inverters

[Nesting Zombie]

Yeah, My Cig Lighter wiring is 20amp, Fused to 15amp & I run the 150w Inverter from it fine,
But as already said Only Light use, In fact my Power Pack Inverter is Double my Cig Lighter Inverter @ 300w !.

 

[harrow]

The laptop chargers do use a fair amount of juice and running them of a cigarette lighter socket is going to get warm or hot.

The cigarette lighter sockets were never designed for that sort of use over several hours.

stay at home or use an electric hook up.

A small inverter will also keep your laptop going :hammer::hammer::hammer:

You could always have a generator

 

[listerdiesel]

We take an Acer laptop with us when we go away, and have the correct 12V converter to allow it to charge off a 12V source.

19V at 2.75A is what it puts out, assuming a flat battery and the laptop turned on.

That is 52W, and assuming 85% efficiency that gives an input current at 12.5V of around 4.5A in round numbers.

We have a 550W inverter in the trailer but rarely use it as all the appliances are 12V, except for the microwave which we only use on site with EHU.

Peter

 

[mistericeman]

We take an Acer laptop with us when we go away, and have the correct 12V converter to allow it to charge off a 12V source.

19V at 2.75A is what it puts out, assuming a flat battery and the laptop turned on.

That is 52W, and assuming 85% efficiency that gives an input current at 12.5V of around 4.5A in round numbers.

We have a 550W inverter in the trailer but rarely use it as all the appliances are 12V, except for the microwave which we only use on site with EHU.

Peter

Most of our stuff is 12v too... though in winter when it's too cold and wet outside to cook on the BBQ/Coleman petrol stove we use the microwave/kettle/slow cooker/toaster powered by the 3000w inverter....
works fine for us as we move around a lot...




Horses for courses though as always....

 

[QFour]

Why bother with an inverter when the laptop runs of 12v all you are doing is adding to the complication and using far more power. CHEAP 12v Cigar sockets are to blame they are absolutely useless for powering equipment that needs a little extra power. Best one to buy is a Hella socket and plug to match they are rated at 10 amps which is more than enough. The nice thing about the Hella plug is its a tight fit and has multiple prongs round the side which give it a positive lock.





As for using a 2kw inverter to charge a laptop. It probably uses more power on standby than the computer uses. My IPad charges from a 5v USB 2.1A Socket.

Perhaps instead of using a computer you would be better spending your money on an Android or IPad Tablet. Not many things you cannot do with a tablet and they use far less power.

..

 

[IanH]

Maplins....................12v power supply unit................12v or so in, whatever you need out (DC)

Why the BH would you need to convert 12V, or so DC into 230Vac to then run a PC power supply to then give the PC 19vdc or so whatever it needs??????????

 

[trevskoda]

Why bother with an inverter when the laptop runs of 12v all you are doing is adding to the complication and using far more power. CHEAP 12v Cigar sockets are to blame they are absolutely useless for powering equipment that needs a little extra power. Best one to buy is a Hella socket and plug to match they are rated at 10 amps which is more than enough. The nice thing about the Hella plug is its a tight fit and has multiple prongs round the side which give it a positive lock.

View attachment 51210

View attachment 51211

As for using a 2kw inverter to charge a laptop. It probably uses more power on standby than the computer uses. My IPad charges from a 5v USB 2.1A Socket.

Perhaps instead of using a computer you would be better spending your money on an Android or IPad Tablet. Not many things you cannot do with a tablet and they use far less power.

..

You are correct i have a 10 inch one which in fact is a phablet so i can put a ph sim in it & it has a built in gps,3 core 1 meg ram 16 memery with a 32 gig sd card cost 60 bucks of ebay,its even faster than my big pc at home and can be charged from usb socket in van.

 

[QFour]

You are correct i have a 10 inch one

Bragging again ..

 

[alwaysared]

This plug and socket may be better than a standard cigarette lighter socket.

Regards,
Del

 

[Nesting Zombie]

Maplins....................12v power supply unit................12v or so in, whatever you need out (DC)

Why the BH would you need to convert 12V, or so DC into 230Vac to then run a PC power supply to then give the PC 19vdc or so whatever it needs??????????

Yeah sounds (& iS) an inefficient way of doing it, I suppose it's down to you could then use the same suitable wattage inverter to Run or Charge Other Things for the convenience sake of just Plugging it in without worrying about Voltage settings, & as the chances are that the inverter will only be on while Running your Engine or Traveling then you'll actually be putting Charge INTO your Battery rather than Taking it OUT of your battery if using one of the 12v to ?v plug ins when Parked up !. SOME things actually charge BETTER & QUICKER on 230v than on a 12v Conversion too !.
It's just about Options, Routine & Discipline really.
Start Engine, Plug in what needs to be Charged, Drive to Park up, knowing you've got a Full 'Device' Full Engine Battery, Full Leasure Battery, Full Power Pack. The combination of which gives me easily 2 days or more Freedom WHOO WHOO !.

 

[oldish hippy]

well in the van ihave two high amp socket soassume they wired for it

 

[delicagirl]

Maplins....................12v power supply unit................12v or so in, whatever you need out (DC)

Why the BH would you need to convert 12V, or so DC into 230Vac to then run a PC power supply to then give the PC 19vdc or so whatever it needs??????????

Because when i bought the van and knew nothing i was conned and overcharged by charlatans and moneymakers who convinced me these were the things i needed ..... this forum and its wealth of advice has been a dogsend to me oops !!! godsend

Well some very interesting thoughts here. the reason i need a laptop is that i write and am a touch typist and need a proper keyboard.

 

[mark61]

Another here who charges from 12 volt.

 

[Deleted member 9849]

Another here who charges from 12 volt.

Me too,I have a dc/dc converter for my laptop which runs at 19v.I have fitted a 12v cig lighter type socket direct from the leisure battery.I agree with the posters that say converting 12v to 240v with an inverter and then back down to 19v is inefficient.With DG's set up of 3 leisure batteries and a 100w solar panel it's likely that she would be electrically self sufficient for most of the year and even in winter be able to last several days without any form of charge.

 

[Derekoak]

Inverter

At the beginning our only non 12 volt or usb need was a 16 volt Bluetooth speaker. I followed advice to be efficient and constructed a buck boost charger plugged into a cigarette socket. The wiring on this became dicky it was of course the cigarette sockets but also the jacket plug being only just compatible with the only twin core wiring I could find.
Then my wife wanted to bring our 150 watt liquidiser whisk 240 volt so I bought a 300 watt inverter and installed it on 4mm wire to the fuse box using anderson poles.
It did not then seem worth remaking the 16 volt buck boost charger for a charge that happens once a week so we bring the mains charger for that now. It is convenience and our 100 watt solar ensures we are not short of electric like we used to occasionally be. It is horses for courses!

 

[trevskoda]

Because when i bought the van and knew nothing i was conned and overcharged by charlatans and moneymakers who convinced me these were the things i needed ..... this forum and its wealth of advice has been a dogsend to me oops !!! godsend

Well some very interesting thoughts here. the reason i need a laptop is that i write and am a touch typist and need a proper keyboard.

You can add a keyboard to a tablet/phabled del.

 

[sparrks]

I use these along with the corresponding socket for my laptops or any item requiring up to 20 amps - it's never got warm yet - it's push and twist to connect and press button and twist to release.

 

[delicagirl]

For goodness sake, we've already been over this. I remember telling you that cigar lighter sockets were not suitable for providing power for a long time and that they would overheat. I even explained why. But going from a 12v charger to an inverter won't fix the problem. What you need to do is wire the charger into a switched, fused supply, not connected through a cigar lighter socket. I told you that before too.
An inverter is the last thing you want. They waste power turning 12v to 230v and the laptop adapter wastes more turning 230v into 20v. Just to avoid a bad plug/socket connection. You'd need to insane to consider it.

Thank you hairydog (and no doubt others who are as frustrated as you - and me!!) This is the first time i have asked for info and advice re the inverter, which i have never used. Prior to this thread I did not really understand that an inverter had to do so much converting/inverting from one voltage to another and i can now see that it would indeed use too much power. I also now understand the difference between a cigar socket (which will inevitably get hot and dangerous) and a direct wiring of my laptop charging plug into the batteries.

Part of my obsession with understanding how my van works, is so that (hopefully) i never get conned again by charlatans who lied to me and who have cost me a lot of money in the last 2.5 years. If i do break down when not at home and where there is no wi-fi, i now have a thick file of information gleaned from here, which has given me a good working knowledge of my van. The amount of knowledge i now have is enormous (thanks to WC guys and gale) in comparison to when i bought it.

On this thread WCers have also recommended the best components to buy - which will be most useful when i get the leisure batteries' wiring re-done.

Another step forward.....

 

[delicagirl]

Hello,

I am :

A qualified Electrician
A qualified electrical inspector
A qualified electronics engineer
Qualified in Electronic systems

I am experienced with motorhome electrical systems and computer systems
This does not of course mean I am right, but as it was me they first suggested they you should not use the inverter to charge your laptop (at Rutland Water) I guess that it was my opinion that you are weighing up against the other opinions.
Using an inverter to convert 12v to 230v then plugging in a power adaptor to convert in back down is a wasteful use of power. If you feel they you have enough surplus energy then this method is fine.

Most 12v laptop power supplies use a max of 90w or 7.5 amps. The rated power of a cbe 12v socket is 120w or 10 amps. And they are made to supply this continuously.

12V Socket - Auto | Leisureshopdirect

Thank you Phil... Rutland water 2015 seems a long time ago and i think i was very befuddled with the amount of new information my non-tecchie brain was trying to understand. But i must have remembered it because i have never used the inverter.

 

[harrow]

Thank you Phil... Rutland water 2015 seems a long time ago and i think i was very befuddled with the amount of new information my non-tecchie brain was trying to understand. But i must have remembered it because i have never used the inverter.

Inverters are not the work of the devil.

More powerful inverters can use more standby power when not in use, so switch it off.

Yes you have to consider that they do use power when they are connected and switched on even if nothing is plugged in, so switch it off if you are not using it

Laptop chargers that run off 12 volts are not that economical and that is why they get hot.

:ninja::ninja::ninja:

You could leave the van engine running while you use the laptop.......