TV broke whilst away this weekend (aerial socket snapped off pcb and couldn't fix it on site) so an emergency trip to argos was duly made. Managed to get a Bush led TV with built in DVD player, but the handy bit is that it is 12V working via an apaptor. A tenner as just bought me an adaptor off fleabay, so for anyone who rallies and needs a relatively inexpensive TV have a look. Cost was £120
Jon
------------- Are you sure you couldn't squeeze anything else in love ?
These TVs are not meant to run of a 12v unregulated supply
If you were to connect it to a 12v supply in your van while connected to EHU the PSU typically puts out 13.2-13.8 volts
which would cause damage to the TV .
Proper 12v TV's like Avtex , Meos etc which cost a lot more are designed to run of DC and can cope with voltage fluctuations
Quote: Originally posted by neil and lena on 09/7/2012
These TVs are not meant to run of a 12v unregulated supply
If you were to connect it to a 12v supply in your van while connected to EHU the PSU typically puts out 13.2-13.8 volts
which would cause damage to the TV .
Proper 12v TV's like Avtex , Meos etc which cost a lot more are designed to run of DC and can cope with voltage fluctuations
That's probably the official line, but in the real world these cheap TV's work fine with a direct 12 volt feed - either when wild camping, or when the van is on a mains hook up.
We have the Currys version - same thing, 12 volt DC input from a supplied 240/12 adaptor - and it functions perfectly.
I haven't checked the output from the supplied adaptor, but I'd be surprised if it was an accurate 12v reading. Most of these things have quite a lot of tolerance (presumably to compensate for varying component quality)
Avtex do use a better quality screen, and if Iived in a caravan I'd invest in the best - but as it's just a holiday TV, I see no reason to pay three times the price (and more) for occasional viewing.
WOW! - after posting the prevous reply, I thought I would stick a meter on the Currys TV adaptor, just to check the output
Result? - '12 volt, 50mA', putting out no less than 17.4 volts!
I was expecting it to be around 13 - 14 volts. The TV works perfectly on the van battery (with no hookup) so the voltage tolerance is obviously pretty wide.
Quote: Originally posted by Oldfolder on 09/7/2012
WOW! - after posting the prevous reply, I thought I would stick a meter on the Currys TV adaptor, just to check the output
Result? - '12 volt, 50mA', putting out no less than 17.4 volts!
I was expecting it to be around 13 - 14 volts. The TV works perfectly on the van battery (with no hookup) so the voltage tolerance is obviously pretty wide.
I would check with another meter , if your reading is correct your TV won't last long .
I had a Curry' 19 inch special knacker up by running it direct of the 12 volt supply instead of using the supplied 240v-12v adapter .
The meter is accurate, as far as I know. Certainly, it reads correctly when measuring other 12 volt sources, like the car.
I was quite surprised by the 17.4 volts (so much so that I checked it a few times) and you're probably right that it signals a short life for the TV.
Luckily, the lad at the till offered me a three year 'straight swap' replacement for £15 tat also included accidental damage. I don't usually bother with extended warranties - but for 15 quid I thought I might as well take it. Looks like a wise decision now ;)
OTOH, we don't use the TV via the adaptor (that's why it was in a kitchen drawer, and easily avilable to test) because we seldom use sites with hook ups.
As it works well on the van battery, the lower voltage should be kinder to the TV - which means I'll probably never get to use that £15 warranty ;)
We always use our F&H set in the van running from the 12V supply and have never had any problems, but since reading this I have just been and checked the output from the mains adapter and it is showing a reasonable 12.3 volts.
The main reason we run it from the 12V is to save space. There is only one 3 pin socket near the TV point and we also run a PVR. I don't want to have bulky extension leads and extra plugs, so run both the TV and PVR from the 12V socket.
I notice Kogan sell TVs for use in caravans (in fact I have recently ordered one). They are supplied with a 24v power supply for home use, but Kogan also supply a simple cigarette lighter lead specifically to run their TVs from caravans and the like. They advertise them as "12v TVs", so it is difficult to imagine there will be an inherent problem in using them this way.
I've been using Kogan TV's in caravan on 12V since last year and had no problems, in fact I think they are a great set. Sound on earlier ones was not great but it has improved. Price wise they are hard to beat and less than half the price of a 'caravan' TV.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
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Topic: 12V television
