Only relying on 12v?

Z

zuren

Adventurer
I know a lot of people install inverters for household 110v into their builds and my van came with a large inverter already installed, but as time has worn on, I have rarely used the inverter. Frankly, it has caused more problems than anything. Most mobile electronics can charge in the vehicle via a 12v USB adapter. If I got the appropriate adapter, I could charge my laptops via 12v. If I ever mounted a TV in the van, they have 12v versions of those. All of the lights in my coach area are 12v LED. So I'm mostly set up to run 12v and could be exclusively 12v if I made a couple changes to my gear.

I'm going to begin making some alterations to my setup and removing the inverter is a consideration, possibly in exchange for a converter charger. If we were are a modern campsite with electric hookup, I would be far more interested in being able to charge the house battery. This being said, I just picked up a CTEK 12v battery charger and read somewhere (maybe in the Amazon reviews) that someone was using that to charge the house battery in their campervan when they could plug in.

So I'm just wondering if anyone is exclusively running 12v and skipped the inverter in their rig?

Thanks
 
J

john61ct

Adventurer
Absolutely best to do without if you can, much more efficient.

Usually kitchen gear makes it "necessary": microwave, induction

Some people want all the 1st world mod cons, consider doing without too much compromise.
 
Dan Grec

Dan Grec

Expedition Leader
Hi Zuren,

I'm almost a year on the road in West Africa now, exclusively 12v.

Laptop charger, camera battery charger, AA/AAA charger and basically everything else is USB.
I even have a 12v soldering iron.

I really don't like inverters - they are heavy, inefficient and get HOT when used.

Also not really worth having any kind of charger for the house battery - every country has different plugs, terrible infrastructure (always power outages) and it swaps from 110V to 240v etc.

-Dan
 
Bbasso

Bbasso

Expedition goofball
I only use my 140wt inverter for my 26 tv and my buzzer (haircuts) otherwise my rig is all 12v and not a single issue.
Even have a 12v plug to charge my laptop.
 
C-Fish

C-Fish

Adventurer
We have an inverter (1800 watt) in our Turtleback Trailer, I only use for our electric kettle.

I figure that the energy used each morning to heat the coffee water is nil due to solar replenishment, vs using propane from the stove....

Everything else is charged/run from a 12v source. Solar is a plentiful as I have panels on the FJC and the trailer.
 
Airmapper

Airmapper

Inactive Member
Dan up there said it best and is in the best situation to show off the merits of staying all DC. As long as he has gas in the tank it's unlikely his electronic stuff is going to die.

I'm mostly a weekend traveler, but I've been working toward that end of not needing or wanting 110v power when on the go. Figured out real quick trying to accommodate AC devices or need AC devices to keep my gadgets running was a lot of extra gear and messing about to keep going.

I have no plans to ever install or carry a large inverter. I do keep a small 400watt one around for odd stuff, most of the time I don't even take it unless I have my Laptop along, and once I get a 12v adapter for that well I doubt I'll ever need it again.

For vehicle based needs I think all DC is the way to go. Keep it simple.

As for the charger, seeing as they are not that bulky and you have the ample room of a van to carry it, if for peace of mind you want to have it available to plug in and top off the batteries while you happen to have AC and some down time, I think that is smart. I wouldn't go overly extravagant on it, unless you just enjoy tinkering with that kind of thing.
 
C

carbon60

Explorer
C-Fish said:
We have an inverter (1800 watt) in our Turtleback Trailer, I only use for our electric kettle.

I figure that the energy used each morning to heat the coffee water is nil due to solar replenishment, vs using propane from the stove....
Click to expand...

A friend and I are working on a 12v glow plug based immersion heater. You just stick it in a mug, minutes later it is near boiling. To be continued…
 
J

jonyjoe101

Adventurer
Instead of a microwave or gas I use a 12 volt roadpro lunchbucket cooker, its small but will heat up a can of food in 20 minutes, uses a total of 5 amps in those 20 minutes. I just use aluminum foil instead of the special liners they recommend. I also replaced the cigarette adapter with a xt60 connector, the 11 amps it uses will wear out the cigarette adapter very quickly. So far had it 4 years and runs like new.
 
Nd4SpdSe

Nd4SpdSe

Adventurer, eh?
I stick with 12v the best I can. The trailer doesn't have an inverter yet, but the truck has a 1500w that's good for stuff like power tools and the Tassimo, more luxuries then necessities
 
D

DLTooley

Observer
Definitely 12v only

I am waiting for one of those new all in one lithium bricks in the 20-40 ah range to be made available without an inverter. My only use for 120v would be for power tools. I am thinking a non-sine wave generator like the Champion is the way to go for this but I've not confirmed.
 
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