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john hd · 11-09-2002, 11:15 AM

i am considering the replacement of my t.v. in my trailer.

would like to hear from any of you that have 12 volt t.v.s.

i want color, fair sized screen.

what do you have, how well does it work, where did you get it, and how much was it ???????

john

i'm not opposed to models that have built in vcr's !

overlander64 · 11-09-2002, 12:48 PM

Greetings John!

I have been absolutely thrilled with the 13" Zenith AC/DC television VCR. It was purchased on-sale at sears more than four yeas ago for just a bit more than $320.00. I have had several AC/DC televisions begnning with an anciet black & white unit and two earlier color units. The Zenith has by far the best picture and has been absolutely trouble-free. Its only quirck is its side mounted speakers - - they can become loud enough to be heard by adjoining rigs but still not quite loud enough when viewing head on. My solution has been to add a pair of high-quality computer speakers that when plugged into the audio-out jack turn off the side speakers - - a much needed improvement.

Kevin

wb13798 · 11-09-2002, 04:17 PM

HI
I THINK 13 INCH IS ABOUT AS BIG AS IT GETS IN A DC TV.I HAVE BOUGHT A LARGE CONVERTER AND IT WORKS GREAT . THIS GIZMO IS POWERED BUY YOUR HOUSE BATTERYS 12VOLTS DC AND CONVERTS TO 110 AC IT WILL POWER ANY SIZE TV . I HAVE A 27 INCH A LITTLE OVER KILL FOR MY MOTORHOME. CANT BEAT THAT LOOK ON EBAY, GET ONE RATED FOR AT LEAST 1500 WATTS CONTINOUS . THAT WOULD BE MY SUGGESTION .///////

Les Gilliam · 11-09-2002, 04:24 PM

Hi John,

I have been looking at DC TV's also. Best Buy has an 9 inch
Toshiba that has a built in DVD player. It sells for about $350. They also have several small LCD screens with a built in tuner and DVD player. They are on the pricy side though, the cheepest being about $700. They are very thin though and wouldn't take up much space. . . I quess they could even be wall mounted. Let me know what you decide on and how you like it.

john hd · 11-09-2002, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wb13798
HI
I THINK 13 INCH IS ABOUT AS BIG AS IT GETS IN A DC TV.I HAVE BOUGHT A LARGE CONVERTER AND IT WORKS GREAT . THIS GIZMO IS POWERED BUY YOUR HOUSE BATTERYS 12VOLTS DC AND CONVERTS TO 110 AC IT WILL POWER ANY SIZE TV . I HAVE A 27 INCH A LITTLE OVER KILL FOR MY MOTORHOME. CANT BEAT THAT LOOK ON EBAY, GET ONE RATED FOR AT LEAST 1500 WATTS CONTINOUS . THAT WOULD BE MY SUGGESTION .///////

i have thought about going that route, just have not decided yet.
an inverter of 1500 watts or larger would be handy for other things like a coffee pot etc.

we have some pretty slick inverters on our trucks at work, they have feed through 120v circuits, a battery charger with float features and are 2500 watts.

might go that route too. then there would be no need for 12 volt appliances at all.

john

RoadKingMoe · 11-09-2002, 05:44 PM

If you're gonna try to get a decent number of cycles out of it, you don't want to discharge a battery below 50% charge. A battery's amp-hour rating is at a low discharge rate, usually around 5A. At higher discharge rates, it has much less amp-hour capacity. A 100 AH battery WON'T give 100AH/25A=4 hours to full discharge!

A typical 100AH Marine/RV (20 hours at 5A discharge) will drop from full charge to 50% charge in 10 hours at a 5A discharge. So you can run a 10A discharge on a pair of batteries for 10 hours.

Each battery will get to 50% in 1.5 hours at a 25A draw. And at a 50A draw it'll go from full to 50% in about 30 minutes. And at 75A (like trying to start a Harley engine continuously), it'll get down to 50% in a bit over 15 minutes.

At full output, a 90% efficient 500W (4.5A at 110V) inverter will draw 25A out of each battery in a pair.

A 1500W inverter will draw 75A out of each battery in a pair, at its full output.

You do the math.

Using batteries to create heat isn't wise... that's what LP is for.

john hd · 11-09-2002, 06:03 PM

hey moe,

agree with ya about the losses using an inverter.

as for starting a harley, that what the kicker is for....

that is why i'm considering going with the 12 volt t.v. no need for the inverter and the losses.

just need to do some more research on what is out there.

john

RoadKingMoe · 11-09-2002, 07:34 PM

John, the loss for a inverter isn't that bad... about 10%. Given that there's no stereo TVs in 12V, and that the largest AC/DC TV, 13" is pretty marginal anyway, I'm considering biting the bullet for an LCD that can use 12V (only 54W).

The problem with most larger tube-type AC TVs is the automatic degaussing when you turn it on. It's only for a second, but you'd better have a helluvan inverter to handle it, or there won't be enough voltage left. If you know what you're doing, you can put a switch in the line to turn it off.

At any rate, to answer your question, I've heard a couple of folks who like the 13" Sylvania AC/DC with VCR from Camping World.

Pick · 11-09-2002, 08:25 PM

Mo, you're right about that degaussing coil, even my EU2000i "complains a little" when my Wally World $75 13" special is powered up. (54 watts) However I did buy a 400 watt/800 watt peak Vector inverter, with "soft start technology" and it does handle the degaussing coil quite well. It was $59 at Auto Zone. A Radio Shack 225 watt inverter that I borrowed that cost $150 fell flat on it's face and wouldn't run the TV at all. The Vector inverter is really a nice piece for money.

John · 11-10-2002, 12:47 AM

John

I bought an RCA (p/n E13345) 13" AC/DC color TV on the net from Island Electronic Dist. Corp @ 1.800.221.6532 for $155.00.
Great set-no problems. Comes with both power cords.
John

BobbyW · 11-10-2002, 05:43 AM

Playing with the search engines I turned this up. Might be useful in your hunt for 12 VDC TV models. They list a couple of DVD players also.

http://www.3rivers.net/~cmac/cmac12.htm

CMACM Technologies

No idea who they are, but they list all kinds of 12VDC stuff.

-BobbyWright

john hd · 11-10-2002, 06:17 AM

bobby,

i like the 27" zenith, but the price is steep.

could buy two of them (120v) and still have enough left over for an inverter.

however the smaller models look good.

i wonder if this company takes standard large tv's and changes the power supply? could be a fun project if some one could find or build the parts.

i'll call them on monday and find out.

john

John · 11-10-2002, 07:17 AM

John HD,

FYI, in my trailer the TV goes on top of the microwave cabinet and the largest TV that would fix in this space was a 19". I replaced it with the 13" because I wanted the dc power. If you have rear twin beds, a 27" would fit nicely between them for viewing in living room.
Just thought I'd share this thought before it disapears!!!!
John

niftypkg · 11-10-2002, 10:15 AM

John, you got the numbers---how much do you want to spend?? I'd rather use a 12v TV than run 110v's through a inverter,don't need 12v's anyway when on shore power. A VCR would be handy but may draw too much on 12v's. Tom

john hd · 11-10-2002, 10:20 AM

i'd like to stay in the 250 to 350 dollar range.....

john

niftypkg · 11-10-2002, 05:47 PM

John, check out the post above. That John bought one on the internet. Got my 10" from Walmart for under $200, cheaper now. Probably can get one with VCR for same price now!! Tom

LLB21 · 11-10-2002, 10:31 PM

I found a 9" A/C-D/C with VCR at Target a couple of weeks ago for $175.00. They were really snatching them up. Should work great in my Bambi.

betteleal · 11-10-2002, 10:51 PM

I bought a great ac/dc color13 inch TV at Camping World with a built in tape player, no DVD , just VCR.. It was a Sylvania and ran about $315 ( with President's Club discount) The reception is excellent. Picks up stations very well.. even out in the wilderness. ( a canyon in Eastern NV) we got a perfect picture. You get whatyou pay for. Good Luck

ALANSD · 11-11-2002, 10:00 AM

I bought one of the Broksonic TV ac/dc with vcr built in last year on EBAY from the distributor. New with warranty it was under 150.
I have used it since with no problems.See the link for example, he sells all the sizes at various times. The same unit at Best Buy was 220.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1395833026

davidz71 · 11-12-2002, 09:09 AM

Strange, my Camping World catalogs at home show a 12 v./110 Sylvania 13" TV as well as a 13" Sylvania 12 v./110 TV/VCR combo. I had decided to buy the TV only in April '03 when the money was available but that TV was not on their website when I did a TV search.