12v inverter?

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What kind of 12v inverter would I need to power and LCD TV and PS4 slim? I’m assuming 110v each and I’ll be using it a few hours at a time. I’m not too familiar with specs when it comes down to electricity.
 
any electrical appliance will have embossed on it somewhere, the electrical requirements. 120 VAC and the required amperage ( A) . Add up the amperage plus maybe 20% more...
 
Originally Posted By: Hemispheres
What kind of 12v inverter would I need to power and LCD TV and PS4 slim? I’m assuming 110v each and I’ll be using it a few hours at a time. I’m not too familiar with specs when it comes down to electricity.


pretty much everything in the usa is 110v (not talking about appliances or heavy tools)

you need to know the amperage(or watts), then add about 1/3 to it.

so if the tv says 100watts, and the ps4 is 50watts.. a 200w inverter should suffice.

you might want to get one that has pure sine wave output since those would be considered sensitive electronics.
 
Yes the main thing is to look at the total nameplate watts of the devices that will be running simultaneously. I would suggest at least doubling it to choose the inverter size.

Newer LCD TVs with LED backlighting tend to use much less electricity than the older ones with CCFL backlighting. If the label says "Contains Mercury", you have CCFL.
 
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note if you are using this with your car. most likely you will need to hardwire this to your battery and cannot use cigarette accessory ports. Most assesory ports have 10amp fuses. 10a x 12v =120watts max before.the fuse pops.
 
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Originally Posted By: Rand


you might want to get one that has pure sine wave output since those would be considered sensitive electronics.


Neither of those require pure sine wave. They have switching power supplies, which would be happy running off 120V DC.

Mostly, it's devices with induction motors that want pure sine wave. I ran a box fan off of a modified sinewave inverter, and while it worked, I cold tell that the motor wasn't running as fast as normal.

For larger applications, such as furnace blowers, induction motors are on their way out, replaced with ECM motors that run fine on modified sine wave.
 
If there are power bricks or wall warts, these will spec an DC output voltage and amperage.

This does not mean the device always draws this amount, but the maximum it can draw.

Many devices, like many laptops, require 19.5vDC.

An inverter takes 12vDC converts it to 115vac, then the powerbrick converts the 115Vac down to 19.5vDC.

This double conversion is hardly efficient.

A simple DC voltage Booster can be used in many instances and is usually much more efficient, electrically.

https://www.amazon.com/Gowoops-10-32V-Co...voltage+booster

Lowering battery voltage to less than 12 would require a voltage bucker instead of a booster.

The Inverter is often seen as the solution for all ones portable power needs, but little thought is given to how long a battery can power it, and how long it actually takes to recharge the battery. If the lead acid battery is not regularly fully recharged after being deeply cycled, it is not going to last for more than a few dozen cycles.

A group 27 battery, 9.25 tall 12.5 long and 6.5 inches wide has about 100 Amp hours of capacity.

This means it can support a 5 amp load for 20 hours before voltage falls to 10.5v which is considered fully discharged, though some AGMS say 100% discharged is in the 11+ volt range.

Loads over 5 amps will reduce the total available capacity, loads lower than 5 amps will increase it, but not as much as loads over it will reduce it.

a 100 watt load, at 12.2v, which is the voltage a new healthy fully charged group 27 battery can be expected to hold, is about an 8.1 amp load.

Ignoring Peukert component, 8.1 amps of load will drain the healthy group27 battery to 50% state of charge in a few hours, and the lower one draws a battery below 50% the harder it is on the battery, even if promptly and fully recharged, which is unlikely.

But Add 20% more to that amp figure for inverter inefficiency, and 8.1 amps is a greater load than the 5 amps at which the battery earned its 100Ah rating. So at 8.1 amps of load on that new healthy fully charged battery is more like an 87Ah capacity battery, and that 8.1 amp load is more like 10 amps once inverter inefficiency is factored in, and that 10 amp load is double the rate at which the battery earned its 100Ah rating and is now more like a 75AH battery. These capacities assume a battery temperature of 77F. Lowert tmeps also reduce capacity and higher temps raise it, but not as much as lower temps reduce it.

So if the inverter is to be powered from the battery alone, with No engine running, it will not take long for it to be drained into the danger terrirory of not being able to start the vehicle.

Carry a jumper pack and or cables. Get a good charger capable of at least 10 amps, and have a way to top up the battery when you are home parked overnight, and know that even an overnight charge might not have the battery near full, especially as it ages and the time it takes to fully charge grows, and when higher voltages held longer become necessary to keep the capacity from jumping off a cliff.

Deep cycling lead acid batteries, and getting anywhere their rated cycle life, requires prompt and proper full recharges
 
So 163w TV, 165w max PS4, 20 percent rule = 400 watt inverter.
 
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One last thing. Is it safe to run a single extension cord from a unit with 2 plugs? I don’t wanna lug 2 extension cords so I’m wondering if I can run 2 items off a single outlet with one of these.
 
400w powers both at 50% capacity (only with PS4 on home screen/tested while downloading a game)
 
I used to work out of my car all day long, I would run a coleman 400 inverter that produces "dirty electricity". It worked, but after a while my laptop power brick gave up on me. Later on the inverter stopped working as well. I can not rule out excessive heat or bad capacitors of the unit but I am cautious of running any electronics now with an el cheapo inverter. If you value your stuff at least get a pure sine wave inverter.
 
I keep an eye on the percentage and temp. I can literally hook both up via the inverter to a spare battery, do my usual and only hit 60% capacity. The only issue I did have was a buzzing from the TV but the again it’s my old TV with a busted screen and I only paid $100 for it.
 
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