Television query

[Eliza Doolittle]

Hello everybody

 

We are new to this game.

 

We (husband and I) have recently purchased out first motorhome and are starting to buy all the bits and pieces to put into it to get going.

 

I wont tell you about any of our embarresing problems, but needless to say we learned quite a lot during our first trip.

 

My question is we have bought a TV from Tesco. The socket the power lead plugs into on the TV says 12v, however the cable has a normal three pin plug at the other end. There is some sort of box halfway a long the lead, what this does I have no idea as it is not on any of my appliances at home.

 

My question is, is the TV we have puchased a 12v TV? It does not state this on the box it came in or on the website. If not do we need to purchase some sort of 12V lead to turn it into a 12V TV?

 

I hope I am making sense.

 

Perhaps somebody knows what I am talking about and can help me.

 

If it helps it is a 15.4inch Technika TV with built in DVD from Tesco.

 

Thank you.

 

Eliza

[Mel B]

Hi Eliza

 

Welcome to the mad house! :->

 

It sounds like the TV you have bought has a transformer, that's the black box thing in the cable, which converts the 230v mains power into the right power type, ie 12v, for the TV.

 

It depends how 'careful' you are as to what you do:

 

1) you can get a basic lead so that you can plug your 12v TV directly into your van's 12v sockets, you can get these leads cheaply;

 

2) you can get a better lead to do the above but one which will provide some protection so that your TV doesn't get a power spike which could in theory fry it's compotents but these leads cost a bit more;

 

3) you can run the TV from an inverter which plugs into your van's 12v socket and converts the output into 230v mains power, you the plug your TV's mains socket into the inverter (it has a 3 pin socket on it). To do this you'd have to therefore purchase an inverter.

 

We've used method 1) for many years (around 4 I think) - we have a Relisys TV - and have never fried it yet.

 

No doubt others will have a view.

[Guest peter]

EDIT I must type faster Mel B beat me to it again

 

The TV works on 12V which is reduced from the 240V from the domestic plug via the black box (transformer) you mention. If you want to run it off 12V it would be better to run it from a low wattage inverter and plug the 240V plug into that. As LCD T.V's do need a stable 12V supply and the habitation battery will drop in voltage and cause your T.V to throw a wobbly. You could of course use a 12V to 12V converter that would always give out 12V. But they are not cheap and an inverter is usefull for all sorts of items, like electric shavers, laptop charging and similar low wattage items.

That's what I use anyway and a 150Watt inverter powrs all my T.V stuff. Like satellite t.v box /dvd player etc. Other folks will do something different.

Read what they say and make your own choice.

[Eliza Doolittle]

Thanks Mel and Peter

 

Great advice!

 

I am going to show husband replies, not sure about TV getting fried. I think my brains a bit fried with all this technical talk. :-)

 

 

[Mel B]

peter - 2009-09-06 8:54 PM

 

EDIT I must type faster Mel B beat me to it again

 

Getting slow in your old age! :D :D :D :D ;-)

[Guest peter]

I thought it was past your bedtime Mel, when I typed it so did not hurry. :D

[flicka]

Hi Eliza

Depending on the type of campsites you intend to use.

If you intent to use those with electric hook-up, the simplest answer is to use the hook-up and run the TV on the 230volt mains.

Very little danger of voltage spikes frying the TV components.

Remember using the Invertor route will consume additional power from your Leisure Battery over & above the TV requirement.

 

I would not recommend using the Invertor plugged in to the Van Battery.

 

 

 

 

[forest-gump]

Hi Flicka

 

Thanks for your reply, I think we are mainly going to be on sites with hook up, but in the event we need to use the TV when not on hook up wanted to know if it was possible to use it. Looks like we can by simply getting the correct cable which may be a blessing in time to come when my children need their cartoon fix.

 

Eliza

 

 

[Guest peter]

flicka - 2009-09-06 10:54 PM

 

Hi Eliza

Depending on the type of campsites you intend to use.

If you intent to use those with electric hook-up, the simplest answer is to use the hook-up and run the TV on the 230volt mains.

Very little danger of voltage spikes frying the TV components.

Remember using the Invertor route will consume additional power from your Leisure Battery over & above the TV requirement.

 

I would not recommend using the Invertor plugged in to the Van Battery.

 

 

 

Why not? I've got 2x110 amp/hour batteries.

[Mike88]

You will also need to be aware that, unless you have sufficient battery capacity or some means of charging your battery through a solar panel , your TV watching off hook up will not last for very long. Getting solar panels etc is an expensive operation so if you plan to stay mainly on site with a hook up then the investment needed might not be worth your while.