Large 12v TVs

[David W]

Morning all,

 

We're considering taking the plunge to live "off mooring" for a while to try and save some money. We've got 12v outlets all over the place (following some advice read on here) and our intention was always to replace our (now aged) 240V 32" LCD TV with a 12V LED jobbie...

When we had the boat built, we built a cabinet for the old 32" TV. The space is actually big enough to fit a modern 42" TV (the old TV has a large frame around the screen).

 

We'd like a 12v 42" LED TV. I've done quite a bit of internetting and Google and I are no longer getting along(!)

 

Which leads me to my questions;

 

1) Is it possible to get a 42" 12v TV? I've not found any, so I wonder it the electronics actually physically allows it. I realise I will need a voltage regulator...

 

2) If it's possible, does anyone know where I can get one, or if anyone would be able to convert one from 240v to 12v for me?

 

Thanks, in advance for any help!

 

David

 

PS - I know it's a big TV, but we have a big fat boat...

 

 

[bargemast]

If they exist, one of these will cost lots more than a 230V TV and you may have an inverter already for other uses on your big fat boat anyway, if not that may be a useful investment.

 

Peter.

[OldGoat]

12V tvs were designed for the caravan and camping type market - where a large screen would be inappropriate hence that's possibly why you've not been able to find one (????)

 

Might I suggest that you either reconsider such a large display - OK you may miss not being in the front row of a cinema but apart (IMHO) from 42" being a bit of an overkill, they do require about 60w of power - another reason why 12v supplies are not available.

I've recently (while Currys were doing great deals) bought a 27" tv for the boat and am using a 32" one at home as a PC monitor - while I type this.

The 27" appears only slightly smaller (yes, I have one of these as a monitor for another PC), but is draws less current.

 

How's about buying a small pure sine wave inverter - anything under, say, 200w are inexpensive and are / can be pretty frugal with your DC power. I went that way and use a small inverter for the TV, HiFi, satellite and Freeview recorders, a portable twin tub washing machine, Laptop and other battery charging. MY older MSW unit is then reserved for the vacuum cleaner. Works well and doesn't flatten the batteries.

[David W]

Hi both,

 

Thanks for your responses.

 

Yes, we have an inverter - am just trying to see if I can come up with solutions where it doesn't need to be on very much (using up power just by being on)... We have quite a large battery bank - it'd be able to deal with the draw, and we're having some solar panels installed which will also help.

 

The small inverters - I thought about that, but my experience of them is that they make quite a bit of noise with their cooling fans and they're really inefficient. Happy to be corrected on that one, it's been about 5 years since I used ours.

I'm hoping that someone has some ideas around converting a 240v TV... Am sure there are some electronic wizards out there!

D

[IanD]

You've got no chance of converting a 240V supply, The internal PSU takes in 240V AC and converts it to all the different voltages used to run the internal circuits. A 12V TV does the same from 12V DC but the power supply is completely different. Get an inverter with low standby power...

[bargemast]

Hi both,

 

Thanks for your responses.

 

Yes, we have an inverter - am just trying to see if I can come up with solutions where it doesn't need to be on very much (using up power just by being on)... We have quite a large battery bank - it'd be able to deal with the draw, and we're having some solar panels installed which will also help.

 

The small inverters - I thought about that, but my experience of them is that they make quite a bit of noise with their cooling fans and they're really inefficient. Happy to be corrected on that one, it's been about 5 years since I used ours.

 

I'm hoping that someone has some ideas around converting a 240v TV... Am sure there are some electronic wizards out there!

 

D

 

If your inverter is 5 years old it may (or may not be) modern enough to make your new LED TV work properly.

 

As for your worries of power use, if you don't need the inverter for anything else but this TV, switch the thing off when you're not watching your TV.

 

Peter.

[OldGoat]

Hi both,

 

Thanks for your responses.

 

Yes, we have an inverter - am just trying to see if I can come up with solutions where it doesn't need to be on very much (using up power just by being on)... We have quite a large battery bank - it'd be able to deal with the draw, and we're having some solar panels installed which will also help.

 

The small inverters - I thought about that, but my experience of them is that they make quite a bit of noise with their cooling fans and they're really inefficient. Happy to be corrected on that one, it's been about 5 years since I used ours.

 

I'm hoping that someone has some ideas around converting a 240v TV... Am sure there are some electronic wizards out there!

 

D

 

I see someone else has beaten me to it.

TV internal power supplies are like desktop computer power supplies - that is they have multiple separate outputs, all at different voltages and power output. So it's not a simple matter. For the cheaper small tvs one power source at 12V is all that's needed. But you won't / wouldn't get 'modern' HD picture with that type of solution

 

For a low power standby inverter I'd go for the Victron Phoenix range the smaller ones only take 1/3 amp (300mA) it won't kill your batteries and as the latest post above says turn the ** thing off when not in use. That's what we do - but then I designed the boat mains supply around 4 possible inputs.

[bottle]

In the scheme of things the amount of power an inverter requires to just sit there and do nothing is very small, some can even be put into a 'sleep' mode (automatically) and only wake up (automatically) when required.

 

Mine a Victron Combi (24v. 2000 Kva, 80 amp) load is about 1 amp, so if it just sat there it would use 24 amp.hours of battery capacity per day, this could be lowered by using AES. (Automatic Energy Saving). Personally I do not use this as the boat has 240v ac. equipment running all the time.

 

Of course if the battery bank is small then it may be prudent to only switch the inverter ON when required.

 

There is not, one answer fits all, it is down to personal requirements.

 

Note: Off grid CCing.

[bag 'o' bones]

 

I see someone else has beaten me to it.

TV internal power supplies are like desktop computer power supplies - that is they have multiple separate outputs, all at different voltages and power output. So it's not a simple matter. For the cheaper small tvs one power source at 12V is all that's needed. But you won't / wouldn't get 'modern' HD picture with that type of solution

 

For a low power standby inverter I'd go for the Victron Phoenix range the smaller ones only take 1/3 amp (300mA) it won't kill your batteries and as the latest post above says turn the ** thing off when not in use. That's what we do - but then I designed the boat mains supply around 4 possible inputs.

We have a 12 volt 27 inch running a 1080 screen. Though I don't think you will get a screen bigger than 27 with a 12 volt option.

[Giant]

Another option to consider: there are some TVs/monitors that use a DC supply from a mains adapter, but at more than 12V. You could run one of these off a DC-DC converter with better efficiency than running a 240V one from an inverter.

[Phil.]

As Giants post above. Our TV is sold 240v but then has a power block that converts it to 19v. Maybe the way to go would be to have something that plugs into your 12v and steps it up to what the TV requires which may not necessarily be that high a voltage.

[costalot]

We have a 28" LED running off our 12V system. What I did was look for a modern LED TV that has an external 240v AC power supply with DC on the secondary side. The Samsung TV we bought requires 14V DC input. I cut the DC cable and plug off the 240V power brick. Then I bought a DC to DC converter from eBay (about £3.60). The 12V from the boat is connected to the primary and the 14V for the TV on the secondary. The converter has a small screw to adjust the output voltage. I adjusted it to 14V.

 

The TV has been happily running for the last two years.

[Frabjous Day]

There is a 32 inch, 12v TV made by a company called Jensen... i think this is as big as they go.

However, you can also get many ultra low consumption 42 inch, 240v screens and tie it into a sufficient, dedicated inverter along with a cheap infrared sensor to tie-in with the power button on your TV remote control thus turning-off the dedicated inverter. When the TV is turned-off the inverter and the TV (TV consumes small stand-by voltage) is turned-off too. The infrared sensor draws only a small amount of power whilst waiting for the TV to be used again.

[Jess--]

possibly a silly thought...

 

inverter efficiency drops as the output voltage goes up so a 110v inverter (made for the american market) would probably be more efficient than a 240v inverter for the UK market.

 

Most modern tv's will run from 90v - 250v to allow the same model to be used in multiple countries.

 

it may be a cheaper option to get a small 110v inverter (dedicated for tv use) and a tv set that can run from 110v.

[Pykebird]

Although my led tv is only 22 inches, I have just "converted" it to 12v by buying a lead from amazon, which cost around £8. I just plug it into a 12v charger and off we go.

[philjman]

Hi,

 

We bought a 42 inch Sony TV (42W706B) earlier this year which has a separate transformer which outputs 19.5 volts to a socket on the back of the TV. I have a voltage regulated power supply which steps up the 12v input to anything up to 24v at 5 amps. As the TV nominal power consumption is 50 watts (max of 99 watts in vivid setting) it is well within the capability of the 12v power supply. The 12v power source in the boat is 25 amp so no worries there.

 

As I write I'm watching the above TV powered off the 12v system so only drawing about 5 amps. In addition to having a standard DTV tuner it also has a satellite Freesat tuner as well as being wifi capable allowing you to watch in built BBC iplayer, Netflix etc through any wifi hotspot you can log onto. Finally you can plug an external HDD (<£30 from Argos) to the back of the TV which allows you to pause live TV as well as record programmes whilst you're out. And no I don't work for Sony!

 

Cheers

 

Phil

Edited July 17, 2015 by philjman

[Richard10002]

I was in PC World tonight and had a wander around the TV bit. Looking at the backs, I saw a Sony 40in, (£399), and a Sony 50in, (£799), both with 19.5V inputs.

 

I have an LG 24in TV with a 19V input, and I have a 12 V adaptor with outputs from 12V to 25V or so, one of which is 19V.

 

I'd guess these Sony's will work fine with 19V input, so Job Done with a visit to Curry's.

 

My wife said I couldn't have a 40in TV on the boat, (narrow boat), so I told her why I was looking.

[Giant]

Note that 19V and 19.5V are common supply voltages for laptops too, so you can use some of the same adapters that are sold for running laptops from 12V. Lots sold very cheaply with adjustable output voltage and a set of connectors.

[Rendelf]

Use an LED computer monitor, with a lower level reading light feature.... We have an HD Benq that runs on a native 12v. It pulls about an Amp when not super bright, which is just fine for the sort of distance between our heads and the screen.

[larkshall]

I was in PC World tonight and had a wander around the TV bit. Looking at the backs, I saw a Sony 40in, (£399), and a Sony 50in, (£799), both with 19.5V inputs.

I have an LG 24in TV with a 19V input, and I have a 12 V adaptor with outputs from 12V to 25V or so, one of which is 19V.

I'd guess these Sony's will work fine with 19V input, so Job Done with a visit to Curry's.

My wife said I couldn't have a 40in TV on the boat, (narrow boat), so I told her why I was looking.

As the wife has declared it a no go, why bother your outvoted by at least 3 to 1. Save the cash and take up reading

[Theo]

Why bother? Use an inverter then you have a huge range of tellies to choose from.

 

N