Trucker Gamer with power supply problems

[Dkenos]

I am a gamer, but I'm also an OTR trucker. Last year, I purchased the Acer Nitro 17 gaming laptop. I enjoy it quite a lot, but the problem I am having is power supply. I have a 2000W Tundra power inverter directly hooked into my truck that I use only to play my laptop, but here have been recent problems involving my trucks batteries.

If I use the inverter right after driving or while the engine is idle, the power supply is fine. However, Wednesday (2 days after I got all four new batteries) I was stuck at a receiver for quite a while. After 4 hours of waiting, I decided I wanted to play some games on my laptop. Both the truck and the inverter were off during the four hours between arriving at the receiver and playing my laptop with the only other devices plugged into any of the outlets being my Bluetooth headphones for hands-free talking, and my 150 W mini-inverter I use to power my Internet modem. About an hour after I started gaming, my inverter light starts blinking and its beeping like crazy. I am still learning about inverters, but I believe this means that the batteries are low, and the inverter is on the verge to shutting off to conserve power (again, I am not fully sure what this means in general)

I arrived at another truck service center, and they are seeing what the problem is. So far, they have identified that there is only 12.5V charge coming through all four batteries combined (I believe the average is 14.2V). Keep in mind again, these are all brand-new batteries I just got on the 29th, so this is a little strange. They are going to check each of them and see what the problem is. However, I am wondering if this might have been caused by me just using my laptop, and if there is a way to prevent it.

I would like to be able to use a smaller inverter that I can plug into an outlet using an adapter. I purchased a Maxpart 1000W small inverter, and it seems to work until I start playing a game. Once I play a game, the inverter starts beeping and resetting itself to prevent it from blowing a fuse. I want to try getting a special adapter plug for the power supply that I can use to replace the 3-prongs and just jack it directly into the truck. Problem is, I don't know where to find such an accessory for a Nitro 17, or even if it exists. To put it short, if I get stranded in a place like Wyoming because of a snowstorm, I'd love to be able to pass the time without worrying about my laptop completely draining my battery. Any ideas/advice or accessories that could help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I am only in my 1st year of trucking, so I don't make a lot of money. Add on the fact that I have other financial obligations, I am unable to spend money on a portable charger with solar powered panels. This has been suggested but is currently not fiscally possible. The inverter is also the only one my company will allow us to have as I had to buy it directly from them. They will not allow us to put in any other wattage or brand.

 

[Colif]

You might get a faster answer on here:

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forums.tomshardware.com

Someone there might have an answer for you

 

[Charagma]

I do not know if this was ever resolved. It is actually something I hate about forums where you read the whole thing, and you get transformed to the days where the final season episode ends in a cliff hanger and the series got cancelled. No one knows what happened afterwards.

Anyway........

Explanation on Invertors.

You can buy a 3000W invertor for say $50 and you can buy a 3000W invertor for $300. Most just go for the cheapest. Without realising the difference.

You can read the difference on the box. They would say things like "adapted sine wave", "modified sine wave" and "pure sine wave" and 12v/24v/48v. Yes, this is about the output wave, aka what kind of power your appliance or item is receiving. Adapted sine wave is pretty much a square wave with the squares of the wave is clipped to make it look like an arrow. You usually get this wave from a Generator, and it is just a capacitor that clips your wave a little bit and to fine tune the Hz. That is why most generators have a warning stating that it is not advisable to use them on electronic equipment like TV's, Computers etc. Also, Fridges do not like generators, especially the older models. For some appliances this is efficient, but not to all. Modified sine wave is the digital version of the mechanical adaptive sine wave. You have a similar wave form but a few more angles at the peaks of your wave. Again great for some appliances, bad for others.

The one you actually want is the pure sine wave. An exact match (mains sine wave) and most have a Hz selector where you can adjust the frequency to what you need. Here by us it is 50-60Hz.

Next is the battery setup. A battery bank is calculated the following. 12v (60A/Hr) + 12v (60A/Hr) in series will give you 24v (60A/Hr) and in parallel will give you 12v (120A/hr). You mentioned you are using 4 batteries so am assuming your standard truck configuration would be 2 banks of 24V meaning you have two batteries connected in series and then the two sets are then connected in parallel. This will give you 24v but here comes the problem on a battery bank. If I have a 12v 60A/hr and a 12v 30A/hr in one series connection I will get 12v 45A/hr. Your amps are calculated to the total amps divided by the number of batteries you have. if you add a third battery in series it will then be 12v and your total amps will be divided by 3.

That is now the Wave form and battery bank sorted.

The Tundra is a 2000W 12v invertor. This means that input is 12v and can draw up to 2000W (peak output) so constant output would be about half of that (rough calculations because I do not have one to measure). Your major problem here is the 12v input side. The less Voltage your input is, the higher your power consumption it. You have 4 Batteries so can go for a 24v/48v. Your invertor does not work as hard to give you the watts you need now, meaning your amps drawn is much less and in return get a longer duration out of the batteries. What you can do is set them up in 2 sets of 24v (like they are connected in your truck, with a changeover switch so that you can decided which bank to use, then you will always have some form of "backup" if the currently used set is drained.

You do not need an extremely fancy system for what you are doing with it (if it is Laptop only). I would say something like a Phoenix blue component unit 24/500(even a 250) pure sine would be efficient for what you need. You do not need all the bells and whistles that you can buy like battery chargers etc since that is all done in the truck. You can maybe invest in the Bluetooth add-on and be able to check and control the unit from your phone or laptop.

The drop in voltage on your 4 batteries sounds as if you have one bad battery. Again, remember if I add 9v and 12v, I get 21v on one bank and the 24 on my other bank which will then give me 21 +24 (divided by 2) as final voltage going to the truck. Just stop at a battery place and have them load test each battery separately and not as a unit. Yes, it is a drag to disconnect and reconnect but that is the only way to get it tested properly.

Hope it solves your problems.