anyone know how much current a 12 volt TV Uses?...as in Watts? Amps? If you have a 12volt TV could you look on the back for me and see what it says?

 

It would be a help if you gave the hole story , what are you trying to do .
Size of screen , color or BK & WT .
A ruff guess would be 2/3 of an amp to 1 1/2 amps at 12v , or around 150 watts .
If you are RVing , get a full size TV , run it off an inverter , unless size is the main issue .

 

If you are experienced with electronics (and have something you dont mind voiding the warranty on), you can take many LCD TVs and replace the power supply so that it will run off 12VDC instead of losing power going from 12 to 120 with an inverter then back down again.

Also, many smaller LCD TVs have external power supplies in which the 120v is reduced to 12VDC at that point. You would have to look at the device to be sure, but LG comes to mind as one brand that does this.

 

I have been trying to run a tv off of an inverter and for some reason it shuts down. My tv is 75 watts....however when i put an amp meter it runs at 1 amp.....)even when its turned off.....1 amp at 120 volts is 120 watts when the thing is turned off....crazy I know.....

so I was thinking that maybe I could get a 12 Volt tv....and not go through an inverter and maybe it would be more efficient.

I have a 400 watt inverter which should cover the tv watts I am trying to run. I am also checking to see if maybe my battery is weak or something. Also I am checking line loss.

Not sure yet.

Do you guys know of any good 12 volt tvs?

Does a tv run off of 12volt and it is stepped down from 120 volt?

 

You may have a bad / cheap inverter , or your meter will not go below 1amp .
Something is wrong , good inverters below 1,200 watt do not seem to exist , syn wave are best .
Any half way inverter is going to be at least 85 -97 % efficient .

 

I have found that a color display/TV needs a small range of voltage. When the voltage drops even a small amount the TV or display shuts down, be it 12 or 115 volts. So I don't think switching to 12 volts will make any difference, I have a 12 volt with VHS built in, the VHS still works but the display shuts down. Sorry I can't look on the back of the TV for you its in the 5ver and the slides are closed for the winter.

 

Ok.now I have something really strange.

Inside plugged into the cigarette lighter my amp meter shows that my tv is drawing 1.3 amps on the 120 volt side. that is after the inverter. On the outside.....it is only drawing .3 amps. So something must be going on with my cigarette plug.

It works when I come directly off the battery and run a 50 foot extension cord....

So I am not sure how my TV off inside could be drawing 1.3 amps off and only .3 amps on outside.

 

If you are running a 120 V tv that draws 1 amp, then it uses 120 watts. To run it on an inverter running on 12 volts you will be drawing about 12 amps DC. That is 10 amps plus about 20% overhead. Since the output is a stepped square wave, you cannot check it with a cheap volt meter. You need a true RMS meter or an oscilloscope to check it.

 

The cheap inverters might not provide a true sine wave, and aren't very efficient.

I thought about a 12v 13" TV/DVD player, but they aren't cheap.

I ended up with a better inverter, like 175 watts, and it runs my 13" tv/DVD fine.

Also, many inverters are set to shut down when battery voltage drops to like 10.5.

 

John,
150w usage at 12v would relate to about 12.5 amps - - pretty high. 12v TV's are not noted for being stingy on power consumption. Jeff gives some good insight into inverter usage. Cheap inverters will draw more current to run most equipment - - in fact, many things will not run on square wave or modified sine wave inverters. I have both a very expensive pure sine wave inverter in my rig plus a modified for my truck. It is really interesting to compare the speed of a fan when plugged into one versus the other. Also, a good inverter can have an automatic monitor that shuts the unit off when no power is being drawn, then turns on when something on the circuit is turned on.
Bob