Anyone use gaming or workstation laptop?

[WanderingBiker]

good info..... 

just another on the list to learn

 

[A Savage Adventure]

how much solar are you upgrading to?  Im hoping to put a min. of 400w on the roof of my TT... make some brackets so I can raise one side to get more sun.. and also a quick disconnect if I need to take them off.. all in the planning stage right now... will put into motion as soon as I find a good TT....

Sorry for the delay. I have to drive into town with my laptop for now to get internet. I am planning on 400W depending on what is the best bang for the buck when I get there. It may be that a slightly lower amount ends up being a better deal for me. Depends on the price per panel per watt, etc.

 

[WanderingBiker]

Sorry for the delay. I have to drive into town with my laptop for now to get internet. I am planning on 400W depending on what is the best bang for the buck when I get there. It may be that a slightly lower amount ends up being a better deal for me. Depends on the price per panel per watt, etc.

ya... ive got my solar envelope, im adding money to it as often as possible... looking at 400w to start also... a complete package with matching batteries.... so around 1100 to 1200....  will research different brands

 

[A Savage Adventure]

An inverter - or any high amps load - pulling down voltage that much means the bank is either too small, not getting fully charged, old and worn out, or all three

John, 

Ironically, I've been an EE for 30 years. However I left it all behind to start this new adventure. While Ohm's Law is Ohm's Law, I find that I don't know enough about how they have everything hooked up in this RV to make the proper diagnosis as to what's going on. Even too small a gauge of wire can cause insufficient current or voltage drop. But I don't know what's running to the 12VDC outlet by the TV. It is on the opposite wall as the power converter. If I had to guess, I would say that Camping World installed low Ah batteries. I will see if I can find the invoice to see what they listed and I will visually verify once I get moved again.

I'm going to the storage unit tomorrow to get out my trusty DMM and see what I can measure, however the way Camping World went about setting up this RV leaves me wondering. For example, the solar input is on the front of the trailer, but when they installed the 90W panel, they ran the wires down into a cabinet over the sofa and then through to the pantry and down behind it (voltage converter is on the bottom). But I don't know where they connected the output of the solar controller and the wires are smaller gauge. 

The only reason I was going to have Discount Solar deal with it is that, due to disability I don't want to be climbing up on the roof. But I would really like to see a schematic of the wiring in this RV, including what they added. That, in and of itself, would paint a picture for me and help me figure out what is going on. I do suspect my laptop power supply is drawing more than the 90W it is rated. That said, I did not expect such a voltage drop. All I can think is it is the batteries, which are supposed to be brand new and there are two (2).

 

[John61CT]

A pair of Duracell (actually Deka/East Penn) 6V FLA deep cycle golf cart batteries, around $200 per 200+AH from BatteriesPlus or Sam's Club

would be the cheapest true deep cycling I'd start with, tremendous value

 

[A Savage Adventure]

An inverter - or any high amps load - pulling down voltage that much means the bank is either

I should have characterized the actual current draw from my laptop. Since then I got a newer, more powerful one and whereas the old power supply was rated at 90W, this one is rated at 200W. 

However, since I had never used an inverter until this recent experience, I decided to do a little more digging. In reading the details of the brand name units, it seems these are only designed to output 100W when connected to the 12VDC as I was. The higher ratings are when the inverter is connected directly to the battery terminals. 

It seems to me that I really need to get a schematic for the wiring of this RV and wire an inverter directly to the battery power, rather than connecting to the one 12VDC outlet I have, which is right where the TV is, ironically. So I guess I have some research to do either hunting down the wiring diagram or tracing everything myself.

 

[WanderingBiker]

It seems to me that I really need to get a schematic for the wiring of this RV and wire an inverter directly to the battery power, rather than connecting to the one 12VDC outlet I have, which is right where the TV is, ironically. So I guess I have some research to do either hunting down the wiring diagram or tracing everything myself.

Good info... let us know when you figure it out.... 

jT

 

[John61CT]

If by 12V outlet, you mean the classic ciggie port, by all means never use those for anything at such high amps, even 6-8A would be dangerous.

In fact the design is inherently so bad they really should not be used at all for power IMO.

Andersons are best to standardize on.

 

[ToyotaEscaper]

Some gaming / powerful laptops can get up to 150W, but newer gear probably gets more efficient.

The "universal" car charger kits often max out at 90W or so.

But you can rig your own for **any** device, only need to be concerned about

correct voltage

sufficient watts / amps (get double what you think you need if it's cheap Chinese, remember peak rating is not continuous)

physical connector size, e.g. DC5521: O.D. 5.5mm, I.D. 2.1mm is a good standard among the universal kits

polarity, don't swap + / - !

Put a volts / amp display on it, can be used for battery charging, just disconnect once you see amps has dropped way low, or even stopped dropping for an hour.

Note that some HP, Dell and Apple models look for an electronic handshake, try to force you to use their branded charger only. But that's pretty rare, can google for workarounds.

Of course if your gadget's maker sells a car charger specifically for your unit, easiest is to just buy it

Oh they draw a lot more than that. Average laptops will hit 140 to 150 at peak. I used an Asus A53u back in 2013 for a short while and watching the wattage meter on my inverter it hovered around 40 idling and doing light things like web browsing and watching video ocassionally going up to 50 watts. When I ran Runescape3 on high settings maxing the dual core CPU and integrated graphics the draw went up to and held 150 watts. I noticed similar when testing with a lower powered ultrabook, the amount of wattage listed on the power supply seems to be the minimum it holds at when not maxed out, of course part of that could just be power supply and inverter inefficiencies but the MSI workstation I've been using as my dedicated laptop the past year hits the mid to high 200s when that i7 and Nvidia Quadro are running full out. Those dedicated GPUs tend to suck a lot of power.  

I looked at the specs for the latest Alienware 17 incher and it has a huge charger/power supply brick similar to what you would see on an external desktop power supply. The thing was listed at around 350 watts I believed when configured with as much of the fully maxed out hardware as it could take. I'm always afraid when using my MSI workstation in the library that it'll trip the circuit breaker in the power strip at the laptop table and piss everyone off   I love it though and laptops/computers/and gaming +video photo editing have always been a long time and dedicated hobby of mine so it was no trouble to me building a bigger battery bank for the RV and adding 2 extra 250 mono-crystalline panels. I get so much of everything done on it plus with the fibromyalgia and chronic migraines and insomnia having got much worse over the past 5 years it helps me feel a lot better mentally since all I can do most of the time is just ride the pain out. Helps distract me and give me something better to do in contrast to 10 years ago where I would have nothing to do as the pain drove me insane.

Anyways enough sharing for now, I'm glad to see the post blew up and got a lot more replies. I read through all of them but don't want to spam the quote replies. It's really nice to see fellow vandwellers also enjoy the gaming/computing hobby.

 

[John61CT]

Average gaming laptops yes, but those are a tiny fraction of the overall market.

The normal cheap ones designed for browsing / email, maybe Office as the heaviest app are now super low power consumption, getting better all the time.

But yes if yours needs more than say 70W, it is more important to say native DC rather than using an inverter. And you need to put more work into that project if the vendor doesn't sell an OTS car adapter.

 

[A Savage Adventure]

If by 12V outlet, you mean the classic ciggie port, by all means never use those for anything at such high amps, even 6-8A would be dangerous. In fact the design is inherently so bad they really should not be used at all for power IMO.

Well, in modern vehicles they're not called cigarette lighter ports anymore. My 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe had at least 6 of these ports in the SUV. Two on the center console. Two in the rear seat area and 2 in the far back, one, oddly, right next to an actual factory inverter outlet. My GMC Sierra has a few up front and an inverter, but that factory inverter couldn't handle my 90W laptop supply either. 

And yes, I was referring to the 12V port they installed in the RV in the entertainment console. Apparently it is there for certain 12V TV sets, though I haven't seen one of those in many years. These ports are typically fused for safe operation, so if I was pulling too much current I would blow a fuse. 

However, as I mentioned, the name-brand plug-in inverters say they can only do 90-100W using that connection and that for more power you must connect directly to the battery using the "clamps". I did see one that had a 3rd connection option of just wires with ring connectors on the end. I'm thinking that those could e connected directly to my 12V system.

 

[tripper]

I have a monster MSI gaming laptop, pulls 250 watts (maybe 350) and has a huge power brick (18V or so it runs on). An easy way to use it is get one of those old school TV dinner trays and set it on that (I use a small spacer/fan under the laptop also to keep it cooler). For internet surfing I turn it on ECO mode to save power.

I had a problem with my inverter beeping saying low battery power for a bit, turns out the nut that attached the battery cable had backed off some due to the vibrations from driving, it wasn't noticeable to the eye but when I grabbed the cable I was able to move it. After I tightened it up the inverter worked flawlessly. You could have a bad cable too, might be corroded or loose connection in the battery cable.

Those 12V RV entertainment sockets are usually attached to the amplifier for the TV. I have had to repair mine a couple of times, due to the long 12V from the battery and me pulling too many amps through that socket it would actually get hot enough internally that the solder would melt and the connection would either get really bad (to where it would not allow much current) or completely disconnect the socket. I fixed this by running a heavy gage cable to a dedicated 15A ciggy lighter port. I ran two of these, one to run my 12V compressor fridge and one to run a CPAP. It works very well but you have to find a 12V socket that specifically can handle the higher amps. Even with low amp draw items it really helps as the voltage drop causes much increase amps and this leads to the ends of the 12V plugs melting away.

I used to be a hard core gamer, that's why I have the laptop, but I no longer game as it totally sucked my life away. The gaming laptops however, if equipped right, have far superior screens (brightness, contrast, refresh and viewing angles) and sound systems for watching movies.

 

[John61CT]

I suppose I **could** call them "that factory 12V connector type originally designed for cigarette lighters". . .

Naaah, don't think so

______
The flaw in ciggie ports is one of inherent design, not just low ampacity.

Even at 1-2 amps, an intermittent connection can spark across the gap, melt or burn surrounding plastic.

The consumer device may get damaged, certainly inconvenient when the connection falls out without you knowing.

But sure, use them if you want, your rig your choice.

To me they are a dangerous abortion,  avoid like the plague for anything important, or that you use regularly, or for more than a few minutes.

_____
Blue Sea has a nice socket design that twist-locks with the matching plug, but will also accept standard ciggie plugs for smaller (<10A) loads.

Also the BMW/ Hella/ Merit/ Powerlet "Euro-style DIN" (ISO 4165) style is very robust.

Anderson plugs for high amps.

If you standardize on one of the last two types, there are adapters for guests, temporarary use of devices with standard ciggie plugs.

 

[Theiznezz]

Aww...man...I had the same problem with the lose nut on my inverter. Its under my bed/couch. It would constantly go off while sleeping.

I got my 90w charger yesterday and it is doing great! I'm going to put the screen on bright, max out the settings, and play civ 6 online and see what happens.

 

[Theiznezz]

Ok that didn't work. Took about 20 minutes for the adapter to get so hot it stopped charging

 

[John61CT]

Wouldn't it be better to actually measure the watts consumption?

 

[Theiznezz]

I don't have a multimeter

 

[John61CT]

An ammeter, either inline or clamp is like $40-60.

Can even get AH-counting over time.

Considering the value of all the other gear, better to not fly blind.

 

[A Savage Adventure]

I had a problem with my inverter beeping saying low battery power for a bit, turns out the nut that attached the battery cable had backed off some due to the vibrations from driving, it wasn't noticeable to the eye but when I grabbed the cable I was able to move it.  After I tightened it up the inverter worked flawlessly. You could have a bad cable too, might be corroded or loose connection in the battery cable.

Which inverter (make / model) are you using? Where / how do you have it connected?

I used to be a hard core gamer, that's why I have the laptop, but I no longer game as it totally sucked my life away.

Same. Gaming my destress mechanism. But when you work all day in front of a computer and then play all evening in front of one, it does kind of suck the life out of you. Plus, my hobbies used to include programming, including microcontrollers and so again, in front of the PC.

The laptop I have now is an HP ZBook and it is configured for video editing, so instead of a gaming video card (GeForce), it has an NVidia Cuda card, which speeds up video editing significantly, but is useless for gaming.

Yeah, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 / 3 really ate up all my gaming time. I gave away my Alienware gaming PC and my WoW and Steam accounts to my younger son and now that I am full time in an RV there isn't really a way to play online games, so my plan worked. 

 

[A Savage Adventure]

I suppose I **could** call them "that factory 12V connector type originally designed for cigarette lighters". . .Naaah,  don't think so
The flaw in ciggie ports is one of inherent design, not just low ampacity. Even at 1-2 amps,  an intermittent connection can spark across the gap,  melt or burn surrounding plastic.

I agree with you. I did a search to see if anyone had a wiring diagram or schematics for my RV, but most hits took me to the Jayco Owner Forums where people reported that Jayco doesn't give that information out during the warranty period. I am going to try anyway. I want to connect an inverter to where the batteries connect to the power converter. Directly. I just have zero experience with these systems, hence the need for the schematic.