Inverter Advise Please.

I second that, me either

read a few "Manufacturers" recommendations and maybe you will get a PSW Inverter

Maîneÿ . . .

Hiya Mainy

I own a Honda 20ui but dont use it much and dont take my computer away much either...My lenovo was nearly $3500 including base (dvd burner etc etc),well thats replacement cost..I will not (and its just me) allow it to run on a $200 piece of crap putting out crappy power.....

Ive decided against an inverter in my Hilux.Ive been caught up in a River where half my Hilux filled up with water lol and the realization to me is that had i had an inverter in it i would more than likely be Dead by now..The Hilux only floats for so long..

Ummm,
if there is any message in your post it eludes me

maybe it's Toyota's don't float for a long time ?
or is the Honda 20ui " a $200 piece of crap " ?
No person (in their right mind) would cross a river/creek etc with-out knowing how deep it was and they would have the Honda placed so it is out of the water, same as the inverter, neither would be running when in those conditions



I assure you I would not let my laptop run on a "$200 piece of crap putting out crappy power" either, that's the reason I use a quality (more expensive) Pure Sine wave 240v inverter

The 240v power supplied by a Pure Sine Wave inverter is the (exact) same power as what you have in your home and is rated as suitabe for laptops etc, that can't be said for a modified/square sinewave inverter

Maîneÿ . . .

***I own a Honda 20ui but dont use it much and dont take my computer away much either...My lenovo was nearly $3500 including base (dvd burner etc etc),well thats replacement cost..I will not (and its just me) allow it to run on a $200 piece of crap putting out crappy power..... ***

Sorry Mainy cannot put it any simpler apart from a Modified Inverter that cost about $200,The Honda's great and havnt an issue running the laptop off it..



***No person (in their right mind) would cross a river/creek etc with-out knowing how deep it was and they would have the Honda placed so it is out of the water, same as the inverter, neither would be running when in those conditions **

If River crossings are so easy no-one will ever get caught out would they unless you stick to ankle deep crossings,I had crossed this crossing at this depth on previous occasions...We knew the depth (in hindsight we miss judged the current) and I hadn't had my Hilux long,It was only my second crossing at that time in this vehicle but have done about 120 river crossings since then,My friend who had an 80series and 30 years of High Country driving was with me.We decided it was ok to cross it was abit above waste height..Three quarters across the river the front end started to float and become light.I tried to boot it but it become light and spun me around backwards down the rapids.The vehicle stopped halfway on a stone/pebble embankment half on and half in a gully of deep water..While i sat and waited how to be winched out the Hilux started filling up with water (now had i had an inverter would it not have the capability of shocking me ??????? If not i am wrong) From the pictures that i see on Forums about 80% put them under seats or in a Dual Cab in the tub area.Unless i bolted it to the Underside of the roof or the roof of the canopy it would have fried,Even my center console had water in it...As i stated i dont take my Honda away much,this was one of those times i did not.Lucky it was hot weather during the day,I had a wet ass for about 2 days but the drivers seat started to dry out after that..lol

I need to post photo's at some point..

Hi Motherhen. Rather than using an inverter to run your computer why not use a 150Watt 12Volt laptop power supply the output voltage is adjustable 15/16/18/19/20/22/24Volt at 6Amp rating 150 Wattfrom Jaycar Cat NoMP-3472 price 74.95 dollars. My wife runs her Toshiba satelite of one of these it uses 19Volt @ 3.5Amp. It seems rather ineficient to change 12V DC to 240V to 19V.

Hi Motherhen, agree with dbish. We had inverter for the laptop but it didn't really like it. We bought a laptop power supply that just plugs into the power socket. Easier than the inveter and more portable. Works a treat.

Josh

Hi dbish & Josh - i was not aware of these power supplies.
I will have more questions shortly.

Mh

I have looked at the Jaycar website. It does make sense to use something more direct than going from 12 v to 240 v and back to 16 v or whatever.

Am i correct in thinking the laptop plugs direct into the Power box instead of the black box that comes with the computer cord (labelled switchig power supply)? It would therefore only be able to be used with the computer and not for battery charging etc.

Having a cig lighter plug, i assume it could be cut of and hard wired to the battery system? What voltage range tolerance do they have?

Mh

You are right it plugs straight into the computerpower supply socket. It basicly steps up 12V dc to any of the selected voltages & will supply 6Amps max. It will also charge your laptop battery aswell . It comes with a range of round plugs to suit a range of computers . Handles 12 to 14 Volt if you hard wire it iwould put a swich in the power lead to switch it off. Hope this helps. Ps you wont need the laptops 240V powersupply.

bought 2 Morningstar Suresines this week
$389 plus freight
awaiting to arrive. 1 for my van and 1 for the brothers
recommended best on market

Hi paulnsw - are you going to share the secret? What was the cost including freight?

Mh

EDITED:

Hi paulnsw - are you going to share the secret? Where did you purchase it?

What was the cost including freight?

Mh

postage was $16 something over $389 for inverter
bought it from the guy on the Yahoo rvtravel forum
knows his stuff on 12v and vans

Thanks Paul

Mh

Thanks to advice from dbish & Josh, we found Jaycar agent Leading Edge in Roma, and got the power supply. Works great and am very pleased. They also looked at our Powertech - thought they would be able to fix it easily, but could find nothing wrong - except it only delivers a very low and variable voltage. All components seems fine! They didn't charge us for trying. We will take it to our electronics guy when we get back home.

We are still needing a sine wave inverter for other electronic stuff.


Mh

I agree Stevesub. I have run 3 different laptops over the years and all kinds of small battery chargers without any issues at all.

I agree that there must be items out there that are fussy and need pure sine wave, but I certainly haven't come across any to date.

Cheers
Gerry

Hi Rodney, A 300 watt inverter is to small to run most laptops.

KK

B*****T.

The laptop I am running now (Macbook Pro) has a 80w power supply. My Dell and my wife's Compaq, 65w power supplies - ALL work no problems on a 150w inverter. All have 15.4" screens and all are less than 3 years old with the Dell being 6 months old. My old Sony also uses a 65w power supply, I have used them all with the inverter.

I used to use a 12V to 16V inverter for the Sony (16V input) and it kept on crashing due to interference from the vehicle upsetting the Sony so we use an inverter (modified sine wave) instead with no problems.

If you have to use a 300w plus inverter for a laptop by itself, you do have a problem.

Stevesub

used to run 15" laptop and 6" fan from 150w sine inverter with no issues
barsteward who broke in stole 150w inverter
bought 300w Suresine as remote on off and sleep mode ducks nuts they say

Ooops.... Steve you are right (of course). How did I manage to type that ! I meant to type that 150 watt is to small not 300. :-((

Apologies - should not be watching / listening to tv at the same time.

KK

Jaycar's 150W can type inverter works for me on the netbook (60w power supply) and can be used for camera battery chargers, large fan in the tent etc.

It may have more to do with the laptop not liking the inverter than inadequate size. As aforesaid, my laptop wouldn't run on the 500 w Powertech (way more than adequate), and would only start charging the battery when the computer was turned off. My daughter's laptop runs of either inverter.

Mh