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running a laptop off car battery?
tafrost
18-08-2008
Hi guys,
Is there any easy way to run a laptop off a car/leisure battery. I know you can get invertors to plug into a 12v socket in a car, but is there a system wich you can use with just a battery and no car?

Also any ideas on how long you could run a laptop off a battery, and does it have to be 1 laptop per battery?

Many Thanks for all your help in advance.

Tim
chrisjr
18-08-2008
If you are feeling confident take the fag lighter plug off the inverter and attach to a set of battery clips direct to the battery. Though it would make sense to use an inline fuse in the positive feed from the battery just in case. Somewhere like Halfods should sell the necessary clips and inline fuses. Alternatively you might find an inverter with clips instead of a fag lighter plug.

As for how long it will last. That depends on the capacity of the battery and the wattage of the equipment attached.

So say your attached equipment needs 120W to run. That equates to 10 Amps from a 12 Volt battery (watts = volts x amps). If the battery is rated at 40AHr (Amp Hours) then it will run for about 4 hours. Use the same maths to work out how big a fuse you would need to wire up the battery.

The limit on what you can connect is simply down to the capacity of the inverter and the battery. If the inverter is rated at 100W then you can run 100 1W devices, 4 25W devices or just 1 100W device.

Found this

http://cpc.farnell.com/PW01701/batte...randed-651-626

300W inverter with croc clips and inline fuse just right to be used stand alone with a battery. Should easily run a couple of laptops for a couple of hours on a big enough battery.
Last edited by chrisjr : 18-08-2008 at 11:45
tafrost
18-08-2008
Many thanks for that info. It is of much help. One other query? Can I use a car battery or does it have to be a leisure battery, and what are the difference/benefits etc?

Thanks again.
Tim
chrisjr
18-08-2008
They are fundementally the same. However a car battery is designed to be bolted down under the bonnet of a car. A leisure battery however is more likely to be "portable"

A car battery therfore might not be as easy or as safe to lug around as a leisure battery Think battery acid! I suspect a car battery is more likely to spill it's contents all over you than one specifically designed for carrying around.

You can also get sealed lead acid types which use a kind of gel instead of liquid. Much safer to lug around as because they are sealed less likely to spill anything nasty. Though they are pricier than standard car batteries.

For example...

http://cpc.farnell.com/BT02864/batte...nics-beg120330
tafrost
18-08-2008
Thanks for all that realy useful info.

I kow what I need now
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