I have a 1500w inverter. I presume there is no way to make the thing
into 12v. What I most want to know is what type of 19" HD flat screen
uses the least power (LCD?) and what is the rating on the TV to look for
to find the lowest power one. And yes, cost is a major factor. I do have
shore power at times, but would like to be able to use it on the hook.

And for those of you who insist upon philosophy of life with your
cruising. Yes, I am a real cruiser some times. No I am not a purist. Why
should I be? Purism is usually stupid. Along with being a cruiser, I am
a sports fan, a news junkie, a conversationalist, a poker player, an
explorer, a reader of literature, and about fifty other things. Why
restrict my world?

I would no more insist upon only cruising while cruising than I would
insist upon not reading while sitting on the ****ter, so as to be a more
pure ****ter. Stupid idea.

So, HDTV flat screen recommendations anyone?

Stephen

On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:02:56 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

I have a 1500w inverter. I presume there is no way to make the thing
into 12v. What I most want to know is what type of 19" HD flat screen
uses the least power (LCD?) and what is the rating on the TV to look for
to find the lowest power one. And yes, cost is a major factor. I do have
shore power at times, but would like to be able to use it on the hook.

And for those of you who insist upon philosophy of life with your
cruising. Yes, I am a real cruiser some times. No I am not a purist. Why
should I be? Purism is usually stupid. Along with being a cruiser, I am
a sports fan, a news junkie, a conversationalist, a poker player, an
explorer, a reader of literature, and about fifty other things. Why
restrict my world?

I would no more insist upon only cruising while cruising than I would
insist upon not reading while sitting on the ****ter, so as to be a more
pure ****ter. Stupid idea.

So, HDTV flat screen recommendations anyone?

Stephen

Free advice is worth what you pay for it, but here goes from a long
time, full time cruiser (ex) and EE....

Keep the 1500 W inverter for your microwave and coffepot. The standby
current will probably exceed the TV's current. Get a smaller one - we
used a 350 W which ran the 16" Panasonic TV, Magnavox DVD recorder,
Motorola Digital converter (for the DVD) and sometimes when the
Admiral would forget, a 60W lightbulb.

Look on the nameplate of the TV (sometimes it's also on the box) for
something like "0.9A" or "100W". A - Amps, W = Watts. Naturally the
lower the number the better.

A rule of thumb is that whatever Watts is listed divided by 10 = the
number of Amps drawn from the batteries. If the power is given in
Amps, multiply by 120 first. This takes into consideration the
efficiency and idle current draw of the inverter. Usually the Amps
will be less, probably because inverters are better now.

Hope this helps!

Rick

On 10/12/2010 11:18 AM, Rick Morel wrote:
On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:02:56 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

I have a 1500w inverter. I presume there is no way to make the thing
into 12v. What I most want to know is what type of 19" HD flat screen
uses the least power (LCD?) and what is the rating on the TV to look for
to find the lowest power one. And yes, cost is a major factor. I do have
shore power at times, but would like to be able to use it on the hook.

And for those of you who insist upon philosophy of life with your
cruising. Yes, I am a real cruiser some times. No I am not a purist. Why
should I be? Purism is usually stupid. Along with being a cruiser, I am
a sports fan, a news junkie, a conversationalist, a poker player, an
explorer, a reader of literature, and about fifty other things. Why
restrict my world?

I would no more insist upon only cruising while cruising than I would
insist upon not reading while sitting on the ****ter, so as to be a more
pure ****ter. Stupid idea.

So, HDTV flat screen recommendations anyone?

Stephen

Free advice is worth what you pay for it, but here goes from a long
time, full time cruiser (ex) and EE....

Keep the 1500 W inverter for your microwave and coffepot. The standby
current will probably exceed the TV's current.

What does that mean?

Get a smaller one - we
used a 350 W which ran the 16" Panasonic TV, Magnavox DVD recorder,
Motorola Digital converter (for the DVD) and sometimes when the
Admiral would forget, a 60W lightbulb.

Look on the nameplate of the TV (sometimes it's also on the box) for
something like "0.9A" or "100W". A - Amps, W = Watts. Naturally the
lower the number the better.

A rule of thumb is that whatever Watts is listed divided by 10 = the
number of Amps drawn from the batteries. If the power is given in
Amps, multiply by 120 first. This takes into consideration the
efficiency and idle current draw of the inverter. Usually the Amps
will be less, probably because inverters are better now.

Hope this helps!

Yes it did. Thanks.

Stephen

On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:19:12 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

Keep the 1500 W inverter for your microwave and coffepot. The standby
current will probably exceed the TV's current.

What does that mean?

Standby, or idle current is the Amperage the inverter draws while not
powering anything but is turned on. Of course we all turn the inverter
off when not being used, but it pretty much is also added to whatever
it's powering.

I've seen 1500 W inverters that have a 2.5 Amp idle, and some as low
as 0.5 Amp. Another factor is the inverter is more efficient at about
half power or so.

This is not all that much of an issue for folks with larger house
banks and/or easy means to recharge.

So the questions are, what size and type boat? What Amp Hour house
batteries?

You can find a 12V TV, but they're a whole lot more $$$

Rick

Rick Morel wrote:
On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:19:12 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

Keep the 1500 W inverter for your microwave and coffepot. The standby
current will probably exceed the TV's current.
What does that mean?

Standby, or idle current is the Amperage the inverter draws while not
powering anything but is turned on. Of course we all turn the inverter
off when not being used, but it pretty much is also added to whatever
it's powering.

I've seen 1500 W inverters that have a 2.5 Amp idle, and some as low
as 0.5 Amp. Another factor is the inverter is more efficient at about
half power or so.

This is not all that much of an issue for folks with larger house
banks and/or easy means to recharge.

So the questions are, what size and type boat? What Amp Hour house
batteries?

You can find a 12V TV, but they're a whole lot more $$$

Rick



Basically, size the inverter to the load.



--

Richard Lamb

On 10/12/2010 3:30 PM, Rick Morel wrote:
On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:19:12 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

Keep the 1500 W inverter for your microwave and coffepot. The standby
current will probably exceed the TV's current.

What does that mean?

Standby, or idle current is the Amperage the inverter draws while not
powering anything but is turned on. Of course we all turn the inverter
off when not being used, but it pretty much is also added to whatever
it's powering.

I've seen 1500 W inverters that have a 2.5 Amp idle, and some as low
as 0.5 Amp. Another factor is the inverter is more efficient at about
half power or so.

This is not all that much of an issue for folks with larger house
banks and/or easy means to recharge.

So the questions are, what size and type boat? What Amp Hour house
batteries?

I have two 6v golf cart batteries as a house bank. 500 total amp hours?
I forget. H33. Primarily long weekends use. I just want to be able to
hang on the hook on weekends once in a while without shore power.

I think what you are saying is that if I get a second, smaller inverter
(which probably come pretty cheap nowadays) it will use far less amps to
power the TV and even have some to spare for a DVR. Have I got that right?

You can find a 12V TV, but they're a whole lot more $$$

Ah. So I probably can't just find a cheap one with a 12v power brick
(presumably I tear off the brick) as Wilbur suggests?

Stephen

On Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:15:12 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

On 10/12/2010 3:30 PM, Rick Morel wrote:
On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:19:12 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

Keep the 1500 W inverter for your microwave and coffepot. The standby
current will probably exceed the TV's current.

What does that mean?

Standby, or idle current is the Amperage the inverter draws while not
powering anything but is turned on. Of course we all turn the inverter
off when not being used, but it pretty much is also added to whatever
it's powering.

I've seen 1500 W inverters that have a 2.5 Amp idle, and some as low
as 0.5 Amp. Another factor is the inverter is more efficient at about
half power or so.

This is not all that much of an issue for folks with larger house
banks and/or easy means to recharge.

So the questions are, what size and type boat? What Amp Hour house
batteries?

I have two 6v golf cart batteries as a house bank. 500 total amp hours?
I forget. H33. Primarily long weekends use. I just want to be able to
hang on the hook on weekends once in a while without shore power.

I think what you are saying is that if I get a second, smaller inverter
(which probably come pretty cheap nowadays) it will use far less amps to
power the TV and even have some to spare for a DVR. Have I got that right?

You can find a 12V TV, but they're a whole lot more $$$

Ah. So I probably can't just find a cheap one with a 12v power brick
(presumably I tear off the brick) as Wilbur suggests?

Stephen

It really depends on what you are powering. If only lights and TV then
certainly you should be able to get a couple of days use out of them.

The thing about inverters is that they aren't all equally as
efficient. Some require more power to create a specific amount of A.C.
than others, and usually the smaller, cheaper models are the less
efficient.

By the way, how big are these "6 v golf cart batteries" that give you
500 amp-hours? The usual 6 volt golf cart battery is the T-105 that is
rated at 225 amp-hours and wiring two in series to get 12 VDC results
in 225 amp-hours capacity. 4 wired series parallel gives 450
amp-hours.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:02:56 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

I have a 1500w inverter. I presume there is no way to make the thing
into 12v.

I'm not sure what you mean about making it into 12 volts.

We have a 2000 watt sine wave inverter/charger and it runs a 30 inch
HD flat screen just fine. Our house batts driving the inverter have
about 1000 amp-hours of capacity which is more than enough for an
evening of watching DVDs, running a couple of small fridge/freezers,
and several laptops.

On 10/12/2010 12:54 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:02:56 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

I have a 1500w inverter. I presume there is no way to make the thing
into 12v.

I'm not sure what you mean about making it into 12 volts.

Sorry, what I meant was that I presume there is no way to make an HDTV
run off 12v without an inverter.


Stephen

"Stephen Trapani" wrote in message
...
On 10/12/2010 12:54 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:02:56 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

I have a 1500w inverter. I presume there is no way to make the thing
into 12v.

I'm not sure what you mean about making it into 12 volts.

Sorry, what I meant was that I presume there is no way to make an HDTV run
off 12v without an inverter.


Stephen



Watching all those many hours of brain-numbing television has sure killed
way too many of your few remaining brain cells.

Go to an electronics store and look at some 19-inch TVs you'll find many
that have a little, plug-in power brick that outputs at 12volts. Duh!

Buy one of those and further destroy your brain vegetating in front of the
tube if you don't want the inefficiency of inverting from 12volts DC to 120
volts AC and then right back to 12VDC.

Sheesh!

Wilbur Hubbard