Titan 12v Inverter for laptops etc.

[Capt.Golightly]

This is quite a nice piece of kit, just bought one to power and charge my Laptop/ iphone/ tv etc from 12v system rather than through 240v volt inverter....seems somehow a neater solution as they are all low demand items...I like the "95% efficient" claim too, it offers good power protection against spikes etc and a better regulated 12v supply.

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/titan-350w-car-power-inverter-hw-350e6-uk-12v-with-usb-port

Edited August 19, 2013 by Capt.Golightly

[Tony Brooks]

So would a 12v car adaptor from the likes of Maplin and it would not involve you with the problems that can arise with modified sine wave output. Its NOT 95% efficient - it says 85 to 95% efficient and states that it needs a fan to get rid of heat. To my mind that says closer to 80 than 90%

 

In general powering small phone type chargers and computers via an inverter is far from the bets way to go. Stick with 12V car adaptors.

[dor]

If this is really 350w, then it will be drawing the best part of 30 amps from the lighter socket, if not more.

 

In my car, even the specific "power" socket is only rated at 10 amps, the others less.

 

Drawing 30 amps from a lighter socket is asking for a fire.

[Capt.Golightly]

I looked for a twelve volt adaptor for both my laptop and phone and couldn't find one except the "universal" type which are universally short lived in my experience, I agree if you are fortunate to find one then they are the best way to go...as the less connections/conversions the better in my view but my choice was regulated 12v or inverted 240. Whist it is true that if the unit were running at its claimed peak 700w capacity constantly or even 350w it would generate heat (on a cigar lighter socket as does everything else) however it wont be, it will wired into a good quality 12v socket and running no more than 100w as like you I don't trust cigar lighter connections for anything other than occasional very short term use...especially not to replace an expensive and well regulated power supply like a computers.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Capt.Golightly

[Tony Brooks]

If you were unfortunate enough to buy phones and computers from the proprietary standard merchants like Apple, Dell and HP then maybe using an inverter is all you can do but I have no problems finding 12V phone charger leads - even bought one from a market stall recently. If you have a Clas Olson store near you they sell a variety of phone adaptors.

 

My Maplin £29 universal 12V laptop adaptor worked well for about 5 years and then the stupid cigarette plug burned out so I fitted a mains 5a plug to suit an existing 12V socket. Been fine for another two years. However I do take a bit of care how I coil the leads. I would not say that is unreliable. Now, if you buy off fleebay then you might well be correct about reliability.

[dmr]

A lot of Maplins stuff is not very reliable, but the universal 12v to 19v (adjustable) power supplies are very good.

I suspect they are not short circuit proof but then shorts should not happen.

As said above the most likely failure is the connector itself and you cant really blame Maplin for that.

If you plan to run a laptop from 12 volts (or anything likely to use more than about 3 amps), then a better connector is a really good idea. The DIN equivalent of the cigarette socket is much better, though still not perfect.

 

...........Dave

[Capt.Golightly]

Good points, will look into the maplins stuff, bang on Tony an HP and an iphone hence the difficulty though there are some good ideas for workarounds here too..thanks for the replies,.