320gb tv digital recorder (36 viewing hours).....and so on...

I was going to buy a ;Asda Luxor 16" Gloss Black LCD TV with Built in DVD Player. Freeview ...£137...external 240ac/12vdc transformer.

So, the question is can I run it of the van 12vdc system?

Only one way to find out!

Rgds Mike


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## Kontiki (Feb 5, 2010)

Just ordered a Kenmark 15" from Comet £123.49 (found a voucher for 5% off that expires today) pick it up from the store tomorrow. Price is £129.99, I went in last week & said I'd have one if he would knock a fiver off. Reckoned he couldn't budge on the price, might go & try again tomorrow then tell him I'm getting it cheaper still  by ordering online.

I have a Sagem freeview box with built in 80 Gb hard disk (cost £0 got it off freecycle ) the best thing it runs direct off the 12 volts. Remote control is the only dodgy bit couple of the buttons don't always work. We have it almost full of films, nearly 80 hours ready for our trip (two weeks today we should be somewhere near Rouen)

UPDATE:
Just thought I would check before I went in to Comet to collect the TV I ordered & I found a new code for £10 off for anything up to £100 (Expires on 12 February, '10 | Valid from 6 February, 2010) So same price as Laskys now £119.99
There was more off for larger amounts the site was http://vouchers.im/codes/www.comet.co.uk .


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## n8rbos (Feb 6, 2010)

if you go to wedodigital.co.uk theres plenty of 12v teles with freeview etc at good prices . i paid £185 digital/analogue tv  digital radio freeview cd/dvd  300 games console and best of all it opens and closes like a laptop so screen is protected when not in use. its portable too and runs on 12v or 230v all accessories inc, inc remote control.had mine 18months and brill with nice picture.


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## derekfaeberwick (Feb 6, 2010)

You won't go far wrong with one of these.Buy Grundig GU19WDVD3 19in HD Ready Digital LCD TV/DVD Combi. at Argos.co.uk


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## Kontiki (Feb 9, 2010)

Decided to buy Amperor 12 volt stabilizer, they had them on eBay for £39.99 delivered, tried to make an offer on eBay but it wouldn't accept the input so I emailled them. They said they couldn't accept my offer but I could have one for £36. Ordered it over the phone & it came the next day really good service.


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## Unhappy Camper (Nov 28, 2010)

*Warning about Diddy Digital and MEOS TV's*

I can only warn you not to be sucked in by the apparent cheaper deal that Diddy Digital offer on there MEOS 12v caravan TV's.

I have had lots of them as replacements as they keep failing when run on 12v. 

To start with the MEOS TV has good features, however the screen quality is poor. If you only want to watch TV its fine. Do not buy this TV if you intend to run it on 12v. 

Do not buy from DiddyDigital if you like to chat to a sales person, you will not communicate to them by phone. Don't try to visit them, they have no valid address!!!! The mail is redirected. More importantly, when the stuff that you buy from them fails you will have to pay to have it sent back, this can be very expensive in the case of a TV.

Please consider buying from someone who you can call and more importantly some one who advertises there address.

Please be warned.

Diddy Digital do respond by email and do replace faulty equipment BUT it will not work out cheaper.


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## Poco Loco (Nov 28, 2010)

*POWERING LCD TVS (240v)*

I've been reading this thread, but take it that you are talking a 12v TVs?  I too want to power the TV and won't be "Hooked".  The guy is leaving a TV in the MH, but it's a 240v. I don't know if it has a transformer or it just has a 240v plug. As my funds don't stretch to another TV yet, can I get away with an inverter and what sort of drain will it have?   Can anyone recommend an inverter?  I've seen some with a USB port, so i was thinking I could also use it to Charge Ipods Etc?

thanks as always for your replies.

regards Poco Loco


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## lisaloud (Aug 21, 2011)

*DiddyDigital Casualty*

I realise this is an old thread but I'm also a "DiddyDigital Casualty"  -  was wondering if your problem ever got sorted?  I purchased a Meos tv which was supposedly brand new but to cut a long story short, I returned my faulty tv and they keep sending me replacement faulty tvs which I return at £12 courier charge a pop!!  they won't refund my money and won't replace tv for a new one 
IF ANYONE CONSIDERING BUYING FROM DIDDYDIGITAL COMES ACROSS THIS THREAD - STAY AWAY FROM THEM - THEY ARE COWBOYS!


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## al n sal (Aug 22, 2011)

Trading Standards,  might not get you any where but definitely worth a try. if they doing that to you then they probably doing same to others, enough complaints eventually TS do some thing. good luck


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