Inverter question

I want to run a flat screen TV off a 300 watt inverter. The amperage output is okay, but will the wave be pure enough?

ancora, The TV certainly does not need a pure sine wave inverter but I would suggest you purchase a pure sine wave anyway since it does perform better with electronics and if you wanted to run something else later that requires a pure sine wave you will be set. We run the TV, DVD player and satelite receiver off of an inverter full time. They are never connected directly to the boats 120 volt system. This works great, protects from surges and I don't have to reset everything when the power goes off. We have use a 350 watt for this in the past but on the new to us boat I have upgraded to 650, again in case we wanted to add something. Chuck

Having trouble getting my 300 watt inverter, (yes, 300 watts) to run my flat screen tv. With shore power on the inverter will run the tv all day. When I shut off shore power it will only last one minute and then we get the low voltage alarm from the inverter. I hooked up the inverter right at the DC bus and it ran fine on battery power only. Using the DC receptacle, the load side voltage reads 11.9 volts. At 10.0 volts the low voltage alarm goes off and the inverter shuts off. On shore power,(battery charger) load side reads 11.6 volts and stays there. The supply side reads 13.6 volts. I'm thinking a voltage drop at the receptacle is causing the problem. Any thoughts?

I would suggest that any inverter that needs to carry anything more than a very small load should be connected directly to a battery with either a fuse or circuit breaker in line. Your problem could be at the receptacle or anywhere in the connecting wiring. Chuck

Hi all,
Reference is made to flat screen TV but is the TV LCD or plasma? Plasma uses more power.

Power consumption compared

TVs:
Average plasma: 339 watts
Average rear-projection: 211 watts
Average LCD: 213 watts


-- Edited by RT Firefly on Thursday 28th of May 2009 05:21:50 AM

One thing to remember (although I can't) is one of the styles gets damaged by below freezing temperatures.

Don't know if that is a concern.

FF

Don't know about power requirements, but plasma screens can "burn" images into them if the same image is left on the screen very long. They also have shorter lives than LCD screens. The advantage of plasma is that they can be made bigger much cheaper than an LCD screen, and their color reproduction is a bit more vivid.

The advantage of LCD is that they are sharper, last longer, and don't burn in images. The disadvantage is that their color reproduction is not quite as vivid as a plasma screen, but the difference is not that great. And a large LCD screen costs much more to make (and therefore buy) than a plasma screen.

All the broadcast video engineers I know recommend an LCD over a plasma unless you want a huge screen but don't want to pay a ton of money. The color difference is not that great, and the LCD's other advantages more than make up for this.

How did we get from running a TV on an inverter to the difference between LCD and Plasma TVs? It would be helpful if the original poster let us know the type and size etc. To be able to answer his question.

Hiya,
*** Well...um...I DID mention the difference in power requirements simply to suggest that maybe Mr. Ancora might have enough juice to run a LCD TV but not a plasma TV.** I was not suggesting the pros and cons of either just that the LCD took less power.

RT has a legitimate question & statement. My TV is 600 watts...try running that with a 300 watt inverter.

The TV set in question is a 17 inch LCD with a built-in DVD player. I installed a DC receptacle running 14 gauge wire from the bus, a twelve foot run. Tomorrow I will go right to the house batteries and see what happens. I might have to up the wire gauge to 12s.

here is a wire size chart. You need to determine the max amps the wire might carry round trip, from the outlet to the power source and back to the outlet and size the wire accordingly. Chuck



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vAYwNsasVrY/ShCopmjH1iI/AAAAAAAAD0A/UN9OhYxp4Zs/s1600/05_electricalcon_A.jpg

-- Edited by Capn Chuck on Thursday 28th of May 2009 08:47:39 PM

-- Edited by Capn Chuck on Thursday 28th of May 2009 08:50:25 PM

At 300W output and typical conversion efficiencies, you're pulling 30 amps at 12 volts.* Minimum wire size would be 10 ga - that's purely based on capacity without overheating.* You might have to go larger gauge - the wire size tables are your guide there.* Any intermediate recepticals also have to carry at least that much current or you might get a whiff of something getting a wee bit warm.

I had no idea that the inverter would be pulling 30 amps. Not being a "sparky" I just went by the 5 amp fuse in the plug as the maximum load. There is no way my run of 14 gauge wire is going to handle that load. It's back to the drawing board.