12 volt inveter and TV or small portable DVD/TV?

[Dahitman44]

Hey guys -- I would like to run a tv to watch some football in the wheelhouse or let the kids watch a movie in the 7 inch portable dvd player.

How do inverters work with 12 volt deep cycle battery?

Who has any experience with this?

Thanks

Hit

[hunter76]

Put in a cigarette lighter and plug the invertor into it, then plug your tv into that. It should have two plug ins on top of the invertor. Get a big enough one. 400 watts should do the trick.

[Ron Vroom]

If your device operates on 110v DC, it probably has a transformer box that plugs into an AC receptacle with a jack to he device. If so, look closely at the input/output info on the transformer, the input will show 110v AC, the output in most cases will show 12 v DC. If that is the case then get a 12v cigarette plug with a jack or Jack adapter that plugs into your device and simply run your device directly from your 12v DC, eliminating the need for an inverter.

[Dahitman44]

How long do you think a battery running a TV will last?

[Glockwinger]

I used to get 2 movies out of a battery when using a 13" color tv with vcr off an inverter. Now I run a generator andlarger tv and dvd player.

[LightningBG]

If this is going to be a somewhat permanent addition, you could look into 12V tv's with DVD player built in. Looks like they go for right around $200 for 22-32 inch.

Dont know what kind of power consumption they have, but you wouldn't lose any power to the inverter.

[aanderud]

Your inverter will work just perfectly for that small screen on your kids portable DVD player. Inverters don't waste that much energy. Most run in the 90% efficiency or better. My son's 9 inch sony portable DVD player has a built in battery that claims to be like 12 amp-hours. I'd guess it's significantly less than that because it's WAY lighter than my 11 amp hour flasher battery (i realize that lithium ion is lighter than AGM, but still...). At any rate, that small battery's capacity roughly 1/8 the size of a typical 12 volt deep cycle battery, and it'll play for 7.5 hours (3-4 movies). So, you should easily get 25-30 movies off your 12 volt deep cycle.

As for the advice that the player or any TV for that matter could be run directly off 12 volts....it's good advice to check that out. It's a possibility that you could skip the inverter, but not likely. There are very few things that actually run on 12 volts that weren't designed specifically for automotive use. It's a good idea to check, just saying don't get your hopes up that it's a 12 volt appliance. I just double checked, and my laptop runs on 19 volts, my son's DVD player runs on 9.5 volts, and of course the transformers that charge all the tablets around here put out 5 volts. But obviously check it out just in case.

[grasshopper]

I got a 150 inverter and 2 batteries in series. I run 13 inch flat screen and box for dish network. They'll run all day and nite.

[mnwisherman]

I run an inverter, look on the back of all the equipment you want to run and add up the wattage requirements. Don't get too big an inverter I have found that you use too much battery just running the bigger inverters. I have three banks of batteries in my house. Two hooked in parellel in each bank. I also have a three bank charger so I just plug the house in when I'm home, or run a small generator once every few days when I'm on the lake to run the charger and top off the batteries. I run a 32 inch tv and a sat. dish, a dvd player and another 20 inch tv for the camera, plus a floor lamp. I can rum about 2 days on each bank of batteries. When i gat down to my last bank I run the generator for an afternoon and charge them all back up. i like this system, I don't have to run a generator all day and night.

[mnwisherman]

I got a 150 inverter and 2 batteries in series. I run 13 inch flat screen and box for dish network. They'll run all day and nite.

Don't you mean batteries hooked in parallel?...in series would double your voltage. Parallel doubles your capacity.

[Gofishleech]

I must be doing something wrong. I have 2 Interstate deep cycle (27) batteries hooked up parallel and tried to run a 32" led with DVD and only get a few hours out of it. Have a 300 watt inverter. also at any time the tv is on and I turn a fan on the inverter gives off the low voltage beeper. Any ideas??

[harvey lee]

I have a 400 and 800 watt and I run the TV/DVD players on either 110v or 12volt.

As far as how long I can run this setup on 12v, never timed it, I know I can go for quite a few hours. I know one day the grandkids watched 3 DVD's and also watched quite a bit of tv when the fishing was way slow.

Of course this all depends on TV size and how big the batteries are and condition.

This year, I have 1 battery for the furnace, 1 for the TV and the other for lighting or whatever else I have hooked up.

I then have a 3 bank charger and when the batteries are low, I fire up the generator for a few hours, good to go again.

[Gofishleech]

Harvey what amp charger are you using or what amps are going to each battery?

[harvey lee]

MinnKota MK 330D On-Board Battery Charger (3 Banks, 10 Amps per Bank)

The time to recharge of course will depend on how low I let each battery get.

Many days, I may run the generator in the late morning and again later in the afternoon. That way, I do not have to run it throughout the night. Some days I run it for a hour or two depending on usage in the house.

[Dogzlife000]

I must be doing something wrong. I have 2 Interstate deep cycle (27) batteries hooked up parallel and tried to run a 32" led with DVD and only get a few hours out of it. Have a 300 watt inverter. also at any time the tv is on and I turn a fan on the inverter gives off the low voltage beeper. Any ideas??

How far are your batteries from the inverter? What wire size is between the two? Possibly too much voltage drop which a 12v system can't handle.

[grasshopper]

What ever u want to call it. I'm a truckdriver. not electrician

[Gofishleech]

How far are your batteries from the inverter? What wire size is between the two? Possibly too much voltage drop which a 12v system can't handle.

[Dogzlife000]

Search for a voltage drop calculator on the web. I assumed a 10 amp draw which might be about right for a TV. The calculated voltage drop using your wire size and length was 0.64volts. That's a substantial amount.

[grasshopper]

Mines 12 inches.

[aanderud]

Mines 12 inches.

You wish...

[varmithtr]

I run a direct tv receiver off a cigarette lighter connected to a single 12 v deep cycle. I searched and found a battery operated 7" portable DVD player that had the ability to accept input via RCA jacks. Obviously not high def, but it works good for watching a game, or throwing a DVD on if the kids come out. I am very close to home so I don't ever stay over night. I can easily get a full day and evening from the battery for the receiver, and will also plug the portable DVD/ monitor after the internal battery goes.

[grasshopper]

talking about inverter.

[grasshopper]

[varmithtr]

talking about inverter.

Yes, sorry. I plug the inverter into the cigarette lighter, then plug the satellite receiver into that. The small DVD/moniter has a 12 v power cord, so that can go directly to the 2 input cigarette lighter connected to the deep cycle battery.

[grasshopper]

That's my inverter. Been using it for ten years and it runs my TV and Dishnetwork. Simple to use.