voltage stabilisers ...are we being conned ?

[lebesset]

researching for a new TV I looked at one specifically for motorhomes etc with built in stabiliser [ and double the price of domestic ]
reading the small print it said ...do not cut off the cigarette lighter plug , the stabiliser is in there !!

correct me if I am wrong , but if they can fit it in there , must be a pretty small and simple device , hence cheap
so what's this £50 touch for a voltage stabiliser ?

can you buy these cigarette lighter /stabiliser plugs anywhere ?

 

[scotjimland]

correct me if I am wrong , but if they can fit it in there , must be a pretty small and simple device , hence cheap
so what's this £50 touch for a voltage stabiliser ?

can you buy these cigarette lighter /stabiliser plugs anywhere ?

Totally agree, a rip off .. another example of playing on peoples ignorance and fear

can't answer your second question ...

 

[hilldweller]

correct me if I am wrong , but if they can fit it in there , must be a pretty small and simple device

Not that simple.

You could put a bit of spike protection in there but they have probably built a better quality power supply in the TV to cope with the big swing of the battery voltage.

The £50 stabiliser will have to cope with supplying a stable 12V from a bit below 12V to way above 12V and cut the supply when the voltage dips well below 12V.

And before someone comes up with "it's flat at 12V", no it isn't and if you want to run your battery down to much lower, which you can safely with a deep discharge battery then it's up to you the user.

You are absolutely right about the caravan TV price - total rip off - to build in a better power supply at manufacturing time costs just a pound or two.

 

[Wildman]

using a small inverter (150W) and running on 240V overcomes these problems and does not seem to use much more power. Obviously there are some losses but not a lot.

 

[Lenny HB]

It's a debatable point I personally work on the theory that most electronic kits have regulators built into the circuitry so will probably cope with the voltage variations.

The premium price charged for Caravan?Motorhome TV's 2/3 times the price of a domestic is not warranted.

My van came with a Camos as standard if it dies I will take the chance & replace it with a cheap domestic one that woks on 12v most appear to use 12v separate supplies, as I rarely uses hook-ups my voltage is never going to that high.

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[hallii]

Making a suitable regulated power supply for such a small load would probably cost no more than £10 more than a standard one.

However, the standard TV will sell in 100 of thousands if not more.

The motorhome version will sell in quite small numbers so they will charge a lot more.

I use a cheap flat screen with 12v input, if it blows up then I will go and buy another cheap one. So far it has lasted 7 years and the old CRT colour TV is still going strong after 20 years!

Maybe I am lucky?

Hallii

 

[Terry]

Hi been using house tv's for the last nine yrs wired direct to 12v Ariel socket without any problems. If the voltage drops low the picture goes off but sound continues so plenty of warning before any damage occurs :thumb:
terry

 

[pappajohn]

are you 100% certain the volt stab is in the cig plug ???

usually it contains a fuse and nowt else.

cut the plug off and you have no fuse protection.

 

[Reallyretired]

My standard cheapy 12v domestic LCD TV/DVD is now on its second van with no problems. Its often been used on EHU when the voltage was well above 12v and if the voltage drops much below 12 it just stops working. I think it was about £100 when I bought it.

 

[aba]

stabilizer

this will probably be like the car mobile phone charger that will also work on 24volt won't it??
still a rip off as the phone chargers are only a couple of quid..

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[chatter]

the cig ligther units that are over large (funny shape) are the ones with built in protection papa i have a couple of units that use them. Saying that though my 12v system for the van tv just has an inline fuse and it came with it, along with the 240 setup for same tv.It has been said before that you dont have to pay a fortune for a tv for the van. Akura tvs are very reasonable

 

[scotjimland]

it's an old saying ... cheap as 'chips' , ( pun intended )

electronic components are indeed cheap as chips .. so back to the OP question ... why £50 for a voltage stabiliser ?

 

[hilldweller]

electronic components are indeed cheap as chips .. so back to the OP question ... why £50 for a voltage stabiliser ?

Simples.

They've got them - had to buy a lot from China for a fiver each.

You/we are willing to buy them at £50.

If they thought we'd pay £100 then it would £100.

What's the magic word...... Capitalism.