how do I charge a 19.5 v laptop from 12V supply in motorhome?

Crystalight

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Hi,
As you can tell we are new to this!
This may sound a silly question but without hooking up to mains power how do I charge my Sony Vaio 19.5 v laptop which normally runs off the mains electricity supply from the 12V supply in motorhome, the charger has a three square pin type plug (supplied with charger)?
We have a solar panel which powers the TV etc and use the 12V plug in adapter thing on the dashboard to charge the phone and a small invertor which connects in the same way to charge camera batteries but have not been able to work this one out?

grateful for any help!
 
Just use a small inverter that you plug into your 12v socket then plug the laptop power adaptor into that....
 
hairydog said:
Needing to drill holes in the casing is the proof. That method wastes loads of power which results in heat.

Convert 12v DC to 230v AC just so you can convert it back to 19.5v DC? How daft is that?

A simple DC - DC converter is vastly more efficient, cheaper and more reliable.

It only makes sense to do it your way if you already have the inverter and don't plan to keep the laptop for long.
Click to expand...

Luckily I seem to have Ample Power available to use the inverter method to charge my Laptop when Driving.
In the evening or when parking up I use my Power pack if required.
I have found that the Laptop Battery easily allows me to watch a full movie, via my External Hard drive & through Blue tooth Speaker & also gives an hr or so of computer time before I need to plug in.
 
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Yes, DC-to-DC is the way to go, but it might be worth considering a Sony car charger if they do one, even if more expensive. I bought a generic one (similar in appearance to the Danelo above) in early 2014, which worked fine until May 2014, when I noticed one day that my Lenovo laptop wasn't charging. It also became unresponsive. A reboot sorted that out, but it still wouldn't charge, neither on 12v nor on 230v. When I got home, I found that it would charge when in the docking station. In the end, the motherboard had to be replaced. I don't know whether the issue was with the generic charger, perhaps supplying too high a voltage (it was a very sunny day, so the solar panel would have been putting a high level of charge into the battery), but I haven't used it again and invested in a more expensive Lenovo charger and have not suffered a recurrence.
 
As others have said, get a 12v lighter socket type plug and cable. No need for stepping up and back down saving power. The leisure battery will smooth the solar panel supply.
 
A 12V to 19.5V converter is the best way. However, make sure your exact model of computer is listed as compatible, as some PSUs use different tips to select different voltages, and there's NO WAY the type sold by Maplin, which can supply 19.5V and has the correct tip supplied, will work with my HP Mini netbook.
I found a compatible on ebay like this for under £10 and it's been working fine for a couple of years now.
 
I got trust power converter and it come with different tips will look for link for it and they will supply you with a tip if there isn't one to fit it
 
Look on Ebay for "car laptop charger".

I got one to use with my Acer laptop. It has a multi-voltage selector switch from about 9volts up to 24volts and came with a selection of tips to fit any laptop power socket and plugs into your 12 volt cig lighter socket.

Can't remember the name of mine, ( it's in the van! ), but it works well and did'nt cost that much.

Hope this helps. :wave:
 
I bought a cheap 12v charger that plugs into the cig lighter socket for my laptop a couple of years ago. It got very hot and eventually melted the end of the socket, so I couldn't recommend that method. Since then I have used a small (300/600w) inverter and just charged everything through that - laptop, phones, toothbrushes the lot. But make sure you get a pure sine wave and not a modified sine wave version as modified sine wave can damage such things as Braun toothbrush chargers (I did in 2 before changing to pure sine wave). It's the easiest way to go and an inverter can do far more than just charge your laptop.
 
Yeah, as I posted earlier I find that using the combination of Both the Inverter & Pwr Pack methods to run all of the Different Things i use every day is FAR FAR more Practical & Versatile for my personal lifestyle. But don't deny that they arnt as efficient as a Specific Dedicated single 12v DC to ?v DC converter/charger for each item.
Just more convenient.
 
Will any of the above charge a iPhone or Apple tablet ? As recently Mandies iPhone would not take a charge via adapter with USB port in the car,most strange.

Cheers.
David
 
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