12V LED TV options

Instead of measuring watts, why don't you measure VA. :o

You'll be shocked!

mena661 wrote:
I have a clamp-on amp meter but I wanted to know the real world watts draw too.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

They use a kill-a-watt meter because they do not have an ammeter.

Bypassing the power brick is the way to go if it is possible to do so.

"bypassing" the brick is not without potential pitfalls.

Insuring you have wired your cig plug to the TV CORRECTLY is one of the major hurdles that needs to be addressed properly.

You have a 50/50 chance of messing that up to start with and pretty much are voiding any hopes of the "warranty" covering your boo boo.

The input of a TV which uses a brick is pretty much 99.9% going to be DC which means applying the REVERSE polarity of voltage WILL render your new TV a doorstop IMMEDIATELY!

Bypassing the brick now also takes away every bit of OVER VOLTAGE PROTECTION that you had with the original brick in place.

What folks seem to fail to understand, when a brick SAYS 12V output, they MEAN 12V as in 12.00V. This IS NOT A BATTERY 12V which is typically 12.6-12.8!

Typically in electronics there is some slop in tolerances which is often +/(-)10%. This however IS NOT A HARD AND FAST RULE and the tolerances may be NARROWER or WIDER and there is no guaranty that the TV will work, work correctly or go up in a ball of smoke.

What that means to you is a an typically "acceptable" input voltage is + or (-) 1.2V from 12.00V.. or a "range" of 10.8V to 13.2V..

This puts ANY TV which does not come with a FACTORY 12V DC power cord and uses a 12V brick you are TAKING some "chances" of damaging your TV.

While this will put you on the hairy edge of destruction while the battery is not being charged turning on the juice to the converter has the potential of putting your TV to sleep forever!

Batteries also have a very wide voltage swing so as your battery charge drops your TV may or may not function as it should..

I would suggest looking for a TV which uses a 14V-15V brick as your first choice, much less chance that you will over voltage it..

Alternately if you really insist on running it direct from 12V you can get DC to DC switching supplies which will have a wide input voltage and give a rock solid unwavering 12.00V output..

Playing with mods like this is not for everyone..

I have a clamp-on amp meter but I wanted to know the real world watts draw too.

Hi,

They use a kill-a-watt meter because they do not have an ammeter.

Bypassing the power brick is the way to go if it is possible to do so.

What makes you think savings are just 0.2 - 0.4A when applying 12V direct? Why do folks use a kill-a-watt meter? You should be using an ampmeter! After all, we're interested in amps not watts.

These brick supplies have a notorious high PF. Have you taken that into account? If your tv measures 21W with a PF of 0.8, then the real load is 21W/.8 = 26.25W. If your inverter is 85% efficient then battery load is 26.25W/.85 = 30.9W.

The brick may be 85% efficient. So the actual tv consumes 21W * .85 = 17.58W.

You reduce the power consumption by 1 - 30.9W/17.58W = 75% when bypassing the brick and inverter.

There's a lot of speculation in my calculations. It's so much easier the just measure current!

NinerBikes wrote:


I'll let someone else determine that... Saving .2 amp or .4 amp for $10 in electrical connectors is not worth it to me, when I already have an inverter from 12V to 120V. 21 watts or 17 watts, for the amount of hours I watch TV, is pretty insignificant.

N-Trouble wrote:
I was doing some comparison of specs between Insignia and Vizio 28" LCD TVs and while the VIzio specs appear much better especially power consumption, it appears none of the Vizio's use a AC/DC converter brick on the power cord which is a deal breaker for 12V usage:(

Check out Samsung, LG, Sony too. Just make sure it's a LED LCD first then look at the specs for power draw and whether or not they have a brick. Like I've said before, it's pointless to power your TV directly from the batteries if that method uses more power than someone using an inverter to power their TV. Unless you just hate inverters or don't want to pay for one.

I was doing some comparison of specs between Insignia and Vizio 28" LCD TVs and while the VIzio specs appear much better especially power consumption, it appears none of the Vizio's use a AC/DC converter brick on the power cord which is a deal breaker for 12V usage:(

N-Trouble wrote:

NinerBikes wrote:
I just bought a Samsung 24" class 1080p TV last week. 20 to 21 watts, measured on the Kil-A-Watt, great picture, through a small 175w power inverter 12v to 120v. Then through the brick back to 14v. Picked it up at Costco for $169, had a $30 rebate, don't remember when the rebate ends.

Great TV, very very happy with the picture.

But will it work off of 12V is the real question? We all know it will work off of 110/120v

I'll let someone else determine that... Saving .2 amp or .4 amp for $10 in electrical connectors is not worth it to me, when I already have an inverter from 12V to 120V. 21 watts or 17 watts, for the amount of hours I watch TV, is pretty insignificant.

2oldman wrote:
I looked at the Victron site, and I haven't yet seen a DC "inverter" yet.

Err. I said ebay not Victron. And I'm talking about a DC to DC converter in a brick. :) I just looked on ebay and I'm not seeing them anymore. Used to be a bunch of them. Maybe they got replaced with something else.

darsben wrote:
cord online for my Vizio and my insignia. BOTH ARE 12 volt

Where did you get the cord?

Dakota98 wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:
Lots of options. Go to the store and look for televisions that use a power brick to reduce to 12vdc. Get rid of the brick and connect directly to 12vdc.

I'm assuming you have done this ?

So, cut the cord, removing the brick & then use a 12 volt male. Is that correct? Is there a way for determining which wire is neg & which is pos? or is it just a guess?

I have done it except I just bought a complete cord online for my Vizio and my insignia. BOTH ARE 12 volt