Continue to Site

Welcome to our site!

Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

  • Welcome to our site! Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

12vdc to 120vac converter

Status
Not open for further replies.

DerStrom8

Super Moderator
Hey, guys!
I'm off on another project (again). I'm going on a vacation this week, and I was hoping someone could help me find a homemade (if possible) circuit for a 12vdc to 120vac converter, so that I can use my laptop on the road (the battery is dead and I need to plug it in). I'm not sure of the wattage that I would need (for 120v, 1.5A, would you just use ohm's law and multiply them together?), so I'm a little stuck. I can't really afford an actual inverter at this point, so I was hoping I could make one of my own. Does anybody have a circuit that can provide 120vac, 1.5 amps from 12 volts dc from a car cigarette lighter?
Thanks for the help!
Der Strom
 
Sometimes it is easier to just buy one of these. Granted not a true sine wave but most laptop power adapters (chargers) run on them just fine. The adapter for your laptop should have the power listed on it expressed in watts. Mine for my system is 130 watts so anything like a 175 watt would be more than adequate. Actually it can be cheaper to buy that build your own.

Ron
 
Last edited:
My shop motto: I can do it GOOD, I can do it QUICK, I can do it CHEAP...you get to pick two. ;)

I don't think you're going to complete a decent one in less than a week. Go to a Target...or a Walmart...or the like, and buy a car-plugin 120VAC inverter.

Ken
 
Sometimes it is easier to just buy one of these. Granted not a true sine wave but most laptop power adapters (chargers) run on them just fine. The adapter for your laptop should have the power listed on it expressed in watts. Mine for my system is 130 watts so anything like a 175 watt would be more than adequate. Actually it can be cheaper to buy that build your own.

Ron

Wow! That's a lot cheaper than I expected!
I might just do that.
Thanks a lot!
Der Strom
 
RadioShack double and triple the price of things that you can buy somewhere else.
 
Not to mention nearly all of their RadioShack brand merchandise is crap in quality.
If you're gonna buy something from them, don't buy something they brand themselves.
 
RadioShack double and triple the price of things that you can buy somewhere else.

OK, try Lowes and Wal Mart also as well as other locations for your shopping pleasure and thrift. :)

Also McMaster Carr Supply and other places for higher cost and quality. If you want 250 watts of just about perfect sine wave then McMaster Carr part number 70555K12 should do the trick at $550.82 USD. Overall you get what you pay for. :)

Ron
 
Last edited:
OK. Thanks everyone for the help!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest threads

New Articles From Microcontroller Tips

Back
Top