I thought of all that and looking at the adapter, it says it is rated for 100-240v, 50-60 cps with an input of 1.5-0.9A. The output power is 16v at 4.5 amps. The plate on the laptop itself also says 16v/4.5 amps.

I don't think I ever started the vehicle with anything plugged in but couldn't swear to it. I've used the "110" for cell phones, DVD players, PDA's, maglite charger and even a breast pump (my wife's, not mine) and of course the ill-fated laptop. Other than the laptop, nothing has had any problems. Just always going to wonder now.

I keep a MP3 player plugged into the upper (switched) 12 volt outlet and my two-way radio plugged into my lower (hot) 12 volt outlet so that it is always fully charged. The 110 came in handy for other stuff.....

Thanks for all the info. TeeSter, if you get a chance to scope it, that would be great.

 

I don't know the rating for the powerport (and I'm away from home), but I suspect it's not over 10 amps.....still only 120 watts or so. Check your NEEDS on the computer power supply. You may have to come off the battery with some fairly heavy wiring to handle an inverter that can handle your laptop. An underpowered inverter isn't going to do any better than the factory one.

You can always set a large deep cycle on the back floorboard and hook the inverter up to that. That's what we do on "camping trips".

 

That adapter will draw a max of about 1.5 amps at 110v. That's 165 watts.

 

Are you useing a "True RMS" meter? Thats probably why its reading low. 110 is usually 120V RMS with no load. Most of the inexpensive meters out there ASSUME you have a perfect sine wave. If you do then you can do a simple calculation to find RMS voltage by multiplying the peak voltage by a factor (for some reason .7071 comes to mind but don't hold me to that).

However.... if you aren't reading a perfect sine wave that can be WAAAAY off from the true RMS voltage of the signal which is the square root, of the mean, of the square of the waveform.

RMS V * RMS I gives average power delivered to your load. So when the engineers build something that simulates a sinewave but isn't quite right, they build it so that whatever waveform they put out ACTUALLY has an RMS of 120V RMS with no load so the same power is delivered.

You need a "True RMS" meter to read it correctly. Its one of the reasons FLUKE meters cost so much (that and a premium for brand recognition).

Incidentally... after all of that: I get an RMS voltage of 122.3 V and a frequency of 59.95 Hz with a Fluke. Which looks pretty good.

Also.... so everyone is aware. The ground line seems to go nowhere. for most devices that is fine since its usually just used for the shield on the outside of the device for safety. However some devices NEED that to be an earth ground for other reasons.

 

.7071 sounds right (from my days of selling electric motors, power inverters, etc 20 years ago). I used to know what the relationship is but don't anymore.

That number also happens to be the sine (and cosine) of 45° - so I am sure the geometry of a sine wave plays into it somehow. Way too many brain cells killed to dig that deep and remember....

Also noticed that .7071 happens to be one-half of the square root of 2 which I am guessing is no coincidence that this number is used n a root mean square calculation.

I think that is better than the power in my house so unless there are major spikes at some times (starting the engine, going EV or something) I have less fear of plugging something into the outlet.

 

I may be getting this wrong. But you can always use it to compare it to your situation. When I use a 12V cigarette lighter power inverter, my laptop always tripped it.
My laptop's power supply inputs are 100 - 240V ~1.8A 50 -60Hz
The power supplies output is 19V and 6.3A.

I have only plugged it into my 110V plug twice to charge it while driving home from work (60 minute commute.) I only plugged it in after starting the FEH.

The only other 2 items I have ever plugged into that outlet was a battery charger for my DeWalt cordless drill (not sure of its power needs) and the wall charger for my cell phone.

But I haven't witnessed/experience any problems.

I have read an article on the internet where someone went camping and plugged a TV, lamp and a hot plate into the 110V outlet in his FEH.

 

 

It means the RMS voltage is right and the frequency.... but it still could be pretty ugly looking. I'll get a scope capture in a day or two. I have to do it at work and theres alot of actual "work" to do...

Most of these things warn you about using switching power supplies or sensitive electronics on them.

 

I'll try a 42" plasma TV tonight and a surround sound system... figure I'll put it on the back deck with the lid up and I can have an outdoor movie theater!!!!! I can sell popcorn!!!

 

You been watchin' too much "Pimp My Ride" on MTV?