12v to 19v - DC to DC (any recommends?) or small inverter?

[ShinyShoe]

That looks rather OTT, I just took the Dallas chip out of an old charger. Interesting though.

I was assuming you wanted to keep your original charger for 240v use at home..

 

[ShinyShoe]

Maplin offer several. I have two from them that look very like the one in your Amazon link. (They don't make my exact model any more.) I have used them without problem for about 10 years. This has spanned five laptops from three different manufacturers, including a Dell, which worked without any problem. I have a Sterling 240 volt inverter. I have explicitly done the test many times to see how many amps it takes out of the battery via the DC-DC vs the inverter and AC charger. In my hands the inverter solution seems to take about twice as much current, though can't see why it should.

With my present Lenovo laptop I discovered that Lenovo supply a 12 charger at a reasonable price, and it is far less bulky - I use it.

I'm willing to bet that your laptop manufacturer will have a recommended solution if you probe.

The OP is using a TV not a laptop.
I suspect TV guys don't get asked this that much as there are plenty out there that have 12v supply...

 

[Hydrozoan]

... For my monitor I use one of these: http://amzn.to/1k56jzr as it has a 230V input as well as 12V, thus removing a load from the battery while charging. See this thread: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...wering-Notebooks-TVs-and-other-gt-12V-devices

Yes, I've seen your thread on that one and the AC/DC input facility is attractive. Do you know if it has a tip that would fit into the round socket of this (5.63mm ID)? http://www.amazon.co.uk/VicTsing-Co...mputers_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SQJNMC44YZBJXQG3CGY I've just bought another laptop and it (a Lenovo) has a rectangular DC plug which doesn't seem to feature in any of the 'universal' tip packages.

Apologies to the OP for 'borrowing' the thread!

 

[nigelmercier]

Yes, I've seen your thread on that one and the AC/DC input facility is attractive. Do you know if it has a tip that would fit into the round socket of this (5.63mm ID)?...

That looks similar to a Dell type. You could easily cut into the adaptor lead and connect that way.

 

[mrplastic]

I bought one of these for my printer a few days ago

Bought one of these about 10months ago, cant report on efficiency but it works perfectly!

 

[Amulet]

The OP is using a TV not a laptop.
I suspect TV guys don't get asked this that much as there are plenty out there that have 12v supply...

Sorry, must pay attention in future - assumed from the preamble that it was a laptop, and didn't read the detail.

 

[nigelmercier]

Sorry, must pay attention in future - assumed from the preamble that it was a laptop, and didn't read the detail.

Partly my fault, I drifted the thread a bit.

 

[Pete7]

To clarify: Dell chargers require a special chip inside them to tell the laptop their capability, they have three wires rather than two. A generic charger will power the laptop, but it will not charge properly and it may run at reduced speed. The plug has three contacts, the outside of the barrel, the inside of the barrel, and a very thin pin which is the data line. If you look in the BIOS (called Settings as you boot) it reports the type of charger.

The Maplin 12 - 19v charger has a Dell adapter with 3 leads to take care of this. Been running my Dell perfectly for a fortnight on it.

 

[mystery]

I know this is an old thread, but what are folks using these days for 12v to 19v. The brain of my boat internet system takes 12v by default but my indoor APs for the LAN are currently AC

 

[Norman_E]

You need a boost converter. This cheap one allows up to 80 watts output. DC-DC 3-12V to 19-36V Step-up boost Converter Module Adjustable High Power - UK | eBay
You may need a bigger one like this DC-DC Converter 15A 400W Step up Converter Boost Voltage Module 8.5-50V to10-60V | eBay

You need to realise that these things are not 100% efficient, so if you output 100 watts at 90% efficiency, about 11 watts is given off in heat, so you need to mount it somewhere dry but ventilated. The big advantage of these converters is that the output voltage stays stable even if the input voltage from your 12 volt system varies up to perhaps 14.8 volts whilst the battery charger is running.

 

[mystery]

You need a boost converter. This cheap one allows up to 80 watts output. DC-DC 3-12V to 19-36V Step-up boost Converter Module Adjustable High Power - UK | eBay
You may need a bigger one like this DC-DC Converter 15A 400W Step up Converter Boost Voltage Module 8.5-50V to10-60V | eBay

You need to realise that these things are not 100% efficient, so if you output 100 watts at 90% efficiency, about 11 watts is given off in heat, so you need to mount it somewhere dry but ventilated. The big advantage of these converters is that the output voltage stays stable even if the input voltage from your 12 volt system varies up to perhaps 14.8 volts whilst the battery charger is running.

Thanks. I found some waterproof ones by Uxcell on Amazon. Seems that you want to go larger than you need so they don't burn out.