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Happy Yellow View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Inverters (12V to 240V)
    Posted: 25 Apr 07 at 09:52

Has anyone had experience using an inverter to convert 12 Volts to 240 Volts?  

What have people used inverters to power?

What is the T5 alternator output (varies with model, I suppose)?   One could run the engine while using some high power things via an inverter – coffee machine?

It would be handy to charge my laptop.

My laptop's AC adapter's output is 16V / 4.5A so that's 72 Watts.  The input is 100-240V / 1.0-0.5A

I'm not quite sure how to work out the 12V demand in Amps, but I think it's: 240V divided by 0.5A = 120W divided by 12V = 10A

Therefore 2 hours charging/using the laptop = 20A.  Which is not much of a drain on the auxiliary battery, which is 85A/h.

If I'm correct above, then a 200W inverter will be what I'll need, as nominal output is always higher than actual.  I'll be working the inverter at 60% of it's nominal output.  I’ve seen special inverters for use with sensitive equipment, such as laptops.

Any comments will be welcome.  Thanks in advance

Happy Yellow

 



Edited by Happy Yellow
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Apr 07 at 10:04
for your laptop you're much better off getting the specific 12v charger for it,
invertors ain't very efficient for things which are running at near 12v
anyways....
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Apr 07 at 12:19

I use an inverter to charge or run my lap top, I can’t run it of 12v as the lap top requires 19v it’s a Toshiba

The 300 watt inverter doesn’t have any noticeable affect on the vehicle starting battery when run off of it for even a few hours

Jumped Ship to a Vito but I hear a 2021 T6 calling, only real difference is the Vito cab is more car like.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Apr 07 at 13:57
I had a 700W invertor hard wired into my spare battery under the passenger seat.  I ran everything from an xbox and LCD TV to a chest freezer and my laptop.  It has stopped working and I am sad now.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Apr 07 at 20:44
Just bought 300w invertor from halfords works superb only £39 .Tesco are also selling a 150w for £24 depends on what you need.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Apr 07 at 22:18
If you've got the power supply for the lap top it will give you the wattage normally.  Inverters are usually not much more than 75% efficient so multiply this by 4/3 to work out the wattage from the van battery.

typically 65w psu. x 4/3 = approx 90 w

90 from 12v supply = approx 7. amps

If your battery is 120 AmpHrs then it should last 120/7 or nearly 18 hours

This is all a bit rough but unless you are parked up for a long time the battery should be OK
Using an inverter saves on having to buy a  car charger for everything from battery chargers, laptops, games machines, dvd players etc
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 07 at 09:42

Originally posted by cjohnson_uk cjohnson_uk wrote:

If you've got the power supply for the lap top it will give you the wattage normally.  Inverters are usually not much more than 75% efficient so multiply this by 4/3 to work out the wattage from the van battery.

typically 65w psu. x 4/3 = approx 90 w

90 from 12v supply = approx 7. amps

If your battery is 120 AmpHrs then it should last 120/7 or nearly 18 hours

This is all a bit rough but unless you are parked up for a long time the battery should be OK
Using an inverter saves on having to buy a  car charger for everything from battery chargers, laptops, games machines, dvd players etc

Thanks for your comments Chris.  However, it should be noted that most devices such as inverters, fridges and Eberspacher/Webasto heaters will not continue to function once the voltage drops below a certain level.  In practice one should not discharge a battery by more than 50% (some leisure / traction batteries can be, but it is best not to, as it will certainly shorten their life as well).

As my second battery is 85Ah, I could only expect to use a 7A device for 6 hours.  It may be a bit longer, but it's better to make the calculation on the safe side and be pleased if it last longer, than to be optimistic, and disappointed (or without heat in sub-zero temperatures) when the power fails earlier than expected.

 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 07 at 12:55

This is marginally relevant to this thread: 

We recently purchased a free-standing 55W solar panel from CaraSolar. I didn't think it would be big enough to make a large difference, but last weekend (very sunny) it had the 135AH battery back up to 12.9v by lunchtime, a 0.9v increase from breakfast, after running the fridge and heater overnight. And it stayed there despite the fridge running and using the water pump for the sink.

Doesn't sound a lot but it doubles the time that we can stay on pitch to 3 or 4 days before we have to go for a drive to recharge other wise the the fridge cuts out at 10v. And the heater cuts out even sooner as the glowplug draws several amps during start up as we discovered a couple of weeks ago. We didn't realise how damn cold a van can become. brrr.

Ps. the products on CaraSolar website is out of date, but they were very helpful on the phone. It comes complete with a quality PWM charger so the battery doesn't fry, and a security cable and lock to attach it to your van.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 07 at 14:30
I've a 12v power supply for my IMB Stinkpad, which runs off either the bus or the c'van.

on the previous comment, we've a spere battery in the bus, being charged when we're out from the c'van, once the bat in the c'van is flat, we swap them over... cheepest option and doesn't need solars etc.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 07 at 14:41

Originally posted by Busman Busman wrote:

I've a 12v power supply for my IMB Stinkpad, which runs off either the bus or the c'van.

etc.

Is that an IBM item, or made by someone else?  Any info?  My Thinkpad needs 16V.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 07 at 13:27
Item cam from Laptop Shop on the Web and is made by Myonis and haven't had any problems as I also use my bus as a mobile office.

LaptopShop IBM 12v power link...

Link for all Laptops so you can search for your model...

Edited by Busman
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 07 at 14:42

Originally posted by Busman Busman wrote:

Item cam from Laptop Shop on the Web and is made by Myonis and haven't had any problems as I also use my bus as a mobile office.

LaptopShop IBM 12v power link...

Link for all Laptops so you can search for your model...

That's great thanks.  Just what I need.  It'll be better than using an inverter for this specific task.



Edited by Happy Yellow
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