frontslide
I would like to know more about your Dutch Oven please Sir?
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
shortcircuit
What if the site owner,decieded to buy a great big 12V transformer and made everybody use 12v appliance,and still charged the same hookup fee,he could save on his electric bill and we could do our bit for the enviroment,and the site owner could put the extra money in the bank.Thus everyone happy.
No, you get nout for nout. A BIG transformer still uses power and as I posted earlier needs larger diameter wire to carry the higher currents. In addition a lot of the 12 volt appliances are DC and if power supplied from hook up a BIG BIG rectifier bank would be needed. Hopefully I am correct here but Teslar was the first to distribute power by ac which resulted in less power stations as DC stations could only work up to a limited range. It was easier to generate and up the voltage by transformer and distribute over a greater network.
Skatts
Aren't 12 v appliances a pile of poo in general?
Firefox
What if the site owner,decieded to buy a great big 12V transformer and made everybody use 12v appliance,and still charged the same hookup fee,he could save on his electric bill and we could do our bit for the enviroment,and the site owner could put the extra money in the bank.Thus everyone happy.
The site owner would be causing himself bigger bills!
Power/heat loss is proportional to the current squared. All the transmission on the 12v side of the transformer at the higher currents would result in massive losses making it more expensive for the campers and more damaging to the environment. This is why national grid transmissions are at 200 to 400 kV stepping down at substations to 32 kv 11 kv and finally 240 v close to the consumer.
Fazerloz
No, you get nout for nout. A BIG transformer still uses power and as I posted earlier needs larger diameter wire to carry the higher currents. In addition a lot of the 12 volt appliances are DC and if power supplied from hook up a BIG BIG rectifier bank would be needed. Hopefully I am correct here but Teslar was the first to distribute power by ac which resulted in less power stations as DC stations could only work up to a limited range. It was easier to generate and up the voltage by transformer and distribute over a greater network.
War of Currents - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents
A quick read you might find interesting.
Firefox
War of Currents - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents
A quick read you might find interesting.
Here's another reference if you all want to read about Substations and transmission voltages:
National Grid EMF - Substations
BrianG
Somebody somewhere on the site said that most, if not all, equipment such as tv, dvd players, sat boxes are actually running off 12volts derived from internal transformer/rectifiers. I have often thought of how much battery power is lost when running such equipment through an inverter. Has anybody ever tried opening one of these devices and seeing if it is possible to rewire direct to 12volts?
OK crazy idea and expensive if it goes wrong which is why I want somebody else to try first.
Brian
OK crazy idea and expensive if it goes wrong which is why I want somebody else to try first.
Brian
vwalan
i run my digi tv off 12v direct . if it as a 240 dropper to 12v then its ok . might not stabilize as power drops or goes up to 14v with the solar but mine works . asda polaroid tv . also the outside antenna works off 12v instead of the 240to 12v dropper .Mercury Digital Outdoor Antenna | eBay these are great antennas . lots hgv trucks use them . not like a sat but great for local tv here or abroad.
Kiwi Colin
Somebody somewhere on the site said that most, if not all, equipment such as tv, dvd players, sat boxes are actually running off 12volts derived from internal transformer/rectifiers. I have often thought of how much battery power is lost when running such equipment through an inverter. Has anybody ever tried opening one of these devices and seeing if it is possible to rewire direct to 12volts?
OK crazy idea and expensive if it goes wrong which is why I want somebody else to try first.
Brian
Hi.
I've done this with a few things such as DVD player, computer printer and sat-decoder. These can be picked-up second hand for less than a 12volt model. Using an inverter can waste a lot of energy - the efficiencies they quote are at ideal conditions and may only be nearer 50%.
Make sure it's been unplugged a while before you pull it apart as some big condensers can still hold a punch. Locate the transformer at end of power cord. The output side will usually have four diodes (small black with white band one end). After these there may be condensers. In good gear this will be on a separate circuit board with a tin cover. Carefully plug in the power and with a DC voltmeter try and get a voltage reading. Not many run on 12volts, may be 5, 7, or 9 volt. Have somebody who can do mouth- to-mouth standing by! I usually take the whole mains transformer out and replace it with a DC input wire and voltage regulator to give the required volts and a condenser to smooth out variations. This is a small semiconductor named LM30xx, where the xx is the voltage. Can be got online or from Maplins. If there is more than an amp going through it I'd suggest using a heat sink. Even with 12volt gadgets you may need a regulator as alternators can give out nasty spikes. Solar supplies need a special solar regulator. If you are trying to come down from 24volts and the appliance takes more than a couple of amps you will be better to get a switch-mode voltage reducer as the above method generates a bit of heat.
Cheers
Colin
BrianG
Thanks Colin, I'll see what I can do with an old dvd player first. My grand daughters are always throwing away perfectly good stuff!
If my name doesn't appear on the forum again you'll know that I didn't heed your warnings. Cheers
If my name doesn't appear on the forum again you'll know that I didn't heed your warnings. Cheers
big tom
1992 Hymer S700 I have no electronics that need monitoring so I have no discharge on the engine battery at all, this can and does stand for a few months without any charge, if the battery did go flat then there is a fault somewhere or the battery is u/s, if one did go u/s they are situated next to each other (in my case another engine battery I swap them over every year) there is a short jump lead to hand for use if one battery goes down when all electrics would run of the single good battery. I have 200w of solar panel which I find ample for all lighting which are leds, 12v tv, 12 volt laptop supply, water pump and cab radio. I think to use any appliance on 12v that has a large wattage requirement i.e. microwave, hairdryer etc is expecting too much, I have a under slung gas tank 60ltr, for cooking heating and fridge. I have a mains converter to 12v but undecided if to fit it.
This arrangement is fine for us but we do not wild camp in winter months we are usually on a site in Spain.
This arrangement is fine for us but we do not wild camp in winter months we are usually on a site in Spain.