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Inverters DC to AC Battery help!
John Weston wrote:
Dennis Pogson, in article HmLYf.12303$NN4.1853@newsfe7- win.ntli.net, says... The laptop's power brick plus an inverter is far better at dealing with the voltage "spikes" that an alternator can put out, as I found to my cost a couple of years ago, blowing the system board using one of these DC-DC converters. Interesting observation, Dennis. I haven't had this experience in either boat or car so I'll have to "look into it". It suggests bad design because why didn't a similar spike kill or ride-through the Inverter? The "buck converter" design should have a similar transformer isolating input and output as that in the inverter - unless it is a cheap transformerless design... Perhaps the solution is to get rid of the spike before it enters the electronics with an additional filter before the input?? At least that would be less power wasting. There are probably cheap DC-DC converters which can't handle spikes, and more expensive ones that can. The ones sold here in the UK for around £12 look altogether too simple to me. The one referenced by Hanz looks a different matter altogether. I don't think the one bad experience I had is sufficient to condemn all such devices, but a new system board these days is as expensive as a new laptop, so my caution is understandable. Running the laptop without the engine/alternator would probably be the safest bet, but we all know crew members who will, as soon as the speed drops below 2 knots, press the starter button! Dennis. |
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