I just hooked up my Laserjet 1022 (mac version) in my Van and it blew
the fuse in my inverter after a print job of 30 pages.

I'd suggest a battery powered portable inkjet printer.   They cost a
bundle but they are designed for portability.

If you REALLY need to print on the road it is better to just go to a
kinkos.

Mark

On Oct 9, 2006, at 1:26 AM, Jack Cook wrote:

> Everything Dennis wrote plus a bit more specific detail on laser
> printers.
>
> They are power hungry devices, more so than ink jets.  The toner must
> be fused onto the paper and this takes heat (power).  The fuser
> elements typically cycle on & off during active printing but are
> especially hungry when you first turn it on when it is on full
> power to
> come up to temperature quickly (time to first print is a competitive
> parameter); or if it's been sitting for a while and allowed to go into
> power-saver mode, another power surge will occur when making the
> next copy/print.
>
> So, I second Dennis' question.  Why a laser jet?
>
> //Jack
>
>
> On 8 Oct 2006 at 11:45, Dennis Haynes wrote:
>
>> Continue the math further. 402.5 watts/12 volts = 33.5 amps. And that
>> printer has surges that are higher than that.
>>
>> A deep cycle battery should be sized for at least a 5 hour
>> discharge.  You
>> need 160 A/H to properly support this printer. If the inverter is
>> far from
>> the battery, use 6 gauge wires. Did you leave the battery at PEP
>> boys for a
>> full day or overnight? If not it isn't properly charged. Battery
>> charging
>> takes time.
>>
>> If the charging circuit is properly sized with a good relay, then
>> running
>> the engine will help. Fast idle for that load. Do you really need
>> a laser
>> jet printer while traveling?
>>
>> As for dual inverters, yours did do the job. Avoid connecting to
>> the main
>> battery. Defeats the purpose of the second. Yes, it is possible to
>> run it
>> down even with the engine running. Upgrade the charging circuit to
>> carry the
>> load + battery charging. #8 or larger from alternator, to real
>> relay, to
>> battery will do wonders. Make sure the grounds are good. Often a
>> separate
>> ground from the alternator is really helpful to keep the regulator
>> output
>> high.
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
>> Behalf Of
>> Mark C
>> Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 8:53 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Printing w HP1020 off a Deep Cycle Battery
>>
>> Hey I just charged my Marine House Battery of 110 amp hours at
>> PepBoys...
>> and my inverter is rated for 700 watts continuous and whose output
>> is 115
>> volts... and I have a small HP 1020 printer rated for 3.5 amps for
>> household
>> current... and the inverter is placed between the front seats and
>> connected
>> to the rear battery by 8 guage marine grade wire... so...
>>
>> 115 volts * 3.5 amps = 402.5 watts
>>
>> I ran a test, of ten pages printing off the printer, engine off,
>> inverter
>> connected to the Marine House Battery... and the led light of
>> inverter would
>> flicker towards red when powering up the printer then move towards
>> green,
>> and then while printing ten pages, would move towards red again...
>> at least
>> the inverter wasn't beeping this time (like before charging the deep
>> cycle...)
>>
>> I'm under the impression that it should be green on the inverter
>> led, or at
>> least not towards red at all... so is the inverter in need of an
>> upgrade...
>> or do I need to up the guage of the wire... or shorten its length
>> (by making
>> a more direct route)... or all of these things...
>>
>> You know it would be nice if the inverter could be turned on by a
>> remotely
>> wired switch, like one attached to the rear kickpanel, or the
>> front seat
>> bases...
>>
>> Also, I recently read that some devices, such as the Tivoli
>> Satellite Radio
>> that I have (which can be wired directly to the deep cycle
>> battery), always
>> have a small bit of current running through them to avoid hearing and
>> crackle or pop when you turn them on... so this draw could be
>> offset by a
>> small solar panel...
>> From: David Etter <detter@MAIL.AURACOM.COM>
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Solar Panels behind Tinted Glass
>>
>>> With just six watts at the very best of times (in theory) you are
>>> getting 0.5 amps... just about enough to charge your flashlight
>>> batteries; maybe, (read ahead).  Then again the sun would have to be
>>> directly overhead and don't forget sitting in the sun on your
>>> dash-top the temperature is going to skyrocket and any temp over
>>> 80 -
>>> 90 degrees the panel's efficiency suffers.
>>>         Best to pick up a panel that puts out 3.0+ amps (approx. 50
>>> watts) and hide it in your roof luggage carrier.
>>> With 12 volt solar Panels, watts and amps and volts are not an exact
>>> formula, there is a lot of loss here. I have a 120 watt roof mounted
>>> panel by Kyocera that maxs out at 7.0+ amps at 17 volts which is
>>> where they operate, then with a controller cutting that to 13.8
>>> volts
>>> but you still only get the original 7.6 amps.
>>>         Sorry but your six watter may actually only output about 1/4
>>> amp, good for a set of Nimh camera batteries.
>>>         david (dsl82westy)
>>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> ~~~~~~~
>> ~~~~~
>>>
>>>> I just bought a Sunsei solar panel that produces 6 watts... they
>>>> have that diode so I don't have to worry about losing current at
>>>> night... anyway... I don't really have good place to put it...
>>>> right
>>>> now its sitting on the passenger seat... so I'm wondering if I put
>>>> it on behind the tinted side glass... how much energy will I not be
>>>> producing.... has anyone fooled around with this??? thanks...
>>>>
>>>> And maybe I should have gotten the one that produces 18 watts...
>>>
>>
>> ----- End Original Message -----
>>
>>
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