Hi All. we are setting ourselves up for doing lots of free camping. Already have plug in chargers to charge the phone and tablet but need advise on the laptop. Will a 180watt pure sine wave inverter with a cigarette plug charge my Acer laptop or is there a charger like the phone one that I can buy for charger it. Thanking you
rockylizard said
09:55 AM Apr 7, 2015
Pondy wrote:
Hi All. we are setting ourselves up for doing lots of free camping. Already have plug in chargers to charge the phone and tablet but need advise on the laptop. Will a 180watt pure sine wave inverter with a cigarette plug charge my Acer laptop or is there a charger like the phone one that I can buy for charger it. Thanking you
Gday ...
Yes
It will charge the laptop and, given it is a 'pure sine' inverter you should be able to use the laptop while it is charging without harm to the pooter.
I started out with such an inverter and used the vehicle to charge the laptop while driving. However, advice I received was that the 12v to inverter then 240v out of inverter back to 19v through the '240v charger' for the laptop was quite inefficient.
So I had a 12v socket installed in the van near the table where I use the pooter, went to Jaycar and bought a laptop 'cord' that plugs into the 12v which changes it to 19v and charges the pooter. The 'cord' has a 'surge protector' inbuilt to protect the pooter.
I now don't bother 'charging' the pooter, I simply use the Jaycar cord like I use the 240v laptop cord. The laptop, if fully charged, remains fully charged while using it plugged into the 12v socket and draws absolute minimum 'amps' from the house battery to maintain the 'full charge'.
Others will have other ideas/advice so you will have a number of options to assess.
Cheers - John
Happywanderer said
11:37 AM Apr 7, 2015
I have an Acer too. I bought a 12 volt adaptor from Jaycar for 80 dollars when I first started out. Still going strong even though when I bought it I had Toshiba laptop.
Dougwe said
01:44 PM Apr 7, 2015
I too have the same as Rocky and Marj. The only way to go. The charger from Jaycar comes with various adaptors to fit most Laptops.
You will find you will end up having shares in Jaycar as you continue to "free" camp.
Pondy said
03:38 PM Apr 7, 2015
Thank you were much for your replies will go and get the Jaycar one.
PeterD said
04:26 PM Apr 7, 2015
What they are referring to is this type of adaptors:
Whether you go with one of these or an inverter you may find the wiring to your cigarette lighter socket is too light to supply a full 12 V when the laptop is charging its battery. Even though I had my van wired with larger wire than standard I could not run my Telstra phone modem and 90 W laptop simultaneously through an inverter. I have since installed a Merit socket near the battery and changed the plug on the adaptor to a Merit plug.
Not only is most caravan wiring to 12 V power points suspect, the cigarette lighter plugs are not a good devices for use over a couple of amps. A 90 W laptop is likely to draw 9 - 12 A when running and providing a full charge rate to its batteries. Which ever way you go I can recommend that you replace cigarette lighter plugs with a heavier type.
-- Edited by PeterD on Tuesday 7th of April 2015 04:27:08 PM
Pondy said
05:56 PM Apr 7, 2015
Thank you
Dougwe said
06:01 PM Apr 7, 2015
I use the 150w one in the second link without any problems. I have been using it now for 3 years. I even have a spare just in case.
SnowT said
06:11 PM Apr 7, 2015
Hey Pondy..
As the other have said yes you can....
I have what is common referred to as a Gaming Laptop.. ie as in a Laptop that is powerful enough to play most games out there..
Well my laptop is a power hog and yes it run's really well off a 300w inverter.. Plus the Fridge and other light loads...
so don't despair...
Just make sure you have the battery capacity to handle All of your loads..
Juergen
Bruce and Bev said
08:27 PM Apr 7, 2015
we run both our laptops through our 800w invertor off our 2 hours batts which in turn are charged during the day by solar panels on the roof of our 'van. Don't notice any notice draw doing it this way.
Pondy said
07:00 AM Apr 8, 2015
Thank you everybody for all you help. That is what I love about this forum so many helpful people
Hi All. we are setting ourselves up for doing lots of free camping. Already have plug in chargers to charge the phone and tablet but need advise on the laptop. Will a 180watt pure sine wave inverter with a cigarette plug charge my Acer laptop or is there a charger like the phone one that I can buy for charger it. Thanking you
Gday ...
Yes
It will charge the laptop and, given it is a 'pure sine' inverter you should be able to use the laptop while it is charging without harm to the pooter.
I started out with such an inverter and used the vehicle to charge the laptop while driving. However, advice I received was that the 12v to inverter then 240v out of inverter back to 19v through the '240v charger' for the laptop was quite inefficient.
So I had a 12v socket installed in the van near the table where I use the pooter, went to Jaycar and bought a laptop 'cord' that plugs into the 12v which changes it to 19v and charges the pooter. The 'cord' has a 'surge protector' inbuilt to protect the pooter.
I now don't bother 'charging' the pooter, I simply use the Jaycar cord like I use the 240v laptop cord. The laptop, if fully charged, remains fully charged while using it plugged into the 12v socket and draws absolute minimum 'amps' from the house battery to maintain the 'full charge'.
Others will have other ideas/advice so you will have a number of options to assess.
Cheers - John
You will find you will end up having shares in Jaycar as you continue to "free" camp.
What they are referring to is this type of adaptors:
90W Universal Automatic In-Car Slimline Laptop Power Supply
150W Car Laptop Power Supply
Whether you go with one of these or an inverter you may find the wiring to your cigarette lighter socket is too light to supply a full 12 V when the laptop is charging its battery. Even though I had my van wired with larger wire than standard I could not run my Telstra phone modem and 90 W laptop simultaneously through an inverter. I have since installed a Merit socket near the battery and changed the plug on the adaptor to a Merit plug.
Not only is most caravan wiring to 12 V power points suspect, the cigarette lighter plugs are not a good devices for use over a couple of amps. A 90 W laptop is likely to draw 9 - 12 A when running and providing a full charge rate to its batteries. Which ever way you go I can recommend that you replace cigarette lighter plugs with a heavier type.
-- Edited by PeterD on Tuesday 7th of April 2015 04:27:08 PM
I use the 150w one in the second link without any problems. I have been using it now for 3 years. I even have a spare just in case.
As the other have said yes you can....
I have what is common referred to as a Gaming Laptop.. ie as in a Laptop that is powerful enough to play most games out there..
Well my laptop is a power hog and yes it run's really well off a 300w inverter.. Plus the Fridge and other light loads...
so don't despair...
Just make sure you have the battery capacity to handle All of your loads..
Juergen