Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum > GENERAL DISCUSSIONS > General Discussions about our Montanas
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 04-22-2005, 06:03 PM   #41
OntMont
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Haldimand County
Posts: 2,413
M.O.C. #122
Quote:
quote:Originally posted by sreigle


I emailed them asking if that 24 hours I paid for is good in multiple Flying J locations or just the one. I suspect it's system wide since a monthly rate wouldn't make much sense otherwise.
Yes it is good for any location. The rate is calculated from when you first log on.
 
OntMont is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2005, 03:12 AM   #42
richfaa
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Ridgeville
Posts: 20,229
M.O.C. #2839
We use a 150 watt invertor..works fine..Use the following formula to find out how many watts you need

Volts times amps=Watts you can find the amps of your computer in the spec's/or where the sn and other information is same with the GPS unit (USB) so volts (120 ) times whatever your amps are will = watts needed....

richfaa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2005, 05:01 AM   #43
richfaa
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Ridgeville
Posts: 20,229
M.O.C. #2839
I just took note that our HP laptop, less than a year old, pulls 60W..The Garman GPS-10 USB will pull very little so a 150 watt inverter will be plenty..I do note that Best Buy has a Vector Maxx st 225 Watt invertor.plug in unit for 49.99.
richfaa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2005, 05:04 AM   #44
CountryGuy
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Tipton
Posts: 3,646
M.O.C. #191
Bill Collier,

I just turned the Gateway over, it is model 7405GX, it has that new bright screen, which this non-electrican suspects calls for a bit more power than my previous models with the older technology screen.

When you look at your power supply there are 2 sets of numbers, the Gateway numbers are: 2.4 amps input and 4.9 amps output. These are numbers for when you are running on housepower, not truck power. (Housepower being 110 and truck power being 12 volt, you can all correct me if I am wrong on this)

If I remember what Al was telling me the other day when we were figuring this all out, is that we had to convert the INPUT number which is 2.4 amps by multiplying, by 110. That was 264. The output of our invertor was 175 and 300 max. He felt that the 264 draw was too much for that 175 with 300 max.

See the problem for me is that you gotta get all the numbers on the same kind of power. Truck is 12 volt, the numbers for the Gateway are 110. Then you gotta get the output of the inverter and the required input for the computer.

It is very confusing, ain't it????

So, IF we want to run the Gateway on an inverter it is gonna have to be a new inverter, hard wired to the truck battery, with sufficient size wiring to handle the loads. OR, run Gateway on it's own battery and when it runs down, I am done!

So far the only times I have been running Gateway while we are on the road is when the GPS could not find the campgrounds we wanted to set as way points (all done on the fly, as we did not decide where we wanted to stop till we were almost there, aka, when we got tired). I pulled Gateway out, started up Microsoft Streets and Trips, and found out where we were going with the maps. S & T did not accept the address of the campground either, but I was able with the nice big bright screen to find the place with the larger format maps and screen. It worked for us, we found the campground and got some sleep, a good thing!

Carol
CountryGuy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2005, 06:45 AM   #45
Countryfolks
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Ft. Smith
Posts: 981
M.O.C. #116
Carol;
I run my Dell on a 350w, 700w max, MAXX inverter I got at Wallyworld, in the automotive section. The Dell has about the same power requirements as your Gateway. The inverter plugs into a lighter socket. I've used it for several thousand miles, no problems.

Skip
Countryfolks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2005, 06:55 AM   #46
CountryGuy
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Tipton
Posts: 3,646
M.O.C. #191
Skip

Cool! Walleyworld is an amazing place, eh?? I'll be sure to tell Al! Thanks for the info.

Carol
CountryGuy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2005, 03:42 PM   #47
William H. Collier
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Machesney Park
Posts: 534
M.O.C. #798
Carol, even when you are plugged into your truck you are not using 12 volts to power your computer. The inverter changes it to 110 which charges your battery which runs your computer. My battery provides 19 volts to run the computer. I know this sounds confusing however plugging into the truck is the same as plugging into your house, the adapter changes it to 19 volts to charge the battery.
Bill
William H. Collier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2005, 04:37 PM   #48
sreigle
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
I was thinking same as Bill. Mine also runs on 19v. The power supply says output is 3.9 amps. I've been running this laptop with gps on a 75 watt inverter for two years with no problems at all. The GPS is USB so it draws power from the laptop's USB port. Using Rich's formula, the laptop's power supply could handle 75.05 watts, so my inverter should be ok. At 4.95 amps, assuming it's also 19v, that would be 94.05 watts that the Gateway power supply could handle. I would think an inverter of 100 or more watts would be fine. Since yours doesn't work on the 150, though, obviously I don't understand these things very well.
sreigle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-26-2005, 02:29 AM   #49
CountryGuy
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Tipton
Posts: 3,646
M.O.C. #191
Steve,

Again, I will have to let Al come home and explain this to us all. I am not sure when that will be, as his mother is very weak and will need some serious care when they spring her from the hospital.

It is not the output numbers of the computer that he had me working with, but rather the input. Also, it is not what the computer can handle from the inverter, but rather what the computer requires from the inverter.

He is the electrican, and did earn a living at it, for a couple of years . He buys and maintains my computers, I use them up and burn them up and expect that they will always work. GULP! If he tells me that he is concerned for the life of the computer due to the numbers he ran, then, I go with it! Also maintains maritial harmony!

The 19 volts stuff you guys are talking about has me totally confused (course, that is easy enough to do!). Are we talking the computer adapter here?? Changing 110 to 19 volts??

Ohhh, dear, now, I am more confused than normal, that is a very bad thing! HAHA

Later guys, too early for all this smoking brain stuff.

Carol
CountryGuy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-26-2005, 05:48 PM   #50
Parrothead
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Fallon
Posts: 6,064
M.O.C. #1989
Send a message via MSN to Parrothead
Carol,
I've been running my laptop on a convertor for several years. Convertor plugs into cigarette light which then converts the power to 110. You should not be having any problems. My laptop (Compaq) has the highlit screen which takes more power and the convertor we bought cost around $50. I don't know the watts on my convertor because it is out in the SUV and I have my PJ's on but I can check it out tomorrow. What I'm trying to say, this is not rocket science.
Parrothead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-27-2005, 10:47 AM   #51
jrgwdenner
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wetumpka
Posts: 4,936
M.O.C. #1105
Sue or Ed, is that a converter or an inverter? I'm looking forward to a resolution on this subject 'cause my new 'puter with Streets and Trips 2005 is due in any day and I'd be very sad if I couldn't use it in the truck. Judy
jrgwdenner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2005, 06:17 PM   #52
Montana_3371
Established Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Pueblo
Posts: 14
M.O.C. #3371
THANKS TO ALL FOR THIS GREAT DISCUSSION. I WILL TRY SOME OF THESE THINGS. I HAD MOST OF THESE SAME QUESTIONS. KEEP UP THE INFORMATIVE RESPONSES.
DEWEY
Montana_3371 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2005, 01:17 AM   #53
jrgwdenner
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wetumpka
Posts: 4,936
M.O.C. #1105
For anyone interested, we bought a 400W inverter at Target yesterday for $50.00. It works in the cigarette lighter and also has wires to clip it onto the battery. There are two ports. They fancied up the looks, too....it's gray with silver trim. It was also in the automotive dept.
jrgwdenner is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Free WiFi Illini Trekker Internet & Cell Phones 5 12-25-2009 10:21 AM
Is WIFI Private? Montana_6099 Internet & Cell Phones 27 09-27-2006 10:32 PM
WIFI ?? Trailer Trash 2 Montana Problems, Problem Solving & Technical Help 21 03-03-2006 02:17 AM
WiFi access HamRad North America MOC / Western Region 5 10-26-2005 04:22 AM
WiFi Montana_504 General Discussions about our Montanas 8 01-08-2005 05:15 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana RV, Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:34 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.