Television Inverter Question

[Chappy133]

Question for those with those who have better 12 VT electrical knowledge than me (Dave, Merlin, & Pinstriper). 

I have a 12 VT inverter to 110 VT AC with two outlets. Plan is watch the TV in the evenings while charging the batteries on solar during the day.  It comes with a pig tail to cigarette plug.  I know this is not the best way to power the inverter and need to run 12 VT cables to the batteries and wire directly in.  What size cable do I need to run from the TV mount area on 16 TBS to the front battery?  Gather this is a 7-10' run.  Also think it would be wise to install a power kill switch to prevent accidental discharge of the battery. Looking for recommendations.

Then another thought is better to purchase a 12VT TV as it may be more efficient on converting 12VT to 110VT AC than the inverter?

I'd still keep the inverter but using it sparingly. 

Thanks

[DavidM]

Starting with your last question: 12V TVs are hard to find. They all run on DC internally and many have a brick that you plug in and it converts the power to DC but usually at 18-21 volts, not the 12V that would let you run the TV directly from your batteries.

But inverters aren't that inefficient. How big is yours in watts? Take that value and divide by 12 and that will give you the approximate amperage it needs to run it at full output. But you probably won't run it anywhere near full output. A 30" TV needs 100 watts or less or 8 amps at 12V DC. Here is a quick table of wire size vs amperage for a 10' run:

5 amps #14
10 amps #12
15 amps #10
20 amps #8

David

[Merlin]

Depending on the size (power needs) of the TV, you can probably just use the DC lighter receptacle in the camper to run the inverter for the TV. TVs have become more and more efficient and most 32 inch (likely the largest that fits in the 16TBS?) will only use about 70 watts. Add in a few watts for the inverter and you're probably under 100 watts total. The receptacle should handle that. I run a Samsung TV off a 150 Watt Samlex sine wave inverter in my 16TBS that just plugs into the DC receptacle on the bulkhead at the foot of the bed. Note that other DC receptacles in that bulkhead use the same fuse, so don't have anything else plugged in.

If you do run a separate wire to the batteries, be sure to put in a circuit breaker. I use these for on-off switches and circuit breaker combo from Amazon.

"Blue Sea Systems 187 Series & 285 Series Surface Mount & Panel Mount Circuit Breakers"

[Paul]

I bought a 12v TV in 2015 at best buy it has a brick, but I never tried using it with a 12v plug

You can see it in this topic

https://aluminumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=1558.msg11086#msg11086

[PDX David]

I installed an older version of this SuperSonic TV a couple of years ago. It works fine off of 12 volt power plug.

It's not a 'smart' tv, but I use a Fire Stick to access various streaming services, which are only as good as speed of your wifi connection. Hardly ever use as traditional TV.

[Chappy133]

Thanks for all the responses.  Since I originally posted my question I found a company that sells 12VT smart/wifi TVs.  They do cost more than a dumb 12VT TV but they are an US company with a product designed for the RV market with an "unique "Flex-Environment" engineering which allows reliable operation across a wide range of temperatures and humidities for reliable use in demanding environments." You can buy directly from the company or through Amazon. Free Signal TV

[Merlin]

Wow, good find!  Looks like an upgrade is in store for me this spring. 

[Chappy133]

Went with the 22" option. Any TV bigger than that is too large for the 16 TBS. 

[Merlin]

Good to know, since I have the same Camplite

[Chappy133]

Good to know, since I have the same Camplite

Well you can go bigger but with the wall mounted bracket the TV sticks out way past the kitchen wall and will be in your way in the stowed position. The 22' TV is out a few inches but anything larger you will be banging into it.

[Chappy133]

The newly installed Free Signal HD 22" 12 VT TV live stream from You Tube via Starlink. 

[Merlin]

Wow, very nice!

[Chappy133]

Hindsight being 20/20 save yourself some $$$ by buying a dumb vs. smart 12VT TV and use an Amazon Fire Stick to make it smart TV.  This is a less expensive option.  I am able to power the Fire Stick off the USB port on our 12 VT TV even though it a message pops up to plug it into a power source but it works fine.  I hadn't used the Fire Stick when I started the process.  I wanted to use Apple TV but could not add that "app" to the 12VT smart TV.  So the work around was a fire stick that lets you load a lot of different apps too. 

[Merlin]

Great intel. Thanks.