Providing 12V Power to RV-Based Hardware?

Posted by Cliff on Monday August 19, 2002 @08:50PM from the computer-labs-on-wheels dept.

jp93023 asks: "I am putting together a mobile computer lab in a converted RV. RVs have a 12v DC system for running most interior lights, built-in appliances, fans and so forth. They have a parallel 120v AC system for providing normal outlets, which is great when you are plugged in. It strikes me that when I am running from battery power (which will be most of the time) I will be expending precious watts converting the 12v from the marine batteries up to 120v, only to convert it right back down to 5, 9, 12, and 20v DC for all the PCs, laptops, etc. The equipment package will include desktops, laptops, digital tape decks, etc., so I'd be planning on bypassing the built-in transformers for everything but the laptops. Have any slashdotters put together a unified low voltage DC power distribution system for such a situation? Would the power savings be worth it? Any pointers to products or plans would be great!"

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Same as in-car mp3 solutions? by TinheadNed · 2002-08-19 22:24 · Score: 4, Informative

If all you want to do is power a computer from a car battery then just visit the DIY in-car mp3 player websites. There's pages on how to make a DC-DC inverter (not DC-AC-DC) that is designed to power ATX motherboards (so it provides 12V, -12V, +5V etc.)

I hate to be the first person in an Ask Slashdot thread to say search on google, but that's where you'll find them. Unfortunately right now I can't connect to google for some reason, but I'll post the URL to the supply I'm thinking of (and attempting to build incidentally)