Laptop car charger help

panicbuy

panicbuy

panicbuy

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Joined
1 Apr 2012
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95
Location
Hampshire
Hi everyone iam looking for some help please.
Ive recently purchased a new laptop Acer nitro 5 and iam wanting to use this when at work as iam HGV driver and spend many hours waiting on bays ect...
Could someone advise me what i need to buy for this please.
Ive seen on google inverters but i have no idea which one or which make ect ect...
My lorry has 12v and also usb connection if this is any help and sometimes i have a lorry that has 12v and 24v

Any help would be great
 
Does the HGV have no 240V outlet? some do now.

What is the rating on the 12V outlet? the laptop probably has a ~200watt power adapter while 12V outlets are usually between 100 and 300 watt - usually 100 but some HGVs have 200-300 watt capable outlets especially on 24V. If less than the laptop needs for powering the laptop while on and charging you'll run into some issues and/or might blow the outlet fuse.

I'd lean towards an inverter with pure sine wave output as well though not strictly necessary with a laptop adapter overall it is preferable for reliable operation and no unexpected surprises. I'd lean towards over-specing the inverter as well as especially the cheaper ones tend to struggle a bit if ran near the edge.

Bestek seems to be one of the more reliable cheaper brands and do a few ~400W ones suitable to the task.

The Nitro 5 can be USB charged via USB-C but unsure what USB outlets the lorry might have in terms of supporting the power delivery required.
 
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panicbuy said:
some of our trucks have 24v but some dont so just 12v
they all have usb but not sure what type as i just charge my mobile using it
i think i will try this one what do you think

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There are a couple of people on these forums who do this day to day so I'd wait for their input - they'll probably know better than me when it comes to HGVs.

I'd caution that the average 12V outlet will probably blow its fuse if you put heavy use on the laptop via that inverter - a direct battery connection would be better but not so easily done - also an inverter with 12-24V range might be more ideal for HGV use.
 
Depending on your budget something like the Anker PowerHouse or Power Station or the EcoFlow equivalents, etc. might be a good option, though a bit more kit to lug around, as they'll charge within the limits of the outlet while giving a good reserve of power.
 
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If you can do DIY then something like a boost converter will do the job.

You can get something like this from Aliexpress or ebay to boost the 12 Volts from the vehicle to 19 Votls to charge your laptop.

If the vehicle has 24 volts or 48 volts then a boost buck or just a buck can be use.

One thing about this type of converter is the quality varies depending on where you buy it, so don't buy the cheapest and ask the seller about the quality of the converter.It cost about £20 for the converter alone, it is possible to have it customise (like put it in a case, add a connecter etc) but the seller might charge you a dear price for the service.



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I’d go with a small good brand 12volt DC to 230 AC inverter. The boost converter at 83v could easily kill a person. Wiring direct to the battery is a big no no too.
 
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The 83V is just the maximum output the converter can be set to, laptop is charge at 19V, so it goes like this 12V in to the converter and set the output of the converter to 19V for charging the laptop.
Your not gonna see 83V here or it's going to blow the laptop off and 230V is more lethal than 83V.
There is no need for it to be wired to the battery cause the 12V accessory outlet is available.
 
AtaRo said:
The 83V is just the maximum output the converter can be set to, laptop is charge at 19V, so it goes like this 12V in to the converter and set the output of the converter to 19V for charging the laptop.
Your not gonna see 83V here or it's going to blow the laptop off and 230V is more lethal than 83V.
There is no need for it to be wired to the battery cause the 12V accessory outlet is available.
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Some of the cheaper boost converters can be flaky at best, usually just not putting out the stated voltages i.e. severe droop under load or blowing if you utilise them at more than about half their rated wattage, etc. but I've also encountered ones stuck on their max voltage. At 83V it has potential to be fatal though depends on the path through the body, etc. in most cases it would not pass enough current through the heart, etc. to be fatal.

EDIT: Even with the heat sink I doubt that "1200" watt one can manage anything like that even at 83V - probably more like 60 watt at 12V and maybe a few hundred at 83V.

jigger said:
Wiring direct to the battery is a big no no too.
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Depends a bit if it is your own truck one thing, a company vehicle would probably be against policy and not a good idea without a low voltage shut off function.
 
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Energizer 120 Watt Power Inverter 12V to 240V.

£32 on Amazon. Known brand, cheap as, and designed for the task. It should should easily charge the laptop and offer just about supply enough power for running direct if needed.
 
From Googling it suggests the laptop has a 130 watt charger, which should just about stay inside the average 12V outlet capabilities though some will only go to around 100 watt - though you might find under heavy load the laptop can't charge the battery at the same time.
 
Rroff said:
Some of the cheaper boost converters can be flaky at best, usually just not putting out the stated voltages i.e. severe droop under load or blowing if you utilise them at more than about half their rated wattage, etc. but I've also encountered ones stuck on their max voltage. At 83V it has potential to be fatal though depends on the path through the body, etc. in most cases it would not pass enough current through the heart, etc. to be fatal.

EDIT: Even with the heat sink I doubt that "1200" watt one can manage anything like that even at 83V - probably more like 60 watt at 12V and maybe a few hundred at 83V.



Depends a bit if it is your own truck one thing, a company vehicle would probably be against policy and not a good idea without a low voltage shut off function.
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I’m hesitant to say this as it’s not something you should take as fact, but anything over 40v DC should be treated as lethal voltage. 300 milliamperes is enough to kill someone. Wiring direct to a battery has hundreds or even thousands amps of potential. In a vehicle is particularly dangerous because the body is usually also the negative to the battery.
 
jigger said:
I’m hesitant to say this as it’s not something you should take as fact, but anything over 40v DC should be treated as lethal voltage. 300 milliamperes is enough to kill someone. Wiring direct to a battery has hundreds or even thousands amps of potential. In a vehicle is particularly dangerous because the body is usually also the negative to the battery.
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Ultimately it will be the path through the body (assuming no other impedance) which dictates how much current flows and where the current flows through. Nominally the amount of current would be well below 300ma in this situation but the potential is there depending on factors like contact points of the body, how dry the skin is, etc. etc.

EDIT: Also related to what you said and not about electrocution the average truck battery can discharge vast amounts of current - you don't want to stuff something like this up DIY wise so need to ensure proper fusing and low voltage detection is in place - can easily cause fires, etc. or do other damage.
 
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It’s close, but laptop batteries are never 100% flat or charged and never pull the full rating from the power supply.

Most automotive batteries are not supplying 12v. 14v isn’t an unusual charge voltage.

If the laptop battery is flat, running 100% from the PSU and the lorry battery needs charging it could be an issue. But most likely the inverter will just run slightly warmer. Even then you would have to running the laptop 100% flat out.

Worse case the inverter might shutdown the laptop if you can’t start the lorry.
Running like this regularly might cause the inverter to fail earlier.
 
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Rroff said:
Ultimately it will be the path through the body (assuming no other impedance) which dictates how much current flows and where the current flows through. Nominally the amount of current would be well below 300ma in this situation but the potential is there depending on factors like contact points of the body, how dry the skin is, etc. etc.

EDIT: Also related to what you said and not about electrocution the average truck battery can discharge vast amounts of current - you don't want to stuff something like this up DIY wise so need to ensure proper fusing and low voltage detection is in place - can easily cause fires, etc. or do other damage.
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Hence why I said wiring is direct to the battery is a no no. It’s a terrible idea for lots of reason.
 
jigger said:
It’s close, but laptop batteries are never 100% flat or charged and never pull the full rating from the power supply.

Most automotive batteries are not not supplying 12v. 14v isn’t an unusual charge voltage.

If the laptop battery is flat, running 100% from the PSU and the lorry battery needs charging it could be an issue. But most likely the inverter will just run slightly warmer. Even then you would have to running the laptop 100% flat out.

Worse case the inverter might shutdown the laptop if you can’t start the lorry.
Running like this regularly the might cause the inverter to fail earlier.
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Was meaning the vehicle battery - if you connect something like a booster converter up it won't have any protection against flattening the vehicle battery and potentially damaging it.
 
Rroff said:
Was meaning the vehicle battery - if you connect something like a booster converter up it won't have any protection against flattening the vehicle battery and potentially damaging it.
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Yeah, it’s a dumb idea! Haven’t we established that?
 
jigger said:
Yeah, it’s a dumb idea! Haven’t we established that?
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I'm posting more because there'll be people reading this thread who might be looking for similar advice without understanding the detail than for your benefit as obviously you know something about the subject.
 
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