Power source for laptop

[Flintstones Adventurer]

I've been following John Canfield and all he's done! Great job John.
My question is this for all those who travel with their laptop and GPS on.
What is the best way to power the laptop? 12vdc to 120vac then plug in the supplied power cord supplied with the laptop? Or maybe going right from the 12vdc outlet directly to the laptop.

Trial test last weekend just on battery power. No good as the screen just isn't bright enough. Plus I realize the battery won't hold up for any trip of any length.

So hopefully the "pro's" will enlighten me.
Thanks for all information supplied.

[Flintstones Adventurer]

I've been following John Canfield and all he's done! Great job John.
My question is this for all those who travel with their laptop and GPS on.
What is the best way to power the laptop? 12vdc to 120vac then plug in the supplied power cord supplied with the laptop? Or maybe going right from the 12vdc outlet directly to the laptop.

Trial test last weekend just on battery power. No good as the screen just isn't bright enough. Plus I realize the battery won't hold up for any trip of any length.

So hopefully the "pro's" will enlighten me.
Thanks for all information supplied.

[Thudman]

Don't know what year your Adventurer is, but in mine I plug in an extension cord to the plug above the driver, where my DVD & SAT receiver are located. This plug is on the inverter, so during travel I have the inverter On, and plug in my laptop AC Pwr cord to the extension cord.

When done, don't forget to turn the inverter Off, 'cuz you may run your house batts flat if you have shore pwr failure (w/inverter On).

Thudman

[Tom N]

I power my laptop from one of my invertor's 110v outlets.

If you run from the laptops built in battery your computer will use it's power saver mode. The power saver mode dims your screen a little so the laptop's battery will last longer. You can go into setup and turn off power saver.

And, some laptops will operate fine directly from your coaches 12v system even though they run on 14-16v. But 12v is not enough to operate my 19v P4 3.4mhz Gateway laptop.

[Mark Bento]

As you can see John is the project god hale John.

I just pick up a 12 volt inverter that runs at 400 watts from BJ's for 30.00 plug it into cig lighter on dash and plug computers power cord in that this was all wires are clean on floor and out of site of driver

Mark
2000 Winnebago Adventurer
Let the Adventurer begin

[smlranger]

I also use a small inverter ($30 at Wally World) plugged into 12V outlet on dash. No problems so far.

[Logthumper]

Power Supplies are available for laptops that look the same as your standard 110 volt power supply but plug into 12 volts. I have one of these mounted under the Joto Desk my Laptop sits on. Just make sure the output voltage is the same as your 110volt unit and the amperage is the same or close to (within one amp) as the output of your 110 volt unit. Check the bottom of your 110 volt unit for the correct DC voltage output and correct amp output. I purchased 2 of these on eBay, one for the Adventurer and one for the Jeep. I also use a 12 volt amplified speaker from Radio Shack plugged into my laptop. The speaker turns on automaticly when it hears output from the laptop. Loud very easy to hear. A pic of the Joto Desk is below.

[rebelsbeach]

As a follower of John's advice,I have to wonder....where's John??

[RVDriver]

I also use a 300W inverter plugged into Cig liter, but I also plug the charger for the "Cell Phone" into it, and leave the cell phone on all day when driving down the road. This way the Cell is always at full charge when we leave the MH.

Bruce

[John_Canfield]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rebelsbeach:
As a follower of John's advice,I have to wonder....where's John?? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Hello! Jus' hanging around in the cold country; trying to stay warm in Ohio. We head back to Florida tomorrow

I have ditched my little 75 watt Xantrex (it's in the drawer now) inverter and ran my laptop AC cord up/behind the "A" pillar to the AC outlet under the cabinets over the dash. I have a couple of little mods I have done and I will include a picture of the laptop power.

[hotrod 32]

I too use a 12v/110 mini inverter. It's about the size of a thermos. My 2000 Adventurer has a power point on the pass side which really keeps things uncluttered. It also frees up the dash lighter socket for the brake buddy receiver.

[oemtech]

For those of you that do not have an inverter outlet available from the factory and have a Workhorse chassis you can do what I did. I mounted a 400 watt version on the dog house ledge under the dash. I wired it to the 12v distribution box in the engine bay. I made sure the wire were connected to the battery disconnect side so that if I left it on and hit the store button it automatically shuts off.

For more pictures and info follow the link in my signature or go to the Photo section of IRV2.



OBTW - Total cost was less than $20.... Beats the $641 Newmar wanted.

[Flintstones Adventurer]

Lots of great advice and photo's. Thanks everyone. I'll keep all posted as to my progress, but as winter approaches,working on the Winne stops. Maybe will wait till next spring.

Thanks again everyone for your impute.