can i run a Laptop from a generator?

[Harry Cleary]

Have a look here Paul
http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … ors#202873

[Steve McAdie]

My friend does this but he uses an UPS system between generator and computer this ensures a constant and reliable power supply even if generator runs out of fuel he can still run the laptop for about an hour.

Steve

[Steve Underhill]

Dont buy a 3 phase diesel one, The grain use one and its pretty noisy.
about the same as a jumbo taking off, bit ott for a laptop maybe . 😛

[Shane Drew]

As steve says, run it thru a good quality UPS to smooth out the power. Dirty power will mean your hard drive will write at different speeds, and may not be able to read the data when you need to….

…. not to mention getting a spike

Cheers
Shane

[Paul Seamer]

Thanks for the help guys.

Just wondering what sort of size generator would run this. I only have a 2.2KW (pretty big I think). Might buy a smaller quieter one.

Paul

[Steve Underhill]

To run a laptop which work on average a 19 volt supply, sometimes a little more but not much I would say a relatively small generator, a 2.2 kilowatt one would run my heat press. 😮

[Peter Normington]

Why a generator? cant you just get a plug in inverter and run it from your van/car battery.

Peter

[Martin Pearson]

I would have to agree with peter, you would be far better running from an inverter straight from a car or van battery, you could even fit a second battery just for running the inverter. Big advantage of setting up this way is that you know there isn’t going to be any problems with noise. If you are thinking about doing shows or markets you may find that they won’t let you run a generator but they won’t have a problem with you running an inverter.
Don’t try running the laptop straight from the outlet of a generator as you may well do some permanent damage as they can be prone to spiking especially if it is one of the cheaper models.

[Graeme Harrold]

Just got to agree with a couple of the points made so far. Laptop or desktop, get a quality UPS, I even run the engraver through one. Not quite necessary for the laptop, its just a massive battery with built in inverter.

Van solution, go for a pair of deep cycle batteries wired in parallel (thus maintaining 12V with plenty of power) and run a descent inverter from it. Best bet is have a look at marine or motorhome magazines for suppliers.

[Sam_Adcock]

Paul, I’m a timekeeper for the local kart club, and have been running a pair of laptops from a small 2.3kva genny plus a lazer printer for the past 4 years…. no problems yet. As for the UPS, you will find that a lot of these wont work from a genny due to the earth point from the genny not being a true 0 volts, as for that the biggest problem has been running out of petrol just at the wrong time, usually when printing the results, the laptops keep going, but all the other peripherals stop. Best of luck.

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Hi, we ran a laptop (& big box PC) for 10 years on assorted generators.

Opinions: the most efficient way to use the laptop was off a car battery or a deep cycle battery on the floor beside the desk- with a cigarette-lighter socket alligator-clipped to the battery, and the laptop running via a car cigarette-lighter plug, directly from the 12 volts dc.

There’s only power to be wasted in using an inverter to make AC current, then the laptop’s transformer to send it back to 15 or 19 volts dc.

Re gennys- any electronically regulated one will be great. Cheap units are not really regulated- they’re only right at the right speed, and as the load grows, they slow down, so the output voltage drops, so they struggle more & slow down more, etc etc.

The laptop’s own power supply was an adequate spike suppressor for us.

I kept a cheap car battery charger beside the battery, so when the generator was on for other purposes, it charged the car battery up- a fully charged battery would give us about 12 hours of laptop time.

[Lee Ballard]

Most laptop power supplies will cure most spikes as they are usually built for variable inputs 100-240v ac being the norm with a constant output, usually 19v dc.

Though the best option of all would be an inverter. Even inverter generators are fairly affordable now.

[James Martin]

I’m interested in cutting vinyl away form home.

Its a pain if you spoil a letter when fitting and you have to make a return trip to fix.

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Tracing paper & an exacto knife & an offcut of vinyl !

[James Martin]

I don’t know if I’d have thought of that.

I’ll be giving that a go the next time. 😉

[Hugh Potter]

i’ve done a few shows where i simply ran the cutter and laptop from a 2kw invertor, wasteful maybe, but it worked a treat, took about 6hrs constant to run down the battery too much the first time, so now, after 4hrs, we unplug, turn on the engine, and leave it running for 30 mins, good for another few hours then! alot easier than a generator.

[James Martin]

what about a heat gun?

[Peter Normington]

quote James Martin:

what about a heat gun?

use gas 😀

Peter

[Steve Underhill]

And dont forget the P.A.T test, lots of exibitions, fairs etc wont let anyone use anything not pat tested, also 1kw is sometimes the max you can use.

[Simon Strom]

I hate to be all hippie on ya, why pay for the gas when you can let the sun do the work? Besides it will run clean. http://www.voltaicsystems.com/ There are alternatives to that. Providing you do go outside (and that there is sun…right?) 😀

[James Martin]

Wow. I can just see myself with one of those and a heat gun plugged into it.