Running a laptop off the caravan 12v system.

iana · Guru

Running a laptop off the caravan 12v system.

aussie_paul · Guru

Most laptops require around 19 volts to charge.

Aussie Paul. smile

Peter Bne · Member

There are adaptors around that will convert 12 v to 19 v. I have one. Not needed it yet as have been on 240 so far.

Peter

Tony Bev · Guru

Hello Ian

If you look at your 240 volt AC adapter, it will say something like

Input 100-240V 1.5A
Output 19V 3.24A

Go into any electrical retail shop, and they will sell you a 12 Volt adaptor to suit your 19V 3.24A laptop, cost is around $70

You plug it into a cigar socket, and it increases the 12 volt up to 19 volt

We have had one for years, and it suits our old (2004), and new (2014) laptops, we have an older laptop somewhere, which is only 14 volt, so they must come in different voltages

Hope this info is helpful to you

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Ian, Jaycar have a adapter that has adjustable volt settings and a fitting the other end to go into cig socket in van or car. It also has different fittings for different laptops. I used one all the time successfully for a few years. Unfortunately there is no fitting for my new laptop so have to charge it through a 300w inverter, that then lasts 3 days.

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

Edit....sounds similar to what Tony talks about.

-- Edited by Dougwe on Thursday 1st of December 2016 07:20:20 PM

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Ian, I have been using one of these for the past three years. I have found it an excellent product.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/150w-car-laptop-power-supply/p/MP3472

I run it from a 12v socket within the van and use my laptop while connected to it. It apparently has a 'protection' circuit within.

I don't bother using it to just charge my laptop, I just keep the laptop fully-charged and run the laptop while connected to this product. It keeps the laptop battery fully charged and draws minimal amps from my van battery.

I can use it for hours without having anything more than .1V impact on the SOC of the van battery.

Of course, you can use your laptop from its battery of an evening .. and then use this product to re-charge the laptop battery during the day. But as I said, I find it easier, and more efficient, to use it to keep the laptop battery charged while using the laptop rather than just as a charging device.

Cheers - John

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Tis the same as Rocky talks about that I talked about, Ian. On ya Rocky mate.

aussie_paul · Guru

I did my own with this product.

Step Up Voltage Charger Power 10-32V to 12-35V 6A DC-DC Boost 150W Converter

( 271507877662 )

Aussie Paul. smile

ITEM PRICE:

AU $4.58

iana · Guru

OK guys explain this to a dumb arse like myself, Dell XPS 13", power adaptor output voltage 19.5 volts, but battery voltage 8.8. that's a drop down of 10.7 volts. I suspect there is voltage regulation built into the laptop. There is also a new port coming out called "Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C)", it sounds as though it has a charging input as well.

What I suspect is one can connect 12-14v dc direct, so long as the power is clean.

-- Edited by iana on Thursday 1st of December 2016 08:37:30 PM

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Like Sarg Schultz ... I know nuffin

Sounds exactly like a question for the dude in the Jaycar shop.

That product I showed that I use .. can be adjusted to a wide variety of laptops.

cheers - John

Tony Bev · Guru

In my opinion, so I could be wrong

If your 240 volt power adaptor says 19.5 volts, then that is what you should use, otherwise your power adaptor would have said 8.8 volts, if that is all your laptop required

Perhaps the fluctuation of the vehicle/recreation battery is not suitable for delicate electric circuits

My 12 volt adaptor says

Input DC 10-15V max 10A
Output 19V 3.42A continuous

Perhaps the Electricians amongst us, can put us all wise, on why we have to use the 19/19.5 volt adaptors

iana · Guru

Just to confuse things a bit more here is a picture of a Dell 12v adaptor.

Looks just like a std.12v cig plug to me. I will keep on exploring.

Tony Bev · Guru

An easy way to find out Ian, is to put a multimeter on the piece which fits into the laptop, and then read how many volts it sends to the laptop

In a normal situation the inner (female) part is usually the positive wire

But...
Some manufactures have been known, to make the outer (male) part, the positive wire, (for whatever reason), so that you can destroy the item, and buy another one, perhaps?

Jaahn · Guru

iana wrote:
Does anyone have any info on this, it looks like depending on the computer and the number of cells in the battery, the supply can be anything from 11.5 to 19v.
The 12v adaptors for car use, sounds more like a suppressor, to cut out engine and alternator noise. Certainly I am confused about the supply voltage.

Hi iana, smile

For some reason you think there is something more going on with these things. You are incorrect IMHO. They just step up the voltage to 19v or what you set it too. The wave form of the output is not even pure DC and the computers do not mind that either. The engine and alternator "noise" is no problem either, if there is much anyway, to anything that is designed to plug into a car. There is a lot of disinformation about that to mislead guliable punters into buying higher price things. Most computers and phones etc can run on any fluctuating dc with no problem. hmm

Jaahn

DMaxer · Guru

I purchased an inverter from Supercheap for about $70. It is a 600w model. When I first used it to charge up the laptop it blew the fuses. Have since changed the fuses to 15 instead of 10 and hopefully all will now be ok.

I just plug the laptop in and use it. Don't worry about using it to recharge as it does that whilst I am using it.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

This is a fairly well-written article covering using a 'modified sine' inverter for a variety of applications.

Take the time to read it through -

https://www.lifewire.com/modified-sine-wave-inverter-damage-question-534760

Cheers - John

PeterD · Guru

iana wrote:
1.. OK guys explain this to a dumb arse like myself, Dell XPS 13", power adaptor output voltage 19.5 volts, but battery voltage 8.8. that's a drop down of 10.7 volts. I suspect there is voltage regulation built into the laptop. There is also a new port coming out called "Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C)", it sounds as though it has a charging input as well.
2.. What I suspect is one can connect 12-14v dc direct, so long as the power is clean.

1.. You are getting too uptight about the internal workings of the computer. The internal working voltages of a computer has nothing to do with the power input to the computer from the power brick (power supply or PSU.) The 19 V input is just to run the battery charger/PSU. The computer will run from voltages less than the 19 V but the charger/PSU does not act as a charger, just as a PSU (This is what happens when you run your laptop from the power supply in an aircraft. The supply voltage is kept deliberately low to prevent the laptop battery from being charged. EmPower.)

2.. The EmPower option is 15 V. I am not sure if voltages as low as 12 V will run the computer. If you have an old computer of little value then try it and report back.

PeterD · Guru

iana wrote:
Just to confuse things a bit more here is a picture of a Dell 12v adaptor.
Looks just like a std.12v cig plug to me. I will keep on exploring.

The connector on the far LHS looks like an EmPower connector to me. Have you attempted to power your computer from your 12 V vehicle power without using the adaptop on the LHS?

-- Edited by PeterD on Friday 2nd of December 2016 03:52:09 PM

Hylife · Guru

As a computer tech I can confidently say that you wont have much success feeding 12volts in to your laptop if your existing plugpack/charger is a standard unit with a 19Volt output.
Not only will it not charge but the electronics internally may very well be damaged.

Here is the cheapest and simplest option. Will run any laptop charger and these small units are completely electronic with pure sine wave outputs and are very efficient.

There are many suppliers of "Coke Can Inverters" but a quality unit is available from Jaycar for $59.95.

Just like using a generator to charge your deep-cycle batteries, you are far more efficient if you draw down from the 230V AC outlet and run a proper battery charger.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/150w-can-sized-power-inverter-with-2-1a-usb-output/p/MI5127

150w-can-sized-power-inverter-with-2-1a-

laurieoz · Senior Member

"Will run any laptop charger and these small units are completely electronic with pure sine wave outputs and are very efficient."

They are modified sine wave -not pure sine wave as the link says.
But sure, they will run a lap top computer

rockylizard · Guru

laurieoz wrote:
"Will run any laptop charger and these small units are completely electronic with pure sine wave outputs and are very efficient."

They are modified sine wave -not pure sine wave as the link says.
But sure, they will run a lap top computer

Gday...

sorry confuse Have missed something ??

Inverter 02.JPG

Cheers - John

jules47 · The Happy Helper

I found the 150watt inverters from Jaycar would not charge my laptop above 4% - it would then start to scream.

Got my money back, went to Repco and I now have a 600w pure sine wave inverter - which charges anything we have, just about, we use it on hair clippers, vacuum cleaner, small hair straightener - so very versatile, without using too much power itself. We run it directly from the house batteries.

-- Edited by jules47 on Friday 2nd of December 2016 09:19:57 PM

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

ya wouldn't need to re-charge the hair clippers or hair straightener very often ... well - not for Billeeeeeee (7e's) anyway

Cheers - John

Tony Bev · Guru

This is my 12 to 19 volt laptop charger, I have had it for at least ten years, and it has never failed me yet

I have a couple of ciggy female sockets from the house/leisure batteries, I do not have to have the engine running to charge, or use the laptop

Laptop 12 volt adaptor.JPG

iana · Guru

Thanks Tony, after a bit of surfing, looks like I will focus on the same. Need to buy a new laptop first though. I have a Dell 17" Xps, heavy monster that chews power. Perhaps looking at a Dell 13" Inspiration with a solid state drive, they are on special at the moment. Looking for reasonable power, but not hungry on the amps. Will probably go and see JB and Harvey Normon today.

-- Edited by iana on Saturday 3rd of December 2016 10:37:39 AM

PeterD · Guru

Hylife wrote:
1.. Here is the cheapest and simplest option. Will run any laptop charger and these small units are completely electronic with pure sine wave outputs and are very efficient.
2.. Just like using a generator to charge your deep-cycle batteries, you are far more efficient if you draw down from the 230V AC outlet and run a proper battery charger.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/150w-can-sized-power-inverter-with-2-1a-usb-output/p/MI5127

1.. Your link says it's a modified sine wave output not pure sine wave. Modified sine wave is not much different to square wave.

2.. The power from a 12 V adaptor is no different from the power from the power brick supplied with your computer. There is generally a switch on the adaptor so you can match the voltage of the power brick. The inverter through the inverter and power brick wastes power twice, the power adaptor has only one incident of power loss, it is more efficient to run the laptop through an adaptor than an inverter.

In addition I have had a couple of computers that would not run from one of the Jaycar inverters.

jules47 · The Happy Helper

I have had the adaptors, but was unable to get one for this model HP, they worked well.

iana · Guru

OK I've started the trip, purchased a Dell Inspiron 15. 7th gen i7 CPU, 256 SSD hard drive and a AMD radon graphics card. Power adaptor is 65 watt. Next step is to look for a power adaptor to suit. While I find the Dell look a bit boring, that's what I am using at the moment (old laptop) it looks a good all rounder at a reasonable cost.

John Kay · Veteran Member

Hi All, I would like to stress an important factor. When using an Inverter all ways use a Pure Sine Wave Inverter with electronic equipment.

Do not use a modified sine wave inverter for things like a: Laptop, Medical Equipment or anything that has sensitive electronic circuitry.

Regards John and Vicki.

Jaahn · Guru

John Kay wrote:
Hi All, I would like to stress an important factor. When using an Inverter all ways use a Pure Sine Wave Inverter with electronic equipment.

Do not use a modified sine wave inverter for things like a: Laptop, Medical Equipment or anything that has sensitive electronic circuitry.

Regards John and Vicki.

Hi John, smile

IMHO you have been listening to too many sales blurges designed to sell an expensive product where a cheap one will work well. hmm

Computers and laptops run quite happily on cheap modified square wave inverters. Been doing it for years, perhaps 15 years. I have no medical equipment so am unable to comment thereon. The term "sensitive electronic circuitry" was invented to sell expensive items to gullible punters (includes generators)!

Jaahn