DC/AC Inverter to power laptop?

[MT Stringer]

Does anyone use an inverter to allow your laptop to recharge or power it?

I bought a 400 watt inverter today, but soon realized it was meant to be connected to the battery via alligator clips. I guess I thought it would plug into a DC accessory recept. but I was wrong.

So, I modified it!! Instead of the two short cables with alligator clips, I made up two cables with a cigarette lighter plug and two eye rings on the other end. The rings connected to the inverter and the DC accessory plug plugged into the accessory outlet in the dash.

It only worked for a minute or so and then sounded an audible alarm and the green light turned orange. From reading the instruction sheet, I can only assume it is not getting the required voltage from the battery. I guess it's too long a run with smaller wiring. The low battery alarm goes off at 10. something volts.

However, when I connected it with the supplied cables to a battery, it works perfect and charges the laptop just fine.

So, how do you have yours hooked up? Is it hard wired into the elect system under the hood?

Durn it. I would like for it be portable.

Thought and feedback appreciated.
Thanks
Mike

[dmaxpower]

The problem is that the wiring to cig lighter is too small gage to supply adequate power to the inverter. Either buy a smaller inverter or run heavier wires to inside the car to your inverter. I would guess the at 200-250 watt inverter is likley the max you can run off the cig lighter.

[Denny G]

You can run 3000 watts off of the cigarette lighter plug.

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=inverter&origkw=inverter&sr=1

[MT Stringer]

Denny, this looks promising. It has the same basic features as my inverter does and it uses a plug for the recept. Hmmm...Maybe I need to build a different power cable. I'll check into it later. The next two days are going to be full shooting a soccer tournament.
From Radio Shack...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2484364&cp=&sr=1&origkw=inverter&kw=inverter&parentPage=search

Mike

[JackProton]

Your cigarette lighter socket should be at the same voltage as the battery. The inverter could be putting too much of a load on it but I'd expect it to blow the fuse to the lighter before dropping the voltage so low as to cause an alarm to sound. My guess would be that the lighter socket and plug just aren't making good contact. I have this problem all the time with the GPS units, radar detector and other 12V powered items where the power drops in and out intermittantly. Usually I just have to twist the lighter plug back and forth until I get a good solid connection.

[gkas]

For my laptop of a single small charger, I use a small 75W inverter from Fry's.
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/3726456;jsessionid=AhA2g9xAi7kBV-94Nkw0MA**.node1?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

It is so small, that I keep one in my laptop bag. I found that if the inverter is too large it is a major inconvenience.

[kuanyu]

I use a small 100W invertor that is built right on to the cigarette lighter plug. small enought to keep in the glove box at all times. Also works my AA battery charger and Canon battery charger :)

[dekalbSTEEL]

I use one very similar to this:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5425226

[440roadrunner]

You can run 3000 watts off of the cigarette lighter plug.

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=inverter&origkw=inverter&sr=1

THAT is absolute nonsense.

At nominal 14V automotive, that equates to approx. 214 amps. That just might be more than the average starter motor draws for a typical 4 whanger.

Most lighter circuits I've seen are darned lucky to make an honest 20A, closer to 300W, and I can guarantee you, THAT is a stretch for anything more than intermittent use.

[SkipD]

THAT is absolute nonsense.

At nominal 14V automotive, that equates to approx. 214 amps. That just might be more than the average starter motor draws for a typical 4 whanger.

Most lighter circuits I've seen are darned lucky to make an honest 20A, closer to 300W, and I can guarantee you, THAT is a stretch for anything more than intermittent use.I'll vouch for all of that.....

[Woolburr]

I run a 750 watt inverter off the dedicated power port on my HHR on most shoots...more than ample to power a laptop and a series of chargers for the various batteries.

[Stinger]

Hi, I have a 300W inverter. It has two modes of powering it, it recommends for 100-150W (I think) usage that you can use the cigarette socket, but it provides alligator clips for using closer to it's maximum range.

[Denny G]

THAT is absolute nonsense.

At nominal 14V automotive, that equates to approx. 214 amps. That just might be more than the average starter motor draws for a typical 4 whanger.

Most lighter circuits I've seen are darned lucky to make an honest 20A, closer to 300W, and I can guarantee you, THAT is a stretch for anything more than intermittent use.


Tell Radioshack.

Quote from Radioshack.

Get up to 5000W peak power, so you can take your appliances, audio/video devices and laptop computers with you anywhere.

[dmaxpower]

Tell Radioshack.

Quote from Radioshack.

Get up to 5000W peak power, so you can take your appliances, audio/video devices and laptop computers with you anywhere.
Yes but you would need to hardwire that to your car's battery.

[Denny G]

You are right dmax. Got a little off topic here.

[toyguru]

I have a dedicated 3 port splitter like this (http://www.banoggle.com/products/displayproduct.aspx?productid=328&source=googlebase)hard wired straight to the battery with an in-line glass 40amp fuse and an 8 gauge power wire to power my inverter. I've replaced the wire all the way with the 8 gauge (power and ground).

I used to do custom audio/video/computer work with cars and the more dedicated power the better. The splitter made it more convenient to switch around components and never had a power drop even when using an inverter to power high power video lights (car has to be running to make sure not to deep cycle normal car batteries). This might be a little extreme, but it will give you a better power source without wondering where your power constriction may be!