Run TV on an inverter?

[Flatfive]

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?

[bikendan]

Our Jensen tv was junk and we replaced it with a much cheaper and better smart Vizio tv.

[BruceMc]

Of the 3 Jensen products in our unit, we've had 2 failures. That's a 66% failure rate, and both were not long after the warranty ran out.
They may be highly rated on Amazon, but ratings can be padded, and often are.

My $0.02, FWIW: While the original TV cabinet is well built, it would be acceptable if they would have put a respectable display in the unit to go along with build quality. 720p over 32" looks like cr.p... And you can get a nice 720p Jensen on Amazon for $350ish. No thank you.

If you like Jensen products, that's fine; I do respect your opinion too. They are fine products for many folks, and I'm not discounting that fact.

[JaxDad]

otrfun wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
Your "Jenson" is a cheap garbage TV brand, as such if you think it is good quality you are sadly mistaken.. It is the typical junk that everyone who owns a RV whines about poor quality. And, when your Jenson dies, you will have to search hi and low online and pay a premium price for another same junker as absolutely no retail store carries them.

You're obviously very, very unhappy that we're happy with our 12v Jensen TV. Duly noted 🙂

If you look at online retailers like Amazon you will see that in fact Jensen 12 volt TV’s are very highly rated.

Like with most things in life though, the repairman has a slanted view of a given products quality since it’s rare someone would take a product their happy with to them and complain about it.

It’s like the deeply skewed popular opinion of Pinto’s, no basis in fact, but popular nonetheless.

[joebedford]

I wired a 300W MSW inverter to the main power bar through a self-resetting breaker (the breaker is now in the empty slot - there's too much snow around the RV to take a photo today). This is quite close to the battery so there is little loss on the low voltage side. This inverter can run a 26" TV, a 42" TV and a 5.1 sound system AT THE SAME TIME. Plus charge our phone.

[BruceMc]

Back to the OP's question, which has several satisfactory answers.

I, too, am installing a new TV in our Sunseeker; I'm replacing the garbage 32" Jensen 720p 12v TV (I see your pixels) with a 32" 115VAC 1080p model which draws 45 watts. I have a 200 watt MSW inverter, but will eventually purchase a dedicated PSW for this setup.

The only reason I'm adding to the clamor is the instructions in the MSW inverter suggest installing a torrid on the TV power line in the event of interference.

Here on the left coast, we're generally out of the range of any OTA TV signals, so any kind of reception is not expected. Rather, our usage tends to be the rare movie, except when we have the G'kids... Then it's on most of the time. (These kids and screen time these days.. Sheesh!)

I'm in the process of building a TV cabinet:



The progress so far:



Where I started with:



More pics: TV cabinet construction on my photo hosting site.

[otrfun]

Gdetrailer wrote:
Your "Jenson" is a cheap garbage TV brand, as such if you think it is good quality you are sadly mistaken.. It is the typical junk that everyone who owns a RV whines about poor quality. And, when your Jenson dies, you will have to search hi and low online and pay a premium price for another same junker as absolutely no retail store carries them.

I am guessing you were fine with the quality of "VHS"? I wasn't, preferred the pix quality of Beta tapes and jumped on Hi8 units when Sony came out with Prosumer units with tuners (yeah I was spoiled by working in an industrial video setting as my first job which included broadcast 1" Sony video recorders with TBC, Grass Valley editing equipment and broadcast quality cameras, so I know the difference in video quality).

I will gladly use a few watts more of energy to trade for a TV which has better tuner, better picture and better life and when mine dies is very easy to locate a low cost replacement at any retailer..

One or two Ahrs of battery per day is not going to make you run a gen longer or spoil your non gen long weekend.

The obsession of how some folks pick their energy battles makes me chuckle.. Personally if battery consumption is such a problem, then rethink the TV thing as it is a waste of energy with the lame programs foisted on us now days..

You're obviously very, very unhappy that we're happy with our 12v Jensen TV. Duly noted 🙂

[JaxDad]

Gdetrailer wrote:

JaxDad wrote:

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.

No, the loss is typically under 8% per conversion or about 16%.

On a TV that draws say 100W we are talking 16W of loss, 16W is roughly 1.2A at 12V and that is peanuts to be quibbling about unless you are running that TV 24/7.

1.2Ahr is nothing to get your panties in a wad about, your PC wastes much more energy than that just typing up your response.

Interesting, even the manufacturers themselves state that most inverters are at best 90% efficient, in a test of eight popular models the below article says “The eight tested inverters ranged from a low of 73% efficient to a high of 93% efficient and, as a group, had an average efficiency of about 86%.”.

Clicky, clicky.

[valhalla360]

wa8yxm wrote:
One thing to consider is how much power it sucks. With batteries we talk about amp horus and the USABLE power can be as low as 25% of the battery's C/20 rating (IE 25 amp horus for most Group 27/29 size) or as high as 50% for True Deep cycle (like over 100 amp hours for a pair of GC-2 Or nearly 100% for LiFePo4.

If the TV draws 100watts that's about 1 amp at 120 volt and about 10 at 12 volt. so 100 amp hours of battery would run it about 2 horus.

Once you start talking inverters, best to use watt-hours. Amp-hours is a short cut when everything from power source to consumption is running 12v.

Watt-hours = Amp-hours * voltage (there are some technicalities but close enough for our purposes)

So if the battery bank is 100 amp-hours, you have around 1200watt-hours but lead acid batteries shouldn't be taken below 50%, so you have about 600watt-hours.

If the TV draws 50watts, figure around 60watts with losses due to the inverter. That means you have about 10hours (600w-hr/60w = 10hr) of TV time before you should stop using the battery.

Caveats:
- Look up your actual battery, TV and inverter and use those numbers.
- This assumes you start with a fully charged battery. If you start at 80%, you only have 30% available to use.
- Is your house battery bank isolated from the starting battery (if a MH). You don't want to wake up in the morning and not be able to start the motor.

[Gdetrailer]

otrfun wrote:

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.

Your "Jenson" is a cheap garbage TV brand, as such if you think it is good quality you are sadly mistaken.. It is the typical junk that everyone who owns a RV whines about poor quality. And, when your Jenson dies, you will have to search hi and low online and pay a premium price for another same junker as absolutely no retail store carries them.

I am guessing you were fine with the quality of "VHS"? I wasn't, preferred the pix quality of Beta tapes and jumped on Hi8 units when Sony came out with Prosumer units with tuners (yeah I was spoiled by working in an industrial video setting as my first job which included broadcast 1" Sony video recorders with TBC, Grass Valley editing equipment and broadcast quality cameras, so I know the difference in video quality).

I will gladly use a few watts more of energy to trade for a TV which has better tuner, better picture and better life and when mine dies is very easy to locate a low cost replacement at any retailer..

One or two Ahrs of battery per day is not going to make you run a gen longer or spoil your non gen long weekend.

The obsession of how some folks pick their energy battles makes me chuckle.. Personally if battery consumption is such a problem, then rethink the TV thing as it is a waste of energy with the lame programs foisted on us now days..

[Gdetrailer]

JaxDad wrote:

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.

No, the loss is typically under 8% per conversion or about 16%.

On a TV that draws say 100W we are talking 16W of loss, 16W is roughly 1.2A at 12V and that is peanuts to be quibbling about unless you are running that TV 24/7.

1.2Ahr is nothing to get your panties in a wad about, your PC wastes much more energy than that just typing up your response.

[otrfun]

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.

[JaxDad]

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.

[Gdetrailer]

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..

[otrfun]

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.