G’day the forum,
I am just about to replace the two TVs in our motorhome.
Now, I don’t know anything about TVs, so I feel I will have to ask someone who does know. Some of my questions are as follows;-
1. I have looked at two TV’s that run on 12v or 240v using a little plug-in transformer. Which way would be the best use of power?
2. If using the Inverter to run the TV’s on 240; would using the Inverter use much power if left turned on?
3. Would the Antenna Booster work with the Inverter turned off and using direct 12v?
4. What are the problems I can expect just taking the old out and fitting the new?
Don’t be too hard on me, please keep it simple so I can understand.
Thanking you all in advance. Michael.
New TV's in our Motorhome.
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Re: New TV's in our Motorhome.
We are after 2 as well, just getting 2 normal ones 240v, I leave all the tech stuff to "him" so sorry I can't answer any of that stuff. Maybe we could get a better deal if we all banded together for these things?? hhmmmm 

Queen of the Banal & OT chatter and proud of it. If it offends you then tough titty titty bang bang.
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Re: New TV's in our Motorhome.
I've got a 240v TV with the provision for 12v input.
There's always some power loss converting 12to 240v, so if you run a 12v house then that's what I would go for.
Antenna boosters are separate (normally) to but I don't know what you have got.
There's always some power loss converting 12to 240v, so if you run a 12v house then that's what I would go for.
Antenna boosters are separate (normally) to but I don't know what you have got.
Russell Barter from South Australia AKA "Death on Wheels"
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Mitsubishi Challenger towing a Jurgen 2406 Caravan. Its all about fun with friends travelling our great country.
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Re: New TV's in our Motorhome.
If you have a fairly new inverter and probably one of the better brands then there is very minimal loss in the conversion now.
The trouble is knowing if you have one of these 'better' ones or not.
I have tested my inverter several times comparing it against what it uses to power an item direct from 12V against through an inverter & 240V......... the difference is almost unmeasurable.
I tested my inverter when it is turned on but nothing plugged in and turned on and after a couple of minutes it drops to .004w. I suspect it has an inbuilt detect & shutdown facility in it?
Older inverters had anything up to 20% overhead losses but I believe most now have less than 3% loss.
If you have a good, big inverter just go 240V with everything....... or most anyway......
The trouble is knowing if you have one of these 'better' ones or not.
I have tested my inverter several times comparing it against what it uses to power an item direct from 12V against through an inverter & 240V......... the difference is almost unmeasurable.
I tested my inverter when it is turned on but nothing plugged in and turned on and after a couple of minutes it drops to .004w. I suspect it has an inbuilt detect & shutdown facility in it?
Older inverters had anything up to 20% overhead losses but I believe most now have less than 3% loss.
If you have a good, big inverter just go 240V with everything....... or most anyway......
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Mannum, SA
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BruceS
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Re: New TV's in our Motorhome.
The risk with the direct 12v is the unit may be designed for 12v only with no over voltage protection. A lead acid battery at the peak of boost solar or mains charging could a be up to 14.7v volts, heaps or led lights failed in the early days because of this over sight, a TV could be a lot more expensive. The options then are either an inverter to 240vac and then a transformer or switch mode power supply to 12vdc, or, a 12v power supply that handles 11v to 16v or so and puts out a pure 12vdc. The 12v power supply would be the most efficient, the inverter would be the most practical i you have more than just the tv that needs 240vac power, efficiency isn't always the major governing point when making these decisions.
An inverter without standby power saving wastes about 0.8Ah ever hr it's doing nothing, if you have the solar and battery to spare then hard wire an inverter and leave it on 24/7, if you have a minimal system you will need to think seriously about a 12v power supply and just how much you can watch TV etc, then there are all the choices in between, like a 12v light that would annoy you when went to bed wired up so it was on when the inverter was on, just so you don't forget to turn it off.
An inverter without standby power saving wastes about 0.8Ah ever hr it's doing nothing, if you have the solar and battery to spare then hard wire an inverter and leave it on 24/7, if you have a minimal system you will need to think seriously about a 12v power supply and just how much you can watch TV etc, then there are all the choices in between, like a 12v light that would annoy you when went to bed wired up so it was on when the inverter was on, just so you don't forget to turn it off.
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Re: New TV's in our Motorhome.
Gee!! And I thought a TV was a TV. Now I’m more confused then ever.
Thank you all for your input.
I was going down to ‘Hardly Normal’ tomorrow and buy a couple of ‘El Chepos’ for about $180 each. It now seems that I had better take a closer look at them and see what they are and what they do.
Here’s me thinking it would be easy to just get a couple of new ones and stick ‘em in.
Thanks everybody…….Michael, Sylvia, Monnie and Terios (the toad).
Thank you all for your input.
I was going down to ‘Hardly Normal’ tomorrow and buy a couple of ‘El Chepos’ for about $180 each. It now seems that I had better take a closer look at them and see what they are and what they do.
Here’s me thinking it would be easy to just get a couple of new ones and stick ‘em in.
Thanks everybody…….Michael, Sylvia, Monnie and Terios (the toad).
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Re: New TV's in our Motorhome.
You haven't given us much to go on Michael. Are the current TV's 240v? Is there an inverter already wired in? What type of aerial are you using? (is it a winegard, as they have a 12v booster built in).
I changed both of our TV's out a few years ago for LCD's. At the time I thought it was important to try and use 12v TV's. The largest I could find was 22" with a 12v input. Now I believe you can get a 24" 12v TV from Kogan. I however went with 240v TV's and am pleased I did. In my situation I have plenty of power and we don't scrimp out on using it. Some TV's are 6 star power rated now so they are very efficient to run. As you have 2 TV's I assume it is a large RV and probably has a decent size house battery bank. If so, go for the 240v and get out there and enjoy.
Craig
I changed both of our TV's out a few years ago for LCD's. At the time I thought it was important to try and use 12v TV's. The largest I could find was 22" with a 12v input. Now I believe you can get a 24" 12v TV from Kogan. I however went with 240v TV's and am pleased I did. In my situation I have plenty of power and we don't scrimp out on using it. Some TV's are 6 star power rated now so they are very efficient to run. As you have 2 TV's I assume it is a large RV and probably has a decent size house battery bank. If so, go for the 240v and get out there and enjoy.
Craig
Full time on the road in an Alpine 2855