# 12 Volt Lcd Tv



## jetjane

We do a fair amount of camping where there is no power hook-ups so we were pleased to find a 15" LCD tv at Costco that is 12V adaptable. It was the largest size we could find, but there may be bigger ones out there. It didn't come with the adapter cord though so my DH said we was going to make one as well as have to add a 12V plug to the entertainment centre in the OB. The Jensen CD/stereo/DVD player that comes with our OB is 12V so this past weekend while we were camping with no power, my DH decided just to splice into the 12V wiring of the DVD player and wire the tv directly to it. It worked great. We were able to watch a movie whenever we wanted (which was at least once/day) with the larger screen and surround sound instead of having to use our portable DVD player.









This does kill the battery pretty fast (down to 2/3 the 1st night), since we only have the original single 12V one. DH decided to plug into our truck to recharge it after it got down to 1/3, since we don't have a generator either, and it charged back up to 2/3 pretty quick. We just kept the OB plugged into our truck for the rest of the 4 nights. Now I don't know if it is just on diesels or if gassers have it too, but we have 2 batteries and a 200amp alternator on our 2500HD D/A truck and after this weekend, I don't know if we will bother buying a generator after all. We started up the truck with no problem the last morning of our trip and it fired right up. The dome lights in it didn't seem too dim either but we let it run for a half hour anyway. DH is now going to build an extension cord so he can plug the camper into the truck when he can't park close enough to reach. I will add though, that we never used our interior lights at all while camping, instead we used a large flashlight and those battery operated led pop lights...we were about 5 hours north of Saskatoon and so it doesn't get dark until about 10pm. The only other power draw other than the tv/DVD combo was the water pump, LP detector, and what ever little bit of power the fridge and water heater needs to operate on LP.


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## GarethsDad

Most diesels have two batterys (high amp starter for all that compression). James


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## dougdogs

Jensen (ASA) also makes a 19"

19" dual voltage


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## beachbum

We do a fair amount of dry camping, too. We have the Skyworth 19" LCD with DVD, 12V and 110. It came with both power adapters. We have the 2 6V battery set up and over 3 nights and 4 days, battery indicator does not go below 2/3. Usually watch a movie a night and the news with dinner (just like at home). I don't think I would rely on the vehicle charger to keep TT battery charged on a trip. The charge demand exceeds the output of a typical vehcile alternator, I think. Certainly more knowledgeable owners will weigh in, this is just my experience.
david


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## N7OQ

The truck would make a very inefficient generator, you will use a lot of fuel to just get a small charge in the TT batteries. Because of the small wire from the truck to the trailer and the distance you would only see a few amps at best. A generator would charge the batteries through the converter much faster with a lot less fuel. Now if you wanted to get a better charge from the truck then maybe a inverter connected to the battery and then plug in the trailer or a battery charger to the inverter and you would get a better charger. Just don't use it with the engine off or you will drain your starting battery.


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## raynardo

Like many people I have a laptop computer, well actually two, but I do this kind of stuff for a living, so it's legal in most states. One is mounted in the cab of my truck on a Jotto desk; it runs two DeLorme GPS programs, one for highway/city travel and one for off-roading (I have a 4x4 truck), as well as the TrailerLife campground program. It also has a little camera attached to it, which, with an extended USB cable, I use to monitor backing up to the trailer. Lastly I have a Verizon broadband Internet card in it as well, so wherever I have Verizon cell phone coverage, I have Internet access. Okay, you get the picture, I am a techno-nerd.

Back to the second laptop, it's the one I use inside the OB: add a $40 PCMCIA TV tuner card and it becomes a TV and digital video recorder! Since the screen is a 17" LCD screen, it's plenty big. Also, since it's a laptop, I can run it on it's internal batteries - it lasts long enough to view an entire DVD, not messing with the OB's 12-volt system (if I'm dry camping). Then during the day on my excursions, I use an inverter I have mounted in the truck (which runs that first laptop), to recharge the second laptop.

So, since I have a laptop, I don't need to buy an additional LCD TV, and I get all the features of a home TV system, digital recording, timed recording, playback and recording of CD's and DVD's, and it even plays a ton of MP3's I have recorded on the hard drive through the OB's stereo system using a little FM transmitter.

Okay, okay, I'll stop with the techno-nerd stuff......


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## Ghosty

You should think about a Solar Cell for your OUTBACK -- i have a great Solar Cell (25" X 56") that i run with mine and it charges the two Trojan T-125s during the day and by night they are charged and ready to go.. The solar cell is rated at 130W per hour but avgs about 92W an hour (whatever that really means) ..

here is the new one that i have and it works great ... make sure that you get a controller though to keep the battery from frying...

Kyocera Solar Cell


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## jetjane

I understand what you guys are saying but we were pleasantly surprised to find the truck kept up our OB's battery charge for 4 whole days+ without running the engine and the truck battery still had plenty of charge left in it. Our trips aren't usually longer than this anyway (unfortunately). For longer trips, if we ever get to go on any, we will definitely consider an alternative.

We have been thinking about getting solar panels too. We prefer to camp in heavily treed sites though. Do those of you who use them have problems with this? Ghosty, how much is your solar panel set-up worth?


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