Using New TV with Inverter

[Lin]

We just bought a new Westinghouse TV that was on sale at Costco.  This one is 26", weights 11#, and uses 45 watts.  They had a 32 inch one too, but this size works better for us.  Instead of the TV having a hard wired electric cord, it connects to a 19vdc adapter which then connects to the 120v wall outlet.  My question is, that since it runs on DC through the adapter would it be safely usable on my modified sine inverter.  I tried calling the company, and the girl I talked to did not know what the heck I was talking about.  I'll need to go higher on the tech support chain to get any info there.

[bevans6]

As a general rule anything with a wall wart or power supply converter is OK on MSW.  I have used similar TV's with MSW inverters just fine.

Brian

[Jeremy]

Have you considered simply using a DC - DC converter? I have a computer in my car that runs on 18v DC, which it originally got from the same sort of AC transformer as your TV. I briefly considered powering it via a small inverter, but instead bought a cheap DC - DC converter, and it works fine. The converter is the sort that has a selectable output voltage - being a cheap Chinese thing I was a little worried that the output voltage wouldn't be stable enough for the computer, but it does the job really well and has never given any trouble

Jeremy

[Lin]

Jeremy, I guess that would even be more efficient, but since we do not expect to use it a lot traveling etc, I had thought that just leaving it connected to one power source simplified things.  Otherwise, it is just one more detail for me to take care of.  Actually, a 12vdc source is right near were we will mount this thing, so it would be easy to add as an option.I will check to see if a 12vdc to 19vdc converter is commonly available.

[Jeremy]

This is the kind of thing I used:




SWITCH-MODE POWER SUPPLY 3500mA

Specification:
Input voltage    12 - 13.8Vdc
Output voltage    15 / 16 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 22 / 24Vdc
Max. current    3500mA
Dimensions    160 x 70 x 30mm
Weight    310g


I hard-wired mine into the car via a relay; I paid less than £10 for the one I used, but there were plenty of bigger versions (higher wattages) available for a bit more money.

Jeremy

[Lin]

The factory adapter only puts out 3.42 amps. 

[pvcces]

We bought the same type of converter and tested it just two days ago on two different computers. It worked fine and did not get perceptibly warm, so it is very efficient.

I think that we paid around $20 for it.

Tom Caffrey

[Lin]

Just thought I'd get back to you with the resolution.  I overcame my fear of damaging the TV and voiding the warranty and ran it off the inverter.  It did not appear to notice any difference.  Apparently my concern was totally baseless.  I'll probably get a dc/dc converter as a backup.