Running monitors and laptops off an Orion DC DC converter

[alctel]

Hi there,

I currently am working a job where I need to use a monitor and two laptops - all of them run off either 19 or 19.5V.

I was thinking instead of having to have my big inverter on all the time to power them, would it make sense to use something like an Victron Orion to raise the voltage to 20v (the lowest it can go) and deliver that to a place where I can run monitor/laptops off (maybe something like a busbar). Doing it this way instead of having 3 separate converters seems to make more sense, as it will be higher quality than some of the smaller converters I see on amazon.

Has anyone else done this?

[crayiii]

Maybe a small portable inverter would be easier.

[Pandor]

Maybe a couple of 12-volt laptop car chargers is the simplest way. Also much more cost effective and perfect quality for what you need. Just swap out the new cords with the ac power cords. But you need to have monitors that have the power brick built into the cord and not integrated into the case.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by alctel

Hi there,

I currently am working a job where I need to use a monitor and two laptops - all of them run off either 19 or 19.5V.

I was thinking instead of having to have my big inverter on all the time to power them, would it make sense to use something like an Victron Orion to raise the voltage to 20v (the lowest it can go) and deliver that to a place where I can run monitor/laptops off (maybe something like a busbar). Doing it this way instead of having 3 separate converters seems to make more sense, as it will be higher quality than some of the smaller converters I see on amazon.

Has anyone else done this?

I'm a little bit confused here. I assume you are working on your boat and therefore do not have access to mains power (only 12V battery)?

So now you plan to use battery bank 12V DC input to Victron Orion to output 19V DC. The Victron Orion is 93% efficient so you are down 7%.

If you use a battery charger losses will be around 15% PLUS inverter losses (5-10%)

Then there is the cost of the electrical equipment (as has been suggested)

[chowdan]

What kind of laptops are you running? I've got a Intel nuc that's wired to a 12 to 19v converter for my ships computer/day trading computer and my laptops are all Mac's that are powered via USB C. I picked up a few cigarette lighter USB C PD units and a 20ft USB C cable that basically covers my entire boat space regardless if I'm in the aft cabin or v birth or saloon.

Can you run your computers off USBC?

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by alctel

Hi there,

I currently am working a job where I need to use a monitor and two laptops - all of them run off either 19 or 19.5V.

I was thinking instead of having to have my big inverter on all the time to power them, would it make sense to use something like an Victron Orion to raise the voltage to 20v (the lowest it can go) and deliver that to a place where I can run monitor/laptops off (maybe something like a busbar). Doing it this way instead of having 3 separate converters seems to make more sense, as it will be higher quality than some of the smaller converters I see on amazon.

Has anyone else done this?

We can run our monitor (24") and our laptop on a small 175Watt inverter which has a much lower standby drain than the big inverter. We also plug our phones into this small inverter. It is marginal for the total load but will run.

We have a spare 350Watt inverter which we could use which I am sure would be fine.

Either one is directly connected to the ship's main DC panel (accessory breaker).

There is power loss due to the conversions to 110 then back to 19v but the convenience of just plugging it in with no other equipment persuades us.

A side note: we found that our LCD monitor uses 3 amps @ 12v (through any inverter) while the new 15" Laptop with SSD drive uses less, and much less than the previous laptop with hard drive.

[alctel]

Originally Posted by crayiii

Maybe a small portable inverter would be easier.

It probably would be, but seeing if I can save power this way.

Originally Posted by chowdan

What kind of laptops are you running? I've got a Intel nuc that's wired to a 12 to 19v converter for my ships computer/day trading computer and my laptops are all Mac's that are powered via USB C. I picked up a few cigarette lighter USB C PD units and a 20ft USB C cable that basically covers my entire boat space regardless if I'm in the aft cabin or v birth or saloon.

Can you run your computers off USBC?

This is a good idea, unfortunately they are older work laptops that take power bricks and non-standard plugs.

Originally Posted by Pandor

Maybe a couple of 12-volt laptop car chargers is the simplest way. Also much more cost effective and perfect quality for what you need. Just swap out the new cords with the ac power cords. But you need to have monitors that have the power brick built into the cord and not integrated into the case.

I did that with my old laptop and it ended up frying the battery unfortunately.

[Dockhead]

Most modern laptops run off PD via USB-C. You can get PD chargers which plug into a cigarette lighter plug; that's what I use. The new ones are based on GaN technology and are incredibly compact and efficient. Make sure and use a reputable name brand; see remark below.

If you really need 19v then don't feed it 20v. Get the "car charger" from the laptop manufacturer and plug it into a cigarette lighter plug. I've learned the hard way to be careful with non-standard charging sources and expensive laptops -- word to the wise.

You can use a small inverter, but that's kind of a kludge. Relatively inefficient, takes up space, makes noise. DC-DC is better than DC-AC-DC in all respects.