ScottR wrote:Wow this really is a great project I'm gonna have to have a second look.
I wish i had braces,
don't ask
i know when i installed my little brothers PS2 an inverter was the easy/quick way out but being in the UK having a crash and dying from 240v electrocution just does not seem the right way to die in a car to me.
why not a DC-DC mod ?
Well... first off there's a few things that are a little more safe about an inverter. Firstly, it's fused. It has two fuses on it so it's not like a household current like if you bump up against it, it'll shock you like crazy continually. It quickly zaps out instead. Secondly, the inverter is positioned in a place that is unreachable and is insulated.
DC-DC mods, which is making a power supply that changes v from 12v to 110v for the DC. If I were to make 12v work for 110v w/out an inverter, there could be a quick prob. I mean, what happens when a surge happens and you're not on a surge protector- fries the DC, right? What does a car do well? Voltage fluctuations. Household current has regulators that hold it at a perfect v. There's several really, at least in the US. Cars aren't so controlled.
Basic math, without an inverter, for every 1v the car goes up, that's 10v the DC gets. It's super easy to fry the DC at that rate.
Same problem if you make the DC go with 12v. It still can't tolerate raising 10v. So, every part of the car has something on it to keep it from being effected by the voltage fluctuations. Say we do it? Okay, well, lots of plugging and testing and grounding would occur, when really, an inverter would do it for us.
Possible, yes, efficient? well... not so much. You know how the lights dim in your dash right before they come on when you turn on the car? yeah, that would suck on the DC.
The Tripplite is special b/c if I run the LCD and DC, and my car battery starts to go low, the Tripplite inverter will turn the DC and LCD off instead of draining the car battery to stopsville. I mean, it would be embarrassing to get a jump at a car show
Thanks for dropping it- feel free to KIT on the project