Camping with a Laptop (no electricity) help/suggestions needed.

LordSutch

So we are thinking of camping on a site that has no electricity, but we would also like to use our laptop. Conversely the campsite has free WiFi which is very tempting, so the only issue we have will be a power source, and my question is this; Will the laptop run off the car battery cigarette lighter, and if so, how long before the car battery is drained? and/or can the laptop be recharged as we drive around every day, therby having x number of hours of BBC iPlayer (TV) every evening/night.

Any and all sugestions welcome from my fellow happy campers.

Thanks in advance.

Sleepy

You can get an inverter which would allow you to charge it from the cigarette lighter in your car. Can't imagine the car battery would withstand much use when not driving though.

Corkbah

do you NEED to use the laptop or can you let go and relax ?

(Already mentioned) if you were stuck an inverter for the car (make sure you turn on the engine while using it because it could kill your car battery)
answer to your question ... yes, you can drive around and charge the laptop while driving, if the car is not while the laptop is connected the car's battery risks being drained.

Alternatively a solar powered charger or spare battery could be an option (if you didn't want to turn on the car/drive around during the day)

woppi

LordSutch wrote: »

Will the laptop run off the car battery cigarette lighter, and if so, how long before the car battery is drained? and/or can the laptop be recharged as we drive around every day, therby having x number of hours of BBC iPlayer (TV) every evening/night.

If you are going to be doing a lot of driving, and your laptop battery lasts a few hours (consider the power consumed by wifi radio) then charging the laptop battery as you go might be your best option. Also consider, if you are calling into cafes or restaurants for meals, asking if you can get a table near a socket and charge your laptop while there. I have yet to find a pub, cafe or restaurant where I've been unable to charge up the old latptoparoony when I've asked up front.


As for running off a car battery, there are some factors to consider which might make it possible, but not for hours of entertainment every night. Look at your laptop charger and determine it's power needs. Mine has a 240v input @1.5Amps, that's a potential draw of 360 watts. Better still, get an energy meter and see how much power your laptop draws when used at home, at a considerable distance from your wifi router. The campsite may have wifi, but it is unlikely that you will be camped right beside the router.

The amp hours for a car battery vary, but let's assume yours is a relatively new battery that puts out 120 amp hours at 12 volts. That gives 1440 watts an hour. Which means my laptop could get approx 4 hours of charge time before battery is completely drained and possibly destroyed for life.

You see, car batteries are not 'deep cycle' and are not designed to be entirely drained, but to give a blast of power when needed to start the engine. So, to be on the safe side, don't run the laptop for more than an hour off your car battery.

When getting an inverter make sure it's adaquatly rated for your power needs. You're probably looking for a 500watt inverter at least

robinph

Do you need a full blown laptop when out travelling?

A tablet will last for longer on it's battery charge than a laptop. Takes up less space in the luggage. Can be charged via a USB plug in the car or solar charger. Easier to carry around. Easier to hide away somewhere.

LordSutch

Corkbah wrote: »

do you NEED to use the laptop or can you let go and relax ?

Very good point (and no I don't need the laptop at all), but the missus thinks we need it to watch Wimbledon

I now know a Tablet is the way to go, in conjunction with free WiFi (or the local pub).


Many thanks for all contributions.

T650

I have the laptop version of this but it would be dead handy to connect to an iPad and watch saorview channels.

http://www.elgato.com/uk/eyetv/eyetv-mobile

Tigger

the power lead for a laptop takes in 220v ac but puts out 19v dc
the ciggy lighter probably puts out 12v dc
its is inefficient to change 12dc-220ac-19dc
you should just step the voltage from 12dc-19dc
something like this would work

http://www.powerstream.com/ADC-p006.htm
same applies to radios, lcd tvs etc
inverter is really only needed for old crt tvs and other high draw stuff

mervifwdc

Tigger is right, it's way more efficient to use something like that. I use an "i-go" power adaptor, and this means I can leave my inverter turned off when I'm using hours and hours of computer time when I'm not hooked up to mains power. When in use, and the laptop is fully charged, my laptop uses about 2amps of power from the 12v battery. If my laptop battery was low, then it's charging the battery (3amp) AND running the laptop (2 amp) meaning it will draw about 5amps of power. If i do that for 4 or 5 hours in an evening, it can come to 20 to 25amp hours used from the battery. It's a fair wee bit.

So, if we are right on power, we charge the laptop as we drive, and get a few hours watching stuff in the evening, and when the battery is flat, we switch to books.

We also have an ipad, and it is much lighter in it's power use. Besides, it can run for way more than 6 hours between charges, which means we do not need to plug it in any evening.


Extra batteries and solar panels are the way to go if you plan on a lot of remote camping with no electric hookup (as we do). We can park for a good few days if we have good sunlight, and have enough power to keep the electric fridge, freezer, laptops, lights etc all running happily. but if you just want this for a few days, it's overkill!

Merv

gctest50

A tablet ( less power draw ) +

http://www.biolitestove.com/campstove/camp-overview/features/

?


Maplin have them : http://www.maplin.co.uk/biolite-campstove

gctest50

gctest50 wrote: »

A tablet ( less power draw ) +

http://www.biolitestove.com/campstove/camp-overview/features/

?

:pac::D £150 for 400mAh Jaysus, mental...you could get a 125Ah deep cycle battery for that, or a second laptop battery, still have change and not risk melting yer phone...or being forced to use it outside :rolleyes:

woppi

woppi wrote: »

Better still, get an energy meter and see how much power your laptop draws ...

This is a better one for a 12volt system. The meter you posted will not factor in inverter inefficiency/conversion loss or battery capacity.