vtchris
vermont
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Joined: 05/24/2005
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I have 2 laptops that I use A LOT so the main thing keeping me from boondocking more is electricity for these. This area is my weak area, so bare with me if you note that I don't know what I am talking about because I don't. I have an older RV, the house battery is probably a marine battery (purchased a couple years ago), the compartment is very small. In my overhead bins there are a couple cigarette lighter looking thingies. My Dell has a cigarette lighter adapter which I use to recharge using my engine battery while driving (that lighter doesn't work unless the engine is on). Once I tried plugging the Dell into one of those house thingies and my laptop screen went all dim or something, all I can remember is unplugging it real quick because I didn't know what I was doing and was afraid of hurting my laptop. I have a voltage/amp measuring device, but it is incomprehensible to me! I don't know how to use it (except for the temperature probe  ) and wouldn't know what I was looking for. I just want some simple way to plug my 'puters into something safe to run them for as long as possible and any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. BTW, can I use my Dell adapter with my Sony laptop?
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USAFBILL
Alabama
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Joined: 09/20/2002
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Sounds like your battery might need replacing. You should be able to operate the laptop with the volt plug.
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strollin
San Martin, CA
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Those "cigarette lighter looking thingies" are notorious for having very small gauge wire which results in a voltage drop at the plug. You might try connecting directly to the battery or wiring in a 12V socket with larger gauge wire.
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rjf7g
Virginia
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Joined: 01/18/2007
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You most likely cannot use your Dell 12V adapter with your Sony laptop. It is likely that you 12V outlet in your camper wasn't producing enough current for your 12V adapter to work properly, so it didn't work. Think about it...as you are driving down the road, your coach battery is actually charging (that's what the alternator does) and not discharging. The Dell adapter acts like an inverter - turns the DC voltage (a flat 12V) in to AC voltage (a sine wave).
You have a Voltmeter with two probes on it, I suspect. You can probably select AC (squiggly sine wave symbol) or DC (same symbol with a line over it on mine). Choose DC (direct current) for your battery and choose the voltage setting closest to what you're expecting to see (12V, so choose the 1 V/10V/100V setting). You will get something on the order of 12V +/-.
There are lots of ways you can conserve your laptop battery (turn off wireless card, dim monitor, etc) and you can also buy extra batteries. You can also invest in a charge station or a small generator.
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targaboat
sulphur springs, tx, usa
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You can not be calling electrical elements thingies and expect that an outsider will be able to help you through this forum. Also, You need to learn how to use your volt meter and measure the voltage you have in various situation. My suggestion is to get someone to determine what is required to hook up up your computers and then to teach you the various steps that are required. My one concern is that my HP computers require 18 volts and you can not hook those directly in to the 12 volts. You mentioned two different brands of computers and they may not have the same voltage requirements.
Fly Boy
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MrWizard
Van Nuys, Ca
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Joined: 06/27/2004
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USAFBILL wrote:Sounds like your battery might need replacing. You should be able to operate the laptop with the volt plug.
without the PROPER laptop power unit 'NO WAY'
my laptop uses 19v not 12v, and cig are usually under wired and have too much voltage drop to power the laptop 12v conversion unit
Options, always have options, and the journey goes much smoother
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sue.t
Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
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Joined: 08/05/2004
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To use my Dell laptop on the fiver's battery power, I first plug a small inverter into the "cigarette lighter thingy". Then I plug the laptop's regular power supply into the inverter. Inverters can be bought in just about any computer store. Just know how many watts your laptop needs, so you can buy the appropriate size.
We drycamp 95% of the time, I take hundreds (thousands?) of pictures while travelling, and like to see the results of my efforts each evening. So it is essential for the laptop to have a reliable power source. The fiver has two 6-volt deep cycle batters, which do the job well.
I use the same method inside the truck while on the road ... inverter plugged into the hotpoint and laptop plugged into the inverter, and GPS USB plug into the laptop.
sue t.
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B Bob
Jamul, CA, USA
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Do NOT!!!! run your laptop off the 12V battery directly. If you do you will be buying new laptops. Sue.t above told you the correct way to use battery power while driving or stopped. You get a little 12V - AC converter from Radio Shack. You plug in to the cigarette lighter and then plug your laptop AC plug into it.
Also, likely Dell is not compatible with Sony AC system. It might be, but not all laptops run on the same power.
Bob & Barbara Nuttmann
2002 Country Coach Affinity 42'
Jamul, CA
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C5man
West Coast
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We use a little inverter (250w) to charge our laptop by itself, or the big one (2.5 kw) when we need AC power for the TV and other things, along with the laptop.
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cybervanner
Richmond, VA
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Some laptops have direct 12 volt power adapters avaliable. These are OK to run directly off of 12 volts because they have voltage regulators in them. The problem you are probably experiencing is that the wiring behind the lighter socket thingy as you call it in the wall of your camper is too small for the power load your laptop pulls.
There are two things you can do to solve this problem, neither are particularly easy or inexpensive. The best and sure-fire way to fix the problem is to install a 12 volt "lighter" style socket yourself. You will want to wire it with 12ga wire or larger from the socket to the battery, or the converter in your rig. The second method is that you can buy a larger inverter and wire it up to the battery in your rig. Next, you will want to plug the 120 volt shore line cord into the inverter. You will now have 120 volts at all the outlets in our rig, and you can plug your computer's 120 volt adapter in and use it anywhere in your rig. Note...although you have 120 volts avaliable, it's not much. Don't go and try and run "big ticket" items like the microwave, AC or the fridge off of the battery!
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