inverters?

[ralf1]

i,honestly know very little/nothing about them,but with a 3.5 year old and an 18 month old i really think i will need a tv.vcr combo soon,any advice no matter how trivial it may seem is welcome.

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[longjohnsilver]

Why not look for a 12v combo set. If you really want an inverter the cheapest place seems to be Maplins. They regularly have v good offers on them.

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[muchy_]

Hi, does it have to run on 240volts? I have a nice TV/VIDEO combo with remote, teletext, LP and SP, recording not just playing, and lots of other stuff, more than my TV at home in fact. Works a treat on 12volts.

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[Hunter34]

I bought a cheap 150w inverter (£29 I think) which manages to power a TV/VCR , PLaystation and any other stuff my 8yr old plugs into it.
It also powers my laptop and charges the mobiles and batteries for the gameboy but it struggles with some powertools.

Worth its weight in gold when we are at sea for more than a few days.

Andrew

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[wiggy]

where did it come from? For £29 it sounds too good to be true

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[beneteau_305_553]

This ones a bit more but seems good value.

http://seamarknunn.co.uk/catalog/items/item1537.htm

<hr width=100% size=1>Richard

 

[Hunter34]

Sorry I should of said I bought it in Andorra 2 years ago but I am sure they are not much more in UK from places like Maplins.

Andrew

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[jackho]

Your correct - Currently (pun intended) on promotion in Maplins 12v to 230v Soft Start Inverters 150w £14.99 300w £19.99 .

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[petery]

When do you actually need true sine wave

Any electronics experts out there who can give a definitive view on when you must have a true sine wave inverter. Is it only microwave cookers?

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[mdrifter]

why not go for the lcd tv/dvd combo available from Safeway? Quite expensive compared to a tv/vcr but smaller and lighter and can be run directly from 12v thus obviating the need for an inverter which may well be inefficient and in any case creates volumes of rfi!

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[bluejuice]

the tv dvd combo is defintely the best option, as they run off very little power indeed (amps taken) have one myself. screen however is tiny. the carvan lot use proper 12v tv's that can also have vcr's with them i had one of these (just tv) a few years ago when living in a van it was however much more expensive than 240v tv's. all in all however i would be inclined to avoid the inverter and go straight for the 12v options. i belive truckers use these 12v versions as well



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[wiggy]

can you use cheap inverters ie Map;in at £19 to run a laptop

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[Guest]

100 - 150W should run it .... I use a 150W to run notebook + mobile charger at same time. No prob.

As to original posting here ..... TV/VCR etc. on inverter is a 'drain' on battery !!! Lots of amps and short time !!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
So WHAT does the EU really stand for ????/forums/images/icons/cool.gif

 

[Time_Out]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum, and foreign, so sorry for the bad writing, but I'm also interested in using a notebook on board. Has anybody expierience with this, or invertors? Is Maplin a store or an online-shop? Or are there special adaptors to adapt notebooks to the 12V-boardnet without passing through 220V(invertor)?
Thanks for your advice.

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[bluejuice]

interesting thread on the livaboard page to do with this subject

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[nictbrown]

Re: inverters and laptop

You can run a laptop off 12v - look for cigar lighter leads that step up to laptop power - 19v 3.5A in my case. eg http://eurobatteries.com/sitepages/power-adaptors.asp. Invertors - Maplin sounds good, but also at Amazon and ebay.


<hr width=100% size=1>Regards Nic

 

[longjohnsilver]

Yes Maplin is on line <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.maplin.co.uk>http://www.maplin.co.uk</A>

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[William_H]

Re: When do you actually need true sine wave

There does not seem to be a lot of information about devices which really requitre sine wave inverter. The cheap ones produce a square wave which contains a lot of harmonics ie multiple higher frequencies in diminishing amounts. Thats the nature of a square wave. Many suppliers will list devices that are OK and most electronics devices seem happy with square wave as do motors using brush type universal motor.
I understand the difficulty comes with induction motors (withhout brushes) washing machines refrigerators fans and drill press, lathe etc. I understand they soak up the poweer and get hot. Sine wave inverters seem to be quite expensive and are probably less efficient than the square wave type. I would certainly like to hear more informed comment on the subject.

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[Omatako]

Re: inverters and laptop

I have been following several threads about running notebooks off 12V and the more I read the less I understand (must be thick).
I have a 230v power supply that came with the notebook and it has an output of "14-22V 45W max" but the battery that also came with the notebook has a label on that says "10.8V 3500mAh"
This tells my apparently limited intellect that the notebook selects the voltage it wants from the power supply and when it runs on the battery it has an available ceiling of 10.8 volts.
What have I got wrong this time?

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Omatako on 22/01/2004 09:22 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[davel]

What price is the Safeway unit?

<hr width=100% size=1>Dave L.