inverters February 08, 2001, 07:39:47 am Yahoo Message Number: 1911Has anyone found a "plug in" inverter that will actually run a 13" tv/vcr combo? Its been tough to get a straight answer out of most fo the sales sources I've tried.
inverters Reply #1 – February 08, 2001, 09:37:05 am Yahoo Message Number: 1912TV's have a de-gaussing circuit that activates every time you turn it on - at least in AC mode. The initial current draw of this may overwhelm most small inverters of the plug-in type. These will also put a strain on the DC socket and wiring. Note that a 300W inverter running at full capacity will draw about 28 Amps, and needs to be clipped onto a battery, not used in an accessory socket.If you haven't yet bought the TV/VCR combo, get an AC/DC model for more reliable operation. If you DO get an inverter, get full return privileges.Our setup is an AC/DC TV and AC/DC videotape player. The TV will run off our 150W plug-in inverter, but with noise problems that don't occur in DC operation. A free VCR we 'won' at a campground worked with the inverter, but poorly - very noisy.Expensive sine-wave inverters should work fine, but are pretty inefficient compared to using AC/DC appliances on DC. Modified-sine-wave inverters are more efficient than the true sine wave models, but even the expensive models of those may or not have noise problems, and it will take an expensive installation to find out.SteveSteve
inverters Reply #2 – February 08, 2001, 11:14:38 am Yahoo Message Number: 1913I agree totally with Steve, starting with an AC/DC model is definitely the way to go. If you already have an AC only one and really want to use it, you might look at the inverter that Target sells; it is a 400 watt continuous model that comes with both a 12 V plug and battery clips and seems to go on sale for about $45 every few weeks. You might have to put a "slow blow" fuse in the circuit to handle the surge, (don't increase the size of the fuse, whatever you do). I haven't used it with a TV so can't say how bad the "noise" from it would be, but like most inexpensive inverters it is of the modified sine wave type. Even it it doesn't work out for you, having a fair sized inverter along can come in handy, and the investment is not too bad. Rich
inverters Reply #3 – February 08, 2001, 12:35:41 pm Yahoo Message Number: 1917Steve,I'm thinking of getting a "small" inverter to run a laptop - the kind that goes into the cigarette lighter. The max units I've seen that do that are about 300-400W. Are you saying one should not go that high, or was that specifically in regard to the draw of a TV? If one stays in the 140-200 range, is that enough for a lapper? Thanks, Ron
inverters Reply #4 – February 08, 2001, 12:50:45 pm Yahoo Message Number: 1918Ron, a 300W inverter is too big for a 12V accessory socket in the same way 4 lb test is too small for ocean fishing - you might catch something, but most things you hook will break the line. Similarly, anything requiring a 300W inverter will blow the fuse in the accessory socket, but if the appliance draws much less, you might get by.Specifically, I have no experience with laptops in our m'home. Perhaps someone else can field this.Steve
inverters Reply #5 – February 08, 2001, 02:35:06 pm Yahoo Message Number: 1922Ron, We have 2 inverters, one is a 150 watt unit and the other is a 400 watt unit that I mentioned in an earlier post. We use the 150 watt one pluged into a 12V outlet for most of our needs including running our laptop. Our laptop is a recent Toshiba with an active matrix display, so it is probably on the high side. Its power supply draws .95 amps at 110 V which translates to about 100 watts. The efficiency of most inverters is pretty high (80-90 %)so a 150 watt unit works just fine. Look at the power supply of your laptop, it probably lists the maximum draw at 110V, multiply amps X 110V X 1.2 for efficency factor and that should answer your question. If the power supply lists va (volt-amps) instead of amps, just multiply that figure X 1.2. We only use our 400 watt unit for big stuff...soldering gun, drill, etc and connect it directly to the battery for those jobs.One other thing, make sure that your circuit can handle 150 watts. 150 watts / 12 volts = 12.5 amps so make sure circuit can handle that. Most 12V outlets are rated for about 20 amps, so it should be OK. Hope this helps, Rich
inverters Reply #6 – February 08, 2001, 02:48:44 pm Yahoo Message Number: 1923Not good form to follow up your own message, but it seems I got my safety factors and effeciency factors kind of mixed up. The 1.2 multiplier I mentioned should be considered a "safety factor". Another 1.2 multiplier should be applied to the info I provided for the circuit used, so that the example I used should be capable of 15 amps (12.5 X 1.2) for the effeciency factor of the inverter. Hope I didn't confuse anyone. Rich
inverters Reply #7 – February 08, 2001, 03:13:59 pm Yahoo Message Number: 1925As an alternative to the inverter, you might want to do what I am doing for connection of my Dell laptop and use an auto/air adapter.....The only approved source for Dell is at [url=http://www.lazydazeowners.com/[url=http://www.lindelectronics.com/.....they also have for other units.
Topic: inverters (Read 5 times)
previous topic - next topic
Topic: inverters (Read 5 times)
previous topic - next topic