Combi charger - better to use 240v inverter or 12v

[demonboy]

We are thinking of going for a combi charger/inverter unit (Mastervolt) and I'm planning my wiring.

Is it better to run the laptop and its various USB2 devices from its 12v supply or to plug into our mains circuit via the inverter? Which is more efficient? I imagine the inverter option is more stable but using the inverter would be less efficient. Is that correct?

 

[silver-fox]

I have my laptop supplied by 12v using a Kensington universal laptop power supply which converts the 12v supply to the 18v the Toshiba is expecting. So far after 6 months it has been faultless. The one time I had real charging problems and the 12v voltage dropped the laptop just thought it had been disconnected and ran on internal batteries.

I have assumed stepping up DC voltage from 12 to 18v is more efficient than using an inverter. Obviously connected to shore power it doesn't matter either way!

BTW at the start of the season I wired up 12v 2 cigar sockets near the nav station - worth their weight in gold!!

I am about to fit an inverter/ charger and was thinking of Victron but have yet to finally decide.

Hope that is of some use.

 

[exfinnsailor]

The inverter will always use power when plugged in regardless of wether anything is connected .. All you are doing is converting 12v Dc to 240v Ac and then the computer power supply converts it back again .. If your laptop will run off 12v I would use that .. Put a fuse in circuit just in case .. Maplins do a converter so you can power 18v and others from 12v supply .. Its a car accessory .. Some of the cheap inverters only produce a 240v supply with a square wave rather than a sine wave .. might be worth trying one first to make sure if thats the route you choose to follow .. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[Anonymous]

Make sure that the combi invertor is a pure sine and not quasi-sine or modified sine. I much prefer to run all of our mains kit from our pure sine wave invertor than mess about with individual 12V adaptors. There shouldn't be a big difference in efficiency.

 

[[2574]]

I have fitted a Victron Easyplus (1500w inverter/70A charger) and it has been excellent. If you need a users view please feel free to ask.

rh