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Cello 12v TV


rowland al

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I've been pondering buying one of these as we only use the 120w inverter for our current 15 inch flat screen.  The LED lights, car stereo and pumps all run straight off 12v so it seems silly to step up to 240v and back down to 12v just for the TV.

My question, are they forgiving on supply voltage when it drops to say 11v when the pumps are running? I think a voltage stabiliser would help, maybe they have one built in on the 12v line?

 

Edited by rowland al
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5 minutes ago, rowland al said:

I've been pondering buying one of these as we only use the 120w inverter for our current 15 inch flat screen.  The LED lights, car stereo and pumps all run straight off 12v so it seems silly to step up to 240v and back down to 12v just for the TV.

My question, are they forgiving on supply voltage when it drops to say 11v when the pumps are running? I think a voltage stabiliser would help, maybe they have one built in on the 12v line?

 

You may not need to buy a new TV depending on the power supply. Your existing TV may work with 12V without the power 'brick' and a 12V source plugged directly into it. Lots do. The Power brick is just to cope with domestic settings where these TV's are used mostly. (A voltage stabiliser would be pretty essential doing this.)

We have done this with an old TV for use in our caravan before and it worked fine. (That said we are always on mains so to a degree the mains charger maintains a fairly stable voltage which does not apply on a boat in most cases.)

Before you go out and buy a new TV check the input voltage and check if it has a separate lead. If it is 12v and the lead can be unplugged you should be good to go.

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3 minutes ago, MJG said:

You may not need to buy a new TV depending on the power supply. Your existing TV may work with 12V without the power 'brick' and a 12V source plugged directly into it. Lots do. The Power brick is just to cope with domestic settings where these TV's are used mostly. (A voltage stabiliser would be pretty essential doing this.)

We have done this with an old TV for use in our caravan before and it worked fine. (That said we are always on mains so to a degree the mains charger maintains a fairly stable voltage which does not apply on a boat in most cases.)

Before you go out and buy a new TV check the input voltage and check if it has a separate lead. If it is 12v and the lead can be unplugged you should be good to go.

Unfortunately my Alba has the 240v going straight into the back. I'm a bit loathed to open it all up and remove the transformer! You are probably right thigh, it's almost certainly around 12v under the hood. 

It sounds like I will need to buy a voltage regulator (unless one is fitted on the Cello 12v input circuit). I'm guessing it will be more efficient than stepping up to 240v and back down again?!

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2 minutes ago, rowland al said:

Unfortunately my Alba has the 240v going straight into the back. I'm a bit loathed to open it all up and remove the transformer! You are probably right thigh, it's almost certainly around 12v under the hood. 

It sounds like I will need to buy a voltage regulator (unless one is fitted on the Cello 12v input circuit). I'm guessing it will be more efficient than stepping up to 240v and back down again?!

Then really the same applies. TV's sold specifically as 12V are often more expensive (by a fair margin sometimes) but in reality you can get away with buying a 240v one and dispensing with the brick (subject to the voltage requirements) -  Though I do concede having looked for of late one so configured it was quite hard to locate one that din't have a fixed lead like your existing TV.

Avtex rather than Cello are a make very popular with Motorhomers (who are often 'off grid') if you want to go the dedicated 12v route.

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If you do run a  mains TV with a 12vdc step down brick and use it without the brick, plugged into the 12v dc supply, then I wouldn't switch the telly on at all whilst the batteries are on any form of charger, engine runnining, mains charger, solar ect. The telly is liable to go off pop if the voltage rises over about 13v.  Ok with a 12v to 12v voltage stabilizer though. Several folk here have busted their telly here by doing it.

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the voltage stabilisers are needed, quite often there are deals on the cello tv's that include them (but they are a cheap enough part if not going with cello)

with smaller (under 32") tv's make sure you hear them rather than just looking at them, the vast majority sound horrendous (including most models from cello).
also look at the screen off-angle (above / below and off to the side) as a lot are almost unwatchable unless you are directly in front and level with them, screens that don't suffer with this tend to be the newer LED backlit IPS screens, they do cost more but are far superior

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We have a Cello tv - 19 inch I think, with built in dvd player, freeview and it records to a usb stick, never had a problem using it on 12 volt whilst cruising (be aware some sellers don't provide a 12 volt power supply with it though ours came with both 12 and 240 volt adaptors). Bought for £150 last year so not really that expensive. A great little set except for that the sound is crap. I eventually plugged a bluetooth transmitter into the headphone socket and use it with a separate speaker.

 

Edited by bill brown
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I have a 12 volt TV which came with a 240 / 12V brick...  However, fearing high voltage when on charge ( 14.8V DC) and line spikes when pumps switch on and off, have always used it from the 240 V a.c. supply via the Victron.  Of course its a bit less efficient, but the TV is still working 8 years on .....

Nick

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11 minutes ago, Dave Payne said:

Used mine on both 12v and 240v, through invertor, hook up, whilst charger is running, solar, engine running... All fine.

be careful...

on some tv's 12v means 12-18v, on others it means 12v is fine, 13.8v releases the magic smoke that make all electronics work.

generally tv's designed with automotive use in mind will be fine but tv's designed for home use (where 12v comes from an adaptor) will not tolerate higher voltages

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24 minutes ago, Jess-- said:

be careful...

on some tv's 12v means 12-18v, on others it means 12v is fine, 13.8v releases the magic smoke that make all electronics work.

generally tv's designed with automotive use in mind will be fine but tv's designed for home use (where 12v comes from an adaptor) will not tolerate higher voltages

be careful of what?

The brick that comes with the tv is supposed to look after these things, no?

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2 hours ago, MJG said:

Then really the same applies. TV's sold specifically as 12V are often more expensive (by a fair margin sometimes) but in reality you can get away with buying a 240v one and dispensing with the brick (subject to the voltage requirements) -  Though I do concede having looked for of late one so configured it was quite hard to locate one that din't have a fixed lead like your existing TV.

Avtex rather than Cello are a make very popular with Motorhomers (who are often 'off grid') if you want to go the dedicated 12v route.

Avtex seem much pricier. 

1 hour ago, Jess-- said:

the voltage stabilisers are needed, quite often there are deals on the cello tv's that include them (but they are a cheap enough part if not going with cello)

with smaller (under 32") tv's make sure you hear them rather than just looking at them, the vast majority sound horrendous (including most models from cello).
also look at the screen off-angle (above / below and off to the side) as a lot are almost unwatchable unless you are directly in front and level with them, screens that don't suffer with this tend to be the newer LED backlit IPS screens, they do cost more but are far superior

Thanks, yes I did read about the Cello negatives. I'm happy to run the sound out into a separate speaker, but the screen issue might prompt me to pay a bit more for the LED version. I suppose you pay for what you get.

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50 minutes ago, rowland al said:

Avtex seem much pricier. 

They are but they seem better made and people seem to think they are more reliable and more suited to the rough and tumble they get in a non domestic (ie motorhome) installation. I honestly couldn't say whether that is true or not though.

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2 hours ago, Dave Payne said:

the cello should come with two bricks, one for 240v that will just step down to 12v, the other for 12v iwith a ciggie lighter socket on the end, this will just regulate the incoming volts...

 

The cello tv's sold specifically for 12v use do come with both adapters; however all cello TV's are 12v but the larger TV's only come with 240-12v transformer. Not a problem though as it has a standard 12v socket and cig lighter leads are readily available 

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3 hours ago, Detling said:

Not all TV's with a power brick run on 12 volts some, maily newer ones are 19 volts don't know why but it seems to be coming more common.

If you take a look around Currys at all the TV's you will now struggle to find a12v model, the are all 18v or some other odd voltage. A conspiracy therorist may conclude this is so those requiring 12v travel TV's can continue to be ripped off, this is Britain after all.

you can always buy an 18v and get a step up 12-18v transformer.

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6 minutes ago, Bewildered said:

If you take a look around Currys at all the TV's you will now struggle to find a12v model, the are all 18v or some other odd voltage. A conspiracy therorist may conclude this is so those requiring 12v travel TV's can continue to be ripped off, this is Britain after all.

you can always buy an 18v and get a step up 12-18v transformer.

a more likely explanation is that the long strings of high brightness led's they use for backlighting now are easier to power on a higher voltage and have the disadvantage that when one led fails the whole string goes out (needing either an expensive repair or more likely replacement tv), most large screens are running the led strings at over 100v

I have a very nice 64" 4k monitor (not tv) sat here that came to me at no cost because it was cheaper for the previous owner to replace the whole monitor than get 1 failed led replaced (at some point I will pick up a monitor or tv that has a smashed screen of the same type and 2 dead screens will become one working one)

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6 hours ago, bill brown said:

We have a Cello tv - 19 inch I think, with built in dvd player, freeview and it records to a usb stick, never had a problem using it on 12 volt whilst cruising (be aware some sellers don't provide a 12 volt power supply with it though ours came with both 12 and 240 volt adaptors). Bought for £150 last year so not really that expensive. A great little set except for that the sound is crap. I eventually plugged a bluetooth transmitter into the headphone socket and use it with a separate speaker.

 

Dito we have 20 inch never have a problem on 12v yes speakers crap so we use separate peakers 

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