Electrical - Laser printer in the car

[homestarmy]

I have a friend in a class who just bought a power inverter and a laser printer and he wants to be able to print crisp documents on the go. His inverter does 400w from the cigarette lighter and can optionally be wired to the battery for 800w. He says that the printer is rated for 325w.

I let him know that the printers generally have a large surge right when turned on (at least my Brother 2040 does, it makes my batter backups click), so it might not work for him. I let him know that he can find the amperage of the fuse to his cigarette lighter and multiply it by 12 to see how many watts it will handle and that I would assume the worst case scenario for trying it would be blowing a fuse, is that correct?

Do you think that he'll be successful with only connecting it to the cigarette lighter? Also, it is a Chevy Malibu, but I am not sure of what year. Are there any other dangers? Will he need to wire it to the battery? Any suggestions for what he needs to do?

BTW, I am posting this in OT because it is really more of a car question than a computer question.

 

[arcenite]

Cig lighters in cars typically are wired to 20 amp fuses, sometimes less.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Laser printers have a large surge when they print too. This was part of the A+ exam so I don't remember it because it was so many years ago, but they literally charge the ink/paper and burn the image on the paper or something like that...

 

[JulesMaximus]

That's the geekiest thing I've ever heard.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
That's the geekiest thing I've ever heard.

it would be ideal for salesmen or contractors doing mobile sales.

 

[homestarmy]

Yeah, he is doing something of that sort, I think it might be real estate related.

I was also thinking 20A fuse, so that woul be 240w, which just will not be enough. So wiring to the battery directly he would probably be ok? Or will the surge be more than the 800w and possibly blow the power inverter?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
Yeah, he is doing something of that sort, I think it might be real estate related.

I was also thinking 20A fuse, so that woul be 240w, which just will not be enough. So wiring to the battery directly he would probably be ok? Or will the surge be more than the 800w and possibly blow the power inverter?

if the printer says 325W, that should be the peak.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
Yeah, he is doing something of that sort, I think it might be real estate related.

I was also thinking 20A fuse, so that woul be 240w, which just will not be enough. So wiring to the battery directly he would probably be ok? Or will the surge be more than the 800w and possibly blow the power inverter?

My wife is a realtor and she's never expressed a need for a printer in her car. There's this thing called pen and paper, you use them to write up agreements (which are just standard contracts) she writes in some of the specifics and then has her client sign.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: homestarmy
Yeah, he is doing something of that sort, I think it might be real estate related.

I was also thinking 20A fuse, so that woul be 240w, which just will not be enough. So wiring to the battery directly he would probably be ok? Or will the surge be more than the 800w and possibly blow the power inverter?

My wife is a realtor and she's never expressed a need for a printer in her car. There's this thing called pen and paper, you use them to write up agreements (which are just standard contracts) she writes in some of the specifics and then has her client sign.

well isn't she special

 

[MiniDoom]

inkjet maybe, laser printer no. the fuser needs to warm to about 400+ degrees. No cig lighter can handle that.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: homestarmy
Yeah, he is doing something of that sort, I think it might be real estate related.

I was also thinking 20A fuse, so that woul be 240w, which just will not be enough. So wiring to the battery directly he would probably be ok? Or will the surge be more than the 800w and possibly blow the power inverter?

My wife is a realtor and she's never expressed a need for a printer in her car. There's this thing called pen and paper, you use them to write up agreements (which are just standard contracts) she writes in some of the specifics and then has her client sign.

well isn't she special

Yes, yes she is.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I can see it now. He's typing up an agreement on his laptop with a client and then stops and says, "Excuse me, I have to go out to my car to print this up." A half hour later he comes back and asks to borrow some jumper cables. :laugh:

 

[Pepsei]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
That's the geekiest thing I've ever heard.

it would be ideal for salesmen or contractors doing mobile sales.

sure, if he drives a minivan with a sign that says "chemlawn"...
but it really is the geekiest thing I've ever heard.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: Pepsei

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
That's the geekiest thing I've ever heard.

it would be ideal for salesmen or contractors doing mobile sales.

sure, if he drives a minivan with a sign that says "chemlawn"...
but it really is the geekiest thing I've ever heard.

I know a plumber that has satellite internet, a laptop, and printer all in his van for printing invoices and looking up product information.

Assuming he is using this for business, that isn't geeky at all. Geeky is running a mobile PC for fun just to have it.

 

[spherrod]

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
inkjet maybe, laser printer no. the fuser needs to warm to about 400+ degrees. No cig lighter can handle that.

when I worked at LEGO, our sales team had portable Inkjet Printers which they used if they had to print something urgently while on the road

 

[homestarmy]

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
inkjet maybe, laser printer no. the fuser needs to warm to about 400+ degrees. No cig lighter can handle that.

He says inkjet is no good, he needs something that doesn't smudge, etc.

 

[homestarmy]

So wiring it directly to the battery would work?

 

[Bassyhead]

I would be careful, a lot of manuals for inverters say not to connect them to anything that produces heat (stoves, toasters, ovens, etc), don't know if this applies to fusers. If you do end up connecting the inverter to the battery, which you'll probably will, make sure there is some kind of fuse in place either built into the inverter or in-line between the battery and inverter.

 

[FriedPixel]

I think most inverters are capable of providing a short term "surge power"
For example my cheapie $30 350Watt inverter can provide a surge power of 1100Watts

 

[0roo0roo]

add a secondary deep cycle marine battery? charge at home, keep completely separate from car electronics.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
So wiring it directly to the battery would work?

sounds like a fire hazard.

 

[tynopik]

i know someone who runs a laser in the truck, so it can be done
1) you need a really heavy duty inverter (400w won't cut it)
2) he had a custom electrical system installed that connects directly to the battery
3) the quality of power from the inverter sucks, don't expect the laser to last a year
4) try to not leave the printer where it can get roasted at 160+F while the truck is parked in sun

 

[Cristatus]

I remember I had a really low profile (in terms of physical size) printer, I think it was the Canon BJC 25. That was a nice and small printer, but sadly it didn't work properly half the time.

But I do remember seeing a printer of that series in a Brabus tuned Mercedes Benz, IIRC (online in pictures, never seen it in real life).

 

[d33pt]

directly wire a 1000w+ inverter to the battery. Make sure the car is running while he's printing. Should be fine. RV's run tv's and microwaves off high powered inverters.

DO NOT try to use that 400w one off the cig light. It will shut down.

 

[sao123]

We did this at work for our mobile bridge repair crew van.

To run a Lexmark C750 color laser printer, we needed a 2000W true sine wave inverter.
Though we ran older Optra S 1625 B&W laser on 800W regular inverters.

either way, it will require a direct to battery inverter, not a cig-lighter plug in.


Either way, I dont recommend hooking a laptop or backup UPS's up to them, they have a tendency to fry batteries when charged with inverters.