12 Volt Laptop Charger Problem: Charger or RV

[den18]

I recently purchased a car charger for my laptop to hook into my 12 Volt sockets. For some reason the charger charges the laptop when it is closed but if I am using it it charges it for a few seconds&nbsp;then&nbsp;cuts off. Is this the charger or something to do with the RV/12 volt power.<br /><br />Thanks!

 

[Willy]

You might be drawing too many Watts when the lappy is running vs. shut down &amp; charging.

 

[wrcsixeight]

If this a universal type laptop &nbsp;car charger, then most are capable of only 60 watts, and most laptops can at times pull 80.<br /><br />If this is not a universal type, but a model specific to your laptop, then it is likely the wiring leading to the ciggy plug is too thin, causing the voltage to drop enough when the laptop is asking for 70+ watts that it cannot keep up.<br /><br />Most ciggy plugs are only good to 10 amps at 12.6 volts or so, and being a poor spring loaded contact, they will heat up significantly passing this much current. &nbsp;Most RV's just 14 or 16 awg wiring and have the plug at a great distance from the battery possibly through one or more connections. &nbsp;The higher the current, the more connections, &nbsp;the more the voltage drops.<br /><br />If you have wiring skills, it is easy to wire up a new ciggy plug receptacle over 10 awg wiring( fuse close to battery) connected right to the house battery(s) &nbsp;10 awg is &nbsp;pretty much overkill, unless you are using 40 feet, but minimizing voltage drop is a good thing

 

[Guest]

My laptop is 120 watt, 19.5volts &amp; 6.15 amps on DC. That's too much for the cig lighter in my truck on the 14 gauge wire it's wired to and too much for the cig lighter receptacle itself. Alternative - I wired a 400 watt inverter directly to my battery with 6 gauge wire and use the AC charger. Charges fast, nothing heats up and I can use it while it's charging. You might also want to get a bigger battery. 9 or 12 cell. Look on Amazon.com they're fairly cheap. My 12 cell will run my 17" laptop 10 hours if I keep the screen brightness lowered and am not watching movies.