12V power or the 115VAC output

Not sure what type of laptop you have, my Toshiba consumes 70-80W and I have no problem powering it using a 400W converter off of the cig outlet. Most cig outlets in Toyota provides 10A 12V at 120W. If your laptop takes less than 120W, I'd guess your 2000W converter is taking too much juice itself.

Leythos wrote in news:1180309729 snipped-for-privacy@sp6iad.superfeed.net:

So you're saying your laptop's adapter is supposed to output 10.5V? At what amperage?

I think most of the cigarette lighters out there will only handle 120W regardless of the thing that's plugged into it.

What output voltage and amps does your adapter say on it?

No, it's 19V at 7.5A, adapter states 120V/150W AC side.

Laptop has Dual HD, 17" Wide Screen, Verizon BB wireless card, and a regular P4/3.2ghz CPU (not the mobile P4) with 2GB RAM. The adapter is

When the laptop is fully charged I can run it most of the time.

I've been doing research and found that in order to get more than 180W out of most cars I need to go direct to the battery - so, and this is gonna cost me, I'm going to check on getting heavy cable installed and jacks for the front/back of the vehicle so I can use it in either location. The 2000W inverter was only $65, but I didn't count on the cig lighters not being able to provide enough power without the drop.

Leythos wrote in news:1180313991 snipped-for-privacy@sp6iad.superfeed.net:

Yep. Approx 145W. I'd have to check for sure, but I think that's well past what the cig lighter socket can provide.

Even if the circuit is fused high enough, the socket itself may not be able to provide the maximum amperage the fuse is capable of allowing.

You got lucky with the Dakota.

Battery life is a real problem. I've got a newer Acer. The battery only lasts about an hour and a half when I'm running big apps, hence my need for the inverter. And even then, I need to run the car to make sure I don't drain the starting battery.

That looks like your only option.

Might be worth it for any other mobile users following this to check the wattage of any laptop they're thinking of buying to make sure it's under

Not something I would have thought to look for either. Before I had a laptop, that is. I got lucky with the Acer's requirements being fairly gentle.

For more than a minute or two at a time, yes - you'll blow the lighter fuse in the fusebox, and if you do this repeatedly you can blow the thermal protector in the back of the lighter socket.

Some cars and trucks are coming with heavier "Accessory Power Sockets" that are fused at 25A or 30A - but even that isn't nearly enough for a 2KW inverter. They normally want them fused at 125A to

If you want to run a 2KW inverter you have to go back to the battery, just to cover the start surge if nothing else. And if you use much more than just the laptop, you are also going to have to go for a larger alternator, charging isolator, second D-C battery...

I would avoid the step of going up to 120VAC at all costs. See if you can find a DC-DC converter to go straight from the 11.5 - 15.5VDC of the car up to the 19VDC @7.5A you need. Save the conversion losses from one step.

Call the makers of the laptop, and see if they have a lead on a DC-DC converter that's heavy enough for your needs. I have a Kensington unit rated at 120W just by convection cooling, and you might be able to push it further if you scab a small 12V muffin fan onto the case and open up vent holes a bit.

Depending on the internal design, they may have to build you a "Special" unit with adjustable current limiting, with forced air cooling added I'd guess it could push 145W without any problems.

I used to go through DC-DC converters for my 1st-generation Technics P-5 portable CD player literally monthly, and they ran hotter than a $3 pistol before they died. I stuck a 1.5" x 1/2" muffin fan on one of them, and that one ran for years - still works (if I can find it).

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Bruce (and Tegger): While I don't need anywhere near the rated 2K power from the inverter I currently own, it was cheap and I figured it was a reasonable thing to have based on the load it could handle - I wanted something that was rated for double what I needed for the laptop, but the price for the 2KW was right.

I see now that I made a mistake in thinking I could use it and the laptop in a standard cig lighter outlet - I just expected that all cig lighter outlets would provide 20A power as a standard (since my Dakota did - and I traded the Dakota for the 4Runner)....

So, while I don't need 2KW I think I'm going to visit one of those audio shops and have them run some #4 wire to the back of the vehicle, inside, and then install some form of socket/connector to the inside where I can connect/disconnect as needed. I found a 4Runner group where they show the location of the factory inverter, I'm not going to mount mine there, mine has a small fan and it will need air-flow, but I may have the factory one replaced later this year with something that does 200W.

So, now all I need to do is find a shop that can do the work without screwing up my 4Runner. I also need to determine if I'm going to mount it perm/semi-perm inside the vehicle or if I'm going to have some form of connector to connect it to.

Thanks to everyone for their input on this.

Something's not right here. You say you have a 2,000 watt inverter that is designed to run on a lighter socket? A 2,000 watt inverter would draw over 200 amps at 12vdc under full load. That's one H--- of a current draw from a lighter socket.

Go to Wall Mart and buy an inverter rated at 200 watts or so. That should power your laptop with no problem.

Jack

No, I said I have a 2KW inverter, that I used it in my Dakota to run my laptop. I never said I use it at rated capacity.

My impression is that cig lighter outlets are rated for about 180W, but I can't find anything on the 4Runner rating yet (not looked in the manual yet, yea, I know, RTFM :)

I'm well aware of what it's capable of, and you would be aware of why I bought it if you had read the entire contents of my posts - it was cheap, as cheap as one of the small units. It also worked fine in my TRUCK that I traded in on the 4Runner.

The fact that your Bronco cig lighter outlet supports your 400w inverter means nothing - my Dakota supported the inverter just fine. In case you missed it, this is a TOYOTA group, so, unless you're running your 400w inverter in a 4Runner you're not doing me much help stating the obvious things.

Okay Leythos. Just pointing out that 200 amps from a lighter socket is a little unrealistic and the inverter either shouldn't have been supplied with a cigarette lighter plug or it really isn't a 2kw output inverter.

Depending on the inverter circuit design, the idle current could very well be over the max current draw from your 4Runner's socket. It looks to me like you have two choices, run a line from directly from your battery to your inverter or get a smaller capacity inverter. You can get a very nice 200 watt inverter for around $40 that will power your laptop without overloading your power socket.

From your responses to mine and other's suggestions, it appears that you don't want to do either. So we can't help you.

Jack

Or, alternatively, you should be able to buy an adapter for your computer than plugs into the cigarette lighter plug so you won't need an inverter. I can get one for around $80 from HP for my computer or one that is both AC and DC for around $120.

That is the best and easiest solution.

Jeff