Running a laptop without electricity?

[RogerGW]

There's a chance that a multi-point charger won't come with the right terminal for your laptop. Unless you find a shop assistant willing to open the blister pack, or there's one already open, you won't know until you buy it.

My previous laptop was a Lenovo ThinkPad and that needed a purpose-made charger. I've gone for an inverter for my present computer, an Acer. As others have said, that's also useful for other low-wattage devices.

Roger

PS Whatever you get, don't run it off the cab battery for long periods unless the engine is going, too.

 

[solarbatterychargers]

Replying to Running without electricity

If you are planning on running without electricity, you now have a couple of options. I will list them and then supply some links.

You could get an inverter like everything else has been suggesting.

You could get a really much more powerful battery.

Or you could get a solar battery charger.

Here are some links to dependable inverter,

If you want full small scale solar power battery charger here is the link.

Other than that, using power without a long term way of having it powered, seems little like wasting your time. I use to have an inverter as well for when I would go to my little hide out place in the lake side and I would bring my inverter, now I bring my own solar power system...I honestly think everyone should have solar power, it only makes sense, because you can use it in emergencies, camping, adventures, vacations, etc..

If you liked this posting, check out the site

 

[Russtic]

I have a 120 watt inverter and it freaks out when I try charge the laptop ,inverter warning buzzer sounds then it stops charging, is 120 watts insufficient? I thought it would be plenty. Also bought a cigar lighter to usb socket should this be able to charge the laptop or just phones / cameras etc?

 

[Coolasluck]

I have a 120 watt inverter and it freaks out when I try charge the laptop ,inverter warning buzzer sounds then it stops charging, is 120 watts insufficient? I thought it would be plenty. Also bought a cigar lighter to usb socket should this be able to charge the laptop or just phones / cameras etc?

Remember that to run a 120 watt device you will need something like a 200 watt inverter as you have the wallop of starting your device remember that starting anything electrical will use say 180 watts and then once the unit has powered up it will run at 120 watts. So normal power would be 120 watts and peak power would be 180 watts,thus use a 200 watt inverter.

 

[Airecraft]

I have a 120 watt inverter and it freaks out when I try charge the laptop ,inverter warning buzzer sounds then it stops charging, is 120 watts insufficient

I had this problem with a 600W Maplins inverter when I used a 180W /12V ciggy outlet - with croc clips onto the battery it was OK. Not sure why this was as cable was easily big enough for 200W +, might be something to do with contact area of +ve terminal??
In the end I opened the inverter to investigate the problem and buggered it up -- problem solved
Now use a 150W Carrefour supermarket model with moulded 12v plug which runs like a dream.

 

[vindiboy]

Slight aside her,but my wife has a Video Camera and the instructions quite clearly say that the charger should not be used on an inverter, of course we ignored that and guess what after about 5 months the charger was knackered and we had to obtain another. DOH!

 

[caspar]

A better option, if it's just for the laptop, is to buy a 12v laptop power adapter.

I bought one from Maplin, but they're also available on Ebay. They plug into a cigar lighter.

The advantage is one of efficiency. Rather than changing DC to AC with an inverter, then changing it back to DC with the laptop power supply, you do it one go.

I agree this is good if just for the laptop, but I personally would still recommend buying a clip on 12 volt socket to connect to your leisure batteries just to make doubly sure you never run down your car battery.

 

[MrRob]

I have one http://eu.kensington.com/kensington/en/gb/p/653/33362EU/ultra+porta... ... and three of the Maplins version that they seem to have stopped selling now ....

Maplins 120W Ultra-Slim Air and 12V Invertor 120W Ultra-Slim Air and 12V Invertor : Maplin

They are/were £15 in store while stock lasts ...

I have have been using them for 3 years on mains only canon and panasonic battery chargers, about 20 different laptop power supplies and numerous other devices from walkie talkies to phone chargers . They trip occasionally when power hungry laptops are used with discharged batteries (just turn them on and off and they reset) ... but will charge them if the laptop is left turned off ...

They even work with MacBooks B)

 

[bobowas007]

Hey! Does anyone know if it's possible to use my laptop in my motorhome without being on an electric hook-up? Have got a dongle (ooh matron!) but unsure how to power it. I have 2 x 110 leisure batteries and am hoping to get solar panels soon.

Hi go to maplin electronics.
Take laptop power supply for plug id.
maplins have a large range of laptop power supply not invertor.

 

[Goaskalys]

Hi there, I've been using a 12 volt / 150 watt inverter to power my laptop and have found that when using it to watch a DVD, if the laptop's battery wasn't fully charged it overloaded the inverted. So I've just brought a 400 watt one, hopefully that should do the trick.

 

[Byronic]

Hi there, I've been using a 12 volt / 150 watt inverter to power my laptop and have found that when using it to watch a DVD, if the laptop's battery wasn't fully charged it overloaded the inverted. So I've just brought a 400 watt one, hopefully that should do the trick.

Still think A Maplins 12v power adaptor is the way to go, at least it's specifically made for laptop power supply. Most cheap invertors are square wave or modified sine wave, ie not as smooth as a usually expensive pure sine wave. Also worth pointing out that many invertors, especially over 150W have whining cooling fans.

 

[Deleted member 3011]

I take the battery out of the laptop when using the DC-DC adapter.

That way there's no risk of damaging the battery.

Perhaps not, but the battery probably supplies an extra level of safety against feeding in higher than normal voltages so without it, your computer is much more likely to be damaged.

Slight aside her,but my wife has a Video Camera and the instructions quite clearly say that the charger should not be used on an inverter, of course we ignored that and guess what after about 5 months the charger was knackered and we had to obtain another. DOH!

Was it a pure sinewave inverter or a modified square wave one. If the latter then you do have to take a bit of a chance when using them on anything electronic.

On the question of overall efficiency - do the manufacturers of these DC-DC converters give efficiency figures. Inverter figures are usually available.

My view is that if you are sailing so close to the wind that small variations in efficiency matter, then you really need to increase the storage capacity of your leisure battery. Having a small quality pure sinewave inverter so you can use other small appliances is worth a small decrease in efficiency.

One way to reduce the strain on your leisure power supply is to charge your laptop up from the engine battery when driving

 

[barnybg]

Invertor ?

My inverter whined and squeeled i found when my leasure battery was low ??? now that i have upgraded to another battery( x2 )in tandum and a 100 w solar panel,no probs..
I have also come to the conclusion that there is no need for big invertors,as these thierselves draw alot of energy/12v/ to run ! so by overcompensating your just draining your 12v for no reason,unless YOU NEED a big invertor,use a small one for small needs..

 

[lebesset]

when you are running a laptop from an external power source , take the battery out
I recently had to return my laptop to the manufacturers for a repair the technician was horrified that I was ruining the battery by leaving it in ; charge the battery when the computer is not in use

 

[Deleted member 3011]

when you are running a laptop from an external power source , take the battery out
I recently had to return my laptop to the manufacturers for a repair the technician was horrified that I was ruining the battery by leaving it in ; charge the battery when the computer is not in use

Certainly recommended to run the laptop on battery power occasionally rather than always leaving it plugged into the mains.

Using the laptop while recharging the battery is a perfectly normal mode of operation

 

[Suntor 100]

Hi all, for what it's worth, I take a laptop away with me, I bought as already suggested a power adaptor from Maplins. It has a range of working voltages for any use, it has a cigar lighter connection so a double socket was purchased so I didn't take the only power point connection. According to the voltage meter of the van it uses no more than a couple of interior lights, so the single 115ah battery copes with no problem. I have never taken the battery out of the computer whilst using on the power supply and had no trouble what so ever. ( have been doing this for over 16 months now) It is recommended to regularly use and run the battery down on the computer and charge back up again as this keeps the battery fresh for when it is needed where a power supply is not available. Also I use Vodaphone's Dongle for internet, the package I have was £30 incuding £15's worth of internet use, top up anytime for £15, 16 months on I still have £4 left on it lol.
I 0nly use very short and lightly, Down side to this "lite" dongle is that it is throttled back and I have to be patient sometimes for pages to load. The other addition to this is an extention usb lead as I found when in remote area's of Yorkshire last summer the only decent signal I could get was on the top bed over the cab, so with the extension lead I can put the dongle up in the roof light. I'm pretty sure this vodaphone package is not available now ( probably because i made it last for so long) the present deals are on monthly top up of £15, which I would not use up BUT they have fast internet connection. You need to download a fair amount of music or use all day to get your money's worth, plus I'm not sure if it's not cancelled altogether if not used for three months. Hope this is helpful to anyone thinking of doing the same. happy new year to all.

 

[millso]

Hi, just been scouring the internet for answers to our question and stumbled across this... Thought i'd resurrect this thread instead of starting a new one.

We're planning to wild camp in Scandinavia as much as possible for most of the summer and are trying to work out how we are going to power everything...

We need to run two 45w macbooks, occasionally charge a phone/ camera batteries and use the lights, water heater etc...

I have read that getting a 12v charger would be the best way to charge the laptops which themselves have 5 hour battery life.

Our current leisure battery has had it so we're looking for a replacement and are considering this 120ah Caravan Batteries, Boat Batteries & Leisure Batteries - Ultra Plus 12v Sealed 120ah Leisure Battery

If my calculations are correct 10 hours of laptop use should equate to 450w which divided by 12 (Volts) = 37.5A, if you then times that by 2 and your using 75A to run the laptops off the leisure battery for 10 hours, meaning we could effectively run both the laptops for the best part of 20 hours from a 120AH battery if we used nothing else (hypothetically).

Are these calculations realistic?

Additionally, if we were to get a 100w solar panel, again hypothetically, we could be virtually self sufficient with good weather and a long journey every couple of days?

Any help with this stuff is greatly appreciated as we're total newbies to MH's!

 

[seesa]

Naive and confused?

Ok am going to sound really stupid here.... only had MH since Jan and finding this a real learning curve! Was under the impression (and obviously very very wrong) that if i was on elec hook up I could just plug any thing in and it would work - clearly not! Hoping you guys can give me a bit of guidance here as to what I can plug in or not ??? e.g. electric fan heater? Hairdryer? CD player (just the essentials you see!) How do I work out what I can plug in or not? And If I make a mistake what will happen (apart from hubby shouting at me?) Do I need an invertor ? and If I get one what can I use then??
Never knew it would be this complicated - had visions of just driving off and taking all my home comforts with me???
Help please.....
Lisa

 

[Deleted member 3802]

if your on a 240v hook up you can run what ever the contact breaker will allow depending on what the site set it at ,some electric kettles and fires ect will trip it out

what these guys are talking about is wildcamping with no hook up

 

[AndyC]

Ok am going to sound really stupid here.... only had MH since Jan and finding this a real learning curve! Was under the impression (and obviously very very wrong) that if i was on elec hook up I could just plug any thing in and it would work - clearly not! Hoping you guys can give me a bit of guidance here as to what I can plug in or not ??? e.g. electric fan heater? Hairdryer? CD player (just the essentials you see!) How do I work out what I can plug in or not? And If I make a mistake what will happen (apart from hubby shouting at me?) Do I need an invertor ? and If I get one what can I use then??
Never knew it would be this complicated - had visions of just driving off and taking all my home comforts with me???
Help please.....
Lisa

When on mains electric hook up check the Amps rating of the hook up supply. It will vary from site to site, some will be as low as 4A, on others you may get 16A.

Next check the power needed to run your appliances, this will be marked on the appliance in kW.

Roughly speaking you need a 4A mains hook up supply to power a 1kW appliance, 8A for a 2kW appliance, etc.

Regarding fan heaters, get one with adjustable heat settings, say 1kW and 2kW, you can do the same with hair dryers, we have a small one with 2 heat settings, 0.6kW and 1.2kW. That way you can use an appropriate setting to suit the supply you have.

If you try to take too much power from the hook up supply all that will happen is that the circuit breaker on the hook up supply will trip and cut off the power to your van. Often you can reset this yourself at the hook up post, however sometimes the circuit breaker is locked away and you have to call the site warden to reset it for you. This won't make you too popular with him if it's the evening and he's off duty!

AndyC