hi all
i have bought a 150 watt inverter to power my laptop,
but when its charging the screen keeps getting brighter then darker
as though it cant keep up with the charging
anyone had the same, would a bigger invertor solve it
any help would be appreciated
regards tonyb
Yes, it’s a crap inverter.
What’s your laptop? My IBM won’t charge off a 150w inverter, it keeps tripping it out, so I got a 300w inverter that’s fine - then a car charger for the lappy which is better because it doesn’t draw as much power off the truck batteries as an inverter.
A laptop normally runs at 150w so your inverter might be running on the ragged edge, it does sound like the charge is cutting out periodically and your laptop is reverting to battery power.
I would use a 300w inverter to power a laptop.
A laptop normally runs at 150w so your inverter might be running on the ragged edge, it does sound like the charge is cutting out periodically and your laptop is reverting to battery power.
I would use a 300w inverter to power a laptop.
If its a modified sine wave inverter that could be the problem. I was told not to have the computer turned on and charging at the same time through and inverter as the screen and performance of the laptop could be jeopardised.
xfmatt:
If its a modified sine wave inverter that could be the problem. I was told not to have the computer turned on and charging at the same time through and inverter as the screen and performance of the laptop could be jeopardised.
i have it on most of the time when i’m parked up.so it needs to be on charge. i will see if maplins will take it back
The charge into your lappy needs to be constant whereas the inverter doesn’t do this.
I’m sure Conor the professional electrician will help you out with the facts as he read it in books after he got binned from stobbarts 
150 watt ain’t big enough 300 watts the minimum i would use, had a 150 watt and it just got to hot, as harry said its right on the edge of what it can do, my 300 watt stays on all week i never turn it off and have not had a problem with it in 3 yrs 
Can they not be charged/powered via a 12v/24v in car charger?
haribo4000:
Can they not be charged/powered via a 12v/24v in car charger?
yes but they are more expensive than buying an inverter
haribo4000:
Can they not be charged/powered via a 12v/24v in car charger?
You get ampage problems with ciggie lighter chargers. I had one for my old laptop and it was over-amping to power the laptop and got extremely hot (used to put the converter part inside my coolbox!). My new laptop draws even more amps and the ciggie lead has no chance. I bought a 300w inverter off Amazon for about £40 and it’s been fantastic. I normally use the battery of an evening, and then charge it up while I’m going along the next day.
Linky to the inverter if it interests OP, seems good quality and comes with both ciggie lead and terminal clips:
didn’t realise that inverters could be cheap, thought they were all silly money.