US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

I see several flat screens in the stores that use 12VDC inlet for power, with a power supply built into the power cord for 120VAC>12VDC conversion.
Is that to say to be able to use that TV in the boat, I just need to have the correct cig lighter cord plug, or just cut the power pack out of the supplied power cord and ad my own cig plug?
Not sure if there is more to it than a simple 12v plug.

HP350SC

If the power pack says 12V DC output then yeah, you could put a cig. plug on it. Or make up a new cord to fit TV and cig. plug.
Why not get a small inverter? Likely be more choices in TV's and sizes. Select a TV, check it's wattage requirements(LCD's consume less) on back, and buy a suitable inverter. My .02

ratman

a small inverter is the way to go i got a 1200watt converter for 100 bucks on sale at pep boys, great for tv, vcr combo, blender, laptop, etc.

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

I want to keep it a clean install w/o cords running around. I have shorepower, so while at the dock, the charger will keep the batteries charged. The TV's I noticed with the 12VDC power have different wattages, usually 5W or so. Didn't know if that came into effect.
Thanks

I do keep a small portable 100w invertor on board to run the printer. Wouldn't operating an inverter take more battery juice than just running a TV off 12V?

Ideally a small inverter that can be hard wired with separate 120V outlets would be my preference. But you have to get up in the higher priced models to get that w/o doing the 'extension cord' method, which I'm not interested in. Not enough use to justify that expense.

deboatmon

12 VDC is the way to go. You waste considerabe DC power with the inverter. The inverter is not nearly 100% effecient and inverting from 12VDC to 110VAC then back to 12VDC is a very inneficient conversion. There are lots of LCD tv's available that use 12VDC for power and it is a lot cleaner wiring as well.

Bill 3

I am having a problem with my new TV that I just cut the power cord on in order to run it on 12 volt. It is a 17" Magnavox with a built in DVD player. It seems to work sometimes at the dock when the charger it running, but not always. It says 12 volt output on the box in-line with the power cord and it does work sometimes, so I know I wired it right. I have even tried different wires to get the power to it, but with only requiring <5 amps, you wouldn't think the wire size would be much of an issue. The power light comes on always, and sometimes I get sound, but usually no picture . Never seems to work when battery charger is not working. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Bill

blkhorse

iTrader: (1)

I would check the voltage range of the t.v. when running your putting out 13.8 to 14.2V or more. I have heard the lcd t.v.'s are sensitive to voltage

Liberator21

The power packs on these TV's are regulated power supplies.
The voltage is very clean (filtered), and accurate. Much cleaner than you're getting from the boat. these newer sets are more sensitive to line voltage fluctuations. The regulated supply compensates for that. It might be a better idea to use the inverter. The new style inverters are high frequency pulse width modulated units. They are MUCH more efficient then the old style units. They don't waste as much power. The other alternative would be to find a TV that plugs directly into a car, or boat's 12v system. That will have filtering, and voltage regulation built into the unit itself.

Bill 3

Thanks guys. Now I'm pissed because I spent extra $ to find a 12 Volt unit. Oh well, if it had been marketed as a boat item it would have cost two times more than it already did.

Thanks again for the input.
Bill

ericaull

There must be alot of 12V models around....TV seems to be a big thing in automobiles, and SUV's these days....why not check a Automotive Stereo shop and see what they can recomend? I am not implying that the other guys are wrong, just thinking........................