I'm looking to buy a new tv, dual voltage. However the prices at caravan dealers are very high. At Comet they have two which are 240 volt stepped down to 12 volt through a transformer. this is ok if on hook up but can I buy a suitable lead from somewhere and plug it into the telly and then into a 12 volt 'van socket if not on electric.
Just to add to the above i bought the cheaper option and tho' its input is 12V , for it to work correctly it must be 12V (not 11.8V or 11.5V) With a leisure battery the supply voltage when fully charged is 12.7 ish and gradually drops as the battery discharges. Unfortunately there is a volt drop between the batt and the appliances due to the thinness (cheapness?) of the wire used in the 'van. In my case the voltage at the telly was about 11.9 when the batt was fully charged and after about 10 mins use - or if you switched on another appliance it dropped below the critical level and the telly stopped working. 1st the sound went and then eventually picture as well.
The above device does the job but adds a futher current draw which can be important if you go on sites without EHU.
I think the more expensive units have a wider range of operating voltages, in some cases from 10 to 28V and so will work until the batt is totally discharged.
Hi Harry
I bought my voltage stabilising unit from Leisurepower in Warrington works fine. you do have to be careful with a Lcd tele if the voltage is not stabilised it can damage the tv.Give them a ring on 01925 234888 or have a look at
http://www.leisurepower.co.uk/acatalog/DC_DC_Voltage_Stabiliser.html
We bought a S/H CRT TV off the small adverts on this site 240/12 volt 14" screen mint condition £30. We suffer the same problem as Millies Dad, voltage drop due to thin wire being fitted in our van. Has worked quite happily at 11.7 volts. We used to run a 17" lcd TV thru a inverter, but had problems with the inventor cutting out because of its battery saving mode, i.e. it cut out when it hit 12 volts, the load made by the TV dropped the voltage down to 12 volts, but when you measured the voltage on the battery after 15 minutes it read 12.3 volts
How do you find he 14" CRT? I had the 10" Ferguson model and this worked down to about 10.5 volts so was no problem. It drew something like 3.5A which is less than my 15" LCD plus the volt stabiliser. I would go back but we've got used to the size now.
If you connect the invertor direct to the battery and run an extension to the telly this overcomes the voltage drop problem.
Think 14"CRT tvs are pretty rare, like you say they are mainly 10", ours is a Grundig, Think the best place to source one is ebay, everyone is upgrading to lcd. The only reason we bought it is to free our selfs off being on hook up when we go away at weekend, to hook the inverter up to the battery means running leads thru windows etc. We have a 110 battery on our van and we have no problems it lasting over 2 days, we also use our satellite or freeview box with it both are 12 volt, never bother with analogue tv
A cheap way is what we have done. Get a normal CRT portabel dvd combi, then a 5" B&W spare with 240v/12v cigarette lighter input. You can pick em up on ebay for £20. You are likely to be on EHU most of the time. We just got the B&W for the awning and emergencies.
Very rarely use EHU so battery conservation is very important.
I see what you mean about connecting the invertor to the battery - i didn't mention that i have installed a second leisure battery. This is fitted under the bed and is specifically for the "entertainment" circuits (TV, sat, and DVD) so it is easier for me to connect an invertor direct. I have run thicker cables to the 12V sockets to reduce volt drop but the next job is to run a separate circuit to each socket. This should stop one device causing a voltage drop to the other (in theory).
This also has the benefit of freeing up the other battery for the day to day tasks. Once the drain of the TV is taken off it, it can last for ages between charges. Even in mid winter with the lights on from 3.30 and the fanmaster blowing 10 hours a day the battery easilly copes with a weeks holiday.
I do have a 14' CRT but this is rated at 70W (you'd need to recharge at half time!)