ysrcadams
Arizona
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Joined: 02/28/2007
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I am considering using a 300 watt power inverter (Whistler pp300ac) in my 2004 LTV to charge our laptops while driving. My greatest concern is blowing a fuse. I have two sources of dc power, one on the dash (15 amp) and one in the coach (7 amp). If anyone has experience with this I would appreciate hearing from you.
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bldrbuck
Boulder, Colorado
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Joined: 02/11/2001
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I doubt you need to worry about blowing fuses when charging a laptop. The current requirement is very small.
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juliev
Minnesota
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Joined: 07/29/2004
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Don't worry about it, we do it all the time. Only charge one laptop at a time however, and be sure to unplug when you turn off the van. We left ours plugged in all night earlier this week and it was a tiny big reluctant to start up in the morning. Of course, my sweetie being such a geek... he also had 2 GPS units, a webcam and a cell phone plugged into the thing.
Julie
_____________________________________________________________________
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~ Lao Tzu
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smkettner
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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How many watts is the computer? Most draw about 65 watts and should be no problem.
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ddreisbach
Kemah, TX
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No problem. That said, a friend had his laptop, printer and phone plugged into his inverter. He got back to the car and connected his computer with a discharged battery (meaning maximum current draw) and proceeded to start printing. The plug from the inverter melted! No fuses blew.
I've measured my laptops with a Kill-a-Watt and haven't seen over 40 watts.
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kking
Lowell, MA
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Joined: 02/18/2008
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I too do it all the time. Usually on a 100w inverter, but for more than one load on it I use my 450 (which I believe to only be 150w if it's plugged in to the lighter socket.)
The map shows the states my wife and I have driven (or camped) in together.
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dhg
Fremont, CA. USA
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My 2005 LTV has an inverter for the TV, which is mounted in the cabinet above the TV. Is this the one you are referring to? I use it regularly to recharge the battery's in my toys (Laptop, cell phone, MP3, cameras, electric shaver, electric toothbrush, etc). It has an overload light, which doesn't come on when charging one device at a time.
Hey, wait for me!
2004/2005 LTV Free Spirit 210B-3S
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Nick Wildwood
Hell California
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The inverter is a good idea if you hook it straight to the battery with dedicated wire and it's own in-line fuse. Cigarette lighter inverters are only as good as the tiny wire which feeds them. You shouldn't have any problems if you use large enough wire for the number of amps of your new inverter. Hard wired is the way to go for all your present and future AV and electronic needs.
p.s. If you already have an inverter for your TV then use it.
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Rodger
Tucson, AZ.
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Moved from "CVC".
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wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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Joined: 07/04/2006
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I suspect it will work, A smaller one might work even better.
most of the small inverters will provide up to around 75% of the power the socket can provide before they start complaining,, Larger units this may not be so.
So if I plug a 300, 400, 500 into my 120 watt lighter socket, I can easily draw the 100+ watts max this laptop can suck (Dead battery and booting)
My Prosine 2.0 though likes to suck 400 amps on start up,... But then that is only for a fraction of a second, and it pumps either up to 100 amps to the battery or 2,000 watts to it's down-lines. (Only got there one time)
I see no problems
Use the larger source though and monitor the power brick for the computer temp wise.. If it gets real, real hot, Get a TRUE SINE inverter (I don't think it will get that hot, but it mine do warm up a bit on MSW)
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
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