DC to AC power inverter issue

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muzbaz

Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2012
Messages
49
Location
Hertfordshire
Car
C-Class Estate
Hi
I hope there is someone that can help me with this, I have been using an inverter to supply and charge a loptop but not running it onstantly for hours on end, the one I was using developed a fault and became bin fodder, so I replaced it with a 200w inverter as before, connected through the cig lighter socket but the new one starts to bleep as if the battery is low as soon as I connect it to the lighter socket, so I start the engine and it still bleeps, I thought it must just be a cheap import (ebay :-/) SO I picked a 300w unit up from maplin today just incase it was a load issue,,, the same happens with that unit too, I put a meter on the 2 sockets In the front and rear, both read 14.05v engine running and 12.4v after engine off for 10 minutes, the units say they will alarm once the battery goes below 10.5v,
I haven't actually connected direct to the battery/constant live yet, but I shouldn't have to if they offer the option to supply power to the inverter via a cigarette lighter.
Any help with this would be really appreciated.
 
have you ever heard of car charger for laptop:) ? using inverter is pointless not to mention it needs at least 100 Ah battery to supply power for sufficient time.so bin it and get a proper charger for buttons.spend your money more wisely
 
Have you checked the fuse for the cigarette socket
As it may have blown
Also some inverters have a separate earth connector for protection to the chassis

I would start at the feed fuse then the connector and after check the out feed in ac from inverter

The only thing is the cheaper inverters are not great. For laptops as the sign wave made is a square wave not a pure sign wave and can damage some electronics

But the correct charger as said above problem solved and peace of mind
 
Thanks for the replies,,
Nope, didn't realise you can get a dedicated car laptop charger :-/
You can only spend your money wisely if you have the knowledge to do so and now I have that,,, I will return the inverter and spend the refund so :)
Still, the inverters I have are designed to run from the cigar lighter so if I were to power a DVD player with them I would be back to the original problem,, One unit has an optional chassis earth connector, both work when switched on, so the supply power is there, this was checked with a power meter, 12.4v engine off 14.05v engine running, one unit alarms with nothing connected to it (the Maplin one) the other alarms once you plug a power lead in and that lead is not plugged into a DVD, TV screen etc so there is no load, the first unit that failed, worked for 9 months :wallbash: So I guess I will have to hard wire one of the units (to power the DVD player) and source a car laptop supply/charger.

Thanks again for your replies :thumb:
 
go back to first square :) you need bigger amps not just voltage. understood?
 
yes,,, understood! But to run a charger for an hour from an inverter does not need 100 amps per hour as the draw is less than 3.48amps per hour on the supply/charger, which would allow excess of 20hrs use, anyway, my previous inverter worked faultlessly for 9 months :-/
SO today I have ordered a dedicated 12v supply unit so I am not trying to invert 12v to 240v which is then converted to 12-19v DC to run the lappy.

Cheers to all on this one.
 

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