Run TV on an inverter?

Gdetrailer wrote:
Most TVs marketed as "12V" are junk brands like Jenson, Furrion just to name a couple and are not built with any sort of real quality.

In the past there were a number of better name brands like LG, Samsung, Hitachi, Sony, Vizio, Toshiba and so on which used an external power supply brick which happened to be "12V". Those are very few and far between now days as most manufacturers eventually went to INTERNAL power supplies..

Even IF you could find one of those TVs with a external 12V brick, they were typically limited in size, often only the SMALL TVs of 19" or less which are pretty much impossible to find now days for sale.. Most stores stock 40 plus inch TVs now days and if you want smaller than that you will have to dig around Amazon and order it.

Additionally, folks often do not realize with the TVs with an external 12V power supply that those TVs are designed for COMPUTER "12V" (11.9V-12.1V) and never were designed or intended to operate from a 12V BATTERY which can have voltages from 10.5V up to 15V..

Honestly, running a TV from a inverter is not going to kill you, not going to use a lot more of the battery and are cheap and plentiful to find and buy and you WILL get far better TV than the ones marketed as 12V..

For your needs, a 12v TV may not be a a particularly attractive option. Fair enough.

However . . . I'll say this. A 12v Jensen TV came with our camper new. Been using it for 3 year now. Works great. Very light, very low current draw and no inverter needed. A friend purchased a new 75" Samsung from Costco a few months ago. 15-20 dead pixels, then it died a week later.

My hope is RV manufacturers will push harder for more 12v appliances in the future. Some off-road van manufacturers are starting to use 12v a/c units. Significantly quieter and much more efficient. Throw a 12v microwave into the mix and we'd be awful close to an inverter free camper.

Gdetrailer wrote:

otrfun wrote:
OP, any chance you'll be upgrading your TV at some point? Lot of 12vdc TV's available these days. Lot more efficient vs. the same size 120vac TV being powered with an inverter.

Additionally, folks often do not realize with the TVs with an external 12V power supply that those TVs are designed for COMPUTER "12V" (11.9V-12.1V) and never were designed or intended to operate from a 12V BATTERY which can have voltages from 10.5V up to 15V..

Honestly, running a TV from a inverter is not going to kill you, not going to use a lot more of the battery and are cheap and plentiful to find and buy and you WILL get far better TV than the ones marketed as 12V..

The loss on 12 volts to 120 volts and back to 12 volts is typically about 30%.

I bought a 12 volt laptop adapter that converts 10 - 24 volts and stabilizes it to 12 volts regardless of input voltage or (within reason) draw.

The cost was $29 and the loss is well under 5%, win, win.

otrfun wrote:
OP, any chance you'll be upgrading your TV at some point? Lot of 12vdc TV's available these days. Lot more efficient vs. the same size 120vac TV being powered with an inverter.

Most TVs marketed as "12V" are junk brands like Jenson, Furrion just to name a couple and are not built with any sort of real quality.

In the past there were a number of better name brands like LG, Samsung, Hitachi, Sony, Vizio, Toshiba and so on which used an external power supply brick which happened to be "12V". Those are very few and far between now days as most manufacturers eventually went to INTERNAL power supplies..

Even IF you could find one of those TVs with a external 12V brick, they were typically limited in size, often only the SMALL TVs of 19" or less which are pretty much impossible to find now days for sale.. Most stores stock 40 plus inch TVs now days and if you want smaller than that you will have to dig around Amazon and order it.

Additionally, folks often do not realize with the TVs with an external 12V power supply that those TVs are designed for COMPUTER "12V" (11.9V-12.1V) and never were designed or intended to operate from a 12V BATTERY which can have voltages from 10.5V up to 15V..

Honestly, running a TV from a inverter is not going to kill you, not going to use a lot more of the battery and are cheap and plentiful to find and buy and you WILL get far better TV than the ones marketed as 12V..

OP, any chance you'll be upgrading your TV at some point? Lot of 12vdc TV's available these days. Lot more efficient vs. the same size 120vac TV being powered with an inverter.

If your TV has a wallwart or transformer you may be able to use this https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Charger-ThinkPad-Notebook-Computers/dp/B095SF992Q/ref=dp_prsubs_2?pd_rd_i=B095SF992Q&psc=1

My older 32" Visio uses 19v, as do my computers. Works fine.

Flatfive wrote:
We just bought a class C motorhome. It has a TV but it’s 120V and requires the generator to run all the time your watching the set. We have an inverter that’s 200 watts. I’m thinking of trying to run the TV on that hooked up to the 12V system. Do any of you have experience with this?

Been running a 32" Vizio on a 150w inverter for years. Luckily the 12v outlet is right above the tv.

jdc1 wrote:
Get one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/Inverter-POLAR-Power-Cigarette-Lighter/dp/B08JCRT8BJ/ref=asc_df_B08JCRT8BJ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475789621573&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2091615609518087249&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9051682&hvtargid=pla-1053576751619&psc=1

He says he already has an inverter. MSW or PSW should work just fine to watch TV.

Yes. Been doing this for 15+ years.

Get one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/Inverter-POLAR-Power-Cigarette-Lighter/dp/B08JCRT8BJ/ref=asc_df_B08JCRT8BJ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475789621573&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2091615609518087249&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9051682&hvtargid=pla-1053576751619&psc=1

Should be no problem...
While we almost never watch TV there have been a couple of times when weather kept us indoors for most of the day so wee watched a game orDVD to pass the time. I bought my 150 watt cigarette lighter style inverter in 1994 {for use on a boat trip to Mexico} and paid about $100 for it. It still works just fine and will run our Vizio 32" LED flatscreen TV AND the DVD player with no issues.

As noted above running a generator just to watch TV is less than neighborly {trying to be polite here} and a close second on the self-absorbed scale are folks who run the genny just to make a cup of coffee... Seriously??? :S

:R