Hi there,I'm a newbie to camping with a TT. I have a 2016 grand design trailer and have made a couple of trips where I have overnighted at a truck stop. I noticed that when I am on battery power, my tv's don't work. Is there a way to have them work on battery power? I like to have them going to drown out the hyw noise at the truck stops. Thanks in advance for any input. Rick

Most if not all TV's are 110v and wired as such. To have it work on battery you will need an inverter wired to you battery bank and connect the tv to the output of the inverter.

wildtoad wrote:Most if not all TV's are 110v and wired as such. To have it work on battery you will need an inverter wired to you battery bank and connect the tv to the output of the inverter.Is this an inverter that you wire at the battery? Or the tv? Like I said I am pretty much a newbie. More detail would be a huge help. Thanks

Take it to a dealer and tell them what you want. Do not attempt to install an inverter if you don't know what you're doing.

The inverter is a box that converts DC battery power to AC power which is what your Television needs. Depending on what you're trying to power with it, they can go through a lot of battery power in a hurry. As a result, you'll want to study up on how to determine your overall power needs. From there you'll be able to work out what sort of battery power you're going to require, how big of an inverter if that is what you determine you need, and what all you're going to try to run off the inverter. If you intend to use battery power to power an inverter for more than a night, you'll start running into the need for a fairly large bank of batteries, or maybe a generator or solar battery charging system. I'd start slow initially until you decide what sort of camping you prefer, how often and how long you need to go on battery power etc before you try to get an inverter installed. By the way, welcome to the forum, and the RV madness.

1 - You can get 12V TVs that operate on battery power.2 - You can install an inverter that will allow 115V TVs to run off your batteries.3 - You can run a small generator (Honda) to give your coach AC power across the board.4 - You can run your favorite programs off a tablet through a bluetooth speaker - net loss to batteries ZERO.Are you watching the TVs or are you looking for white noise to drown out the outside noise?Specifics might give a better idea toward a solution.

Tv operation on battery power? | Good Sam Community

D_E_Bishop
Explorer
Mar 31, 2017
We have all 12VDC AV equipment except for the 32" TV. That TV is run off an inverter that was part of the AV equipment that was standard in the Adventurer(it was all stripped out by the previous owner). I will buy a new 12VDC as soon as I finish restoring my F150.

Why run an inverter to run a converter, isn't that what the TV power supply does to get the lower voltages? I have an inverter for charging my laptop if I need to and that is about it.
2112
Explorer II
Mar 31, 2017
IAMICHABOD wrote:
2112 wrote:
Do you have a wall plate similar to this behind your TV?
I can't post a photo anymore. Can someone post a 12V wall plate photo?
It makes adding an inverter a simple task

This is what I plug My Inverter into to watch TV.
Thank you
This is what I did as well before installing a whole house inverter. We upgraded because DW wanted a fan wherever she sat and I didn't like following her around with an extension cord.
ScottG
Nomad
Mar 30, 2017
IAMICHABOD wrote:
2112 wrote:
Do you have a wall plate similar to this behind your TV?
I can't post a photo anymore. Can someone post a 12V wall plate photo?
It makes adding an inverter a simple task

This is what I plug My Inverter into to watch TV.

I bought one of these inverters and plugged it into that receptacle. My TV runs fine off it and takes about 4 amps (48 watts). I can run the VCR off it as well.
All_I_could_aff
Explorer
Mar 30, 2017
Keep in mind that some of the non120 volt TVs with the power brick are marked for a bit more than 12 volt DC input. I was recently looking at a few and found a 19 inch 12 volt DC at Walmart for $99, but they also had a 22 inch with power brick for $129, but upon closer inspection the port was marked "input 19 volt DC".

I see plenty of 22 inch 12 volt for sale on ebay, but most are labeled as reconditioned and I'd rather buy from a store that I know I can return/exchange tv if a problem occurs anywhere in the USA
IAMICHABOD
Explorer II
Mar 30, 2017
2112 wrote:
Do you have a wall plate similar to this behind your TV?
I can't post a photo anymore. Can someone post a 12V wall plate photo?
It makes adding an inverter a simple task

This is what I plug My Inverter into to watch TV.
Sam_Spade
Explorer
Mar 30, 2017
wildtoad wrote:
Most if not all TV's are 110v and wired as such.

To have it work on battery you will need an inverter wired to you battery bank and connect the tv to the output of the inverter.

First part is wrong; second part is right, mostly.

Most if not all newer LED TVs operate on low voltage DC internally.
Many have their AC/DC converter "block" external to the TV.

If you have one of those and the power connector on the TV says: 12 V DC....then you can just get a different power cord and find a 12 V source in the RV.

And while I agree that a LOT of people probably should not be messing with electricity, a small inverter is "plug and play" and should pose minimal risk. Just need to check the wattage of the TV and get one a bit larger than that. This is assuming that you have a 12 V outlet close by.

If the power cord is a simple AC cord that goes directly into the TV with no "brick" along the way, then see the inverter answer above.
Dennis_Smith
Explorer
Mar 30, 2017
We have a 12v tv wit built in dvd We love dry camping and we can still watch a movie if it raining and we can't go out. The only isue is 22 inch is as big as we could get with the dvd built in.
Tvov
Explorer II
Mar 30, 2017
When we want to watch something, we use a laptop computer and DVD. Battery on a laptop will last about 1 DVD (one movie) as long as you turn down the screen brightness. Recharge the laptop the next day while traveling (by using one of those power plug things as previously posted).
2112
Explorer II
Mar 30, 2017
Do you have a wall plate similar to this behind your TV?

I can't post a photo anymore. Can someone post a 12V wall plate photo?

It makes adding an inverter a simple task
Ivylog
Explorer III
Mar 30, 2017
If all you want is background noise... turn the radio up that you probably already have and it runs off 12V. You probably have a 12v outlet on the control for your TV antenna's amp. Plug a 300W inverter into it and run an extension cord to the TV... D for DONE.

Now if you use your rig in cold weather and run the heater at truck stops, you will need two batteries... same if you boondock.