Laptop lead

[Diane Shorrock]

Hi,

Hi,

Can anyone help.

I need a lead for charging my laptop up on the boat from a 12 volt supply.

I bought a lead for a car thinking it would work but it would not and when I contacted the supplier I was told it is not meant for boats so I need to find one that is.

Thank you

Diane

[Sailmonkey]

Car, boat, what's the difference? both are 12 volt systems. Does the car charger work in the car?

[delmarrey]

You can buy SS cigarette lighter outlets for boats to plug in an adaptor.

Deluxe Receptacle

[rhr1956]

I posted about a similar problem. You can read the responses here. http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ery-77710.html

[roverhi]

Believe the lap tops need a higher voltage to charge than supplied by the batteries. You need to run the engine while you are charging. You can buy step up voltage adapter chargers that will work with just battery voltage.

I just bought a cheap small inverter and plug the Computer AC charger into that. It's undoubtedly not super efficient but still has a very low draw and was CHEAP. Did I mention it was CHEAP. I've got more solar charging capacity than I can use so even if it was grossly inefficient, it would work for me.

[hummingway]

I use a DC to DC converter. It's far more efficient then an AC inverter and it's designed for my laptop. I think I bought from these guys though I don't remember for sure : High Reliability Auto to Laptop DC/DC Converter for all computer models.

[Hud3]

Diane,

Buying a 12 VDC charger isn't quite as simple as grabbing one off the shelf at Radio Shack. You need to make sure it's input voltage range is adequate to handle the variation it'll see from your boat's batteries--anywhere from 12 VDC or a little less up to 14.8 VDC when the charging system is on.

You also need to match the voltage and amperage requirements of your laptop. If you look at the "fine print" on the bottom of the charger "brick" that came with your laptop, you'll see it's electrical output specs. Mine says 19 VDC and 3.42 Amps. Multiplying the two, that's 65 Watts. So I need an adapter that will put out a steady 19 VDC and 65 Watts of power.

The simplest and safest thing to do is to buy one that's designed to work with your specific laptop.

Targus makes it easy. They have a tool on their website that tells you exactly which of their 12 VDC chargers will work with your particular laptop. Some of the other reputable manufacturers, like Kensington, may have similar help available, also.

[Diane Shorrock]

Thank you all very much. I have now have a few ideas to try.

Diane