Thread: OK I think I have figured it out

Originally Posted by Cherub211

Sounds like that'll work (as long as your math is correct), you won't have to worry about the power drain while the vehicle is running so don't worry about that. And I don't have the math in front of me to determine battery life while the vehicle is off. I wouldn't try to run anything for too long though while the car is off.

Thanks for the reply Cherub211. My math comes directly for the manufacturers specs so I think I'm ok there. In regards to running the system with the truck not running, that really would never be an issue so I'm not too concerend with that at this point.

In the above post, will I run into a problem with this plug? Will this send unregulated power to the LCD's? If so would I be better off using one of these?

PLUG # 2

If so how is the power regulated when using these, through the tips?

Originally Posted by berniejr

Finally with the total load being less than 5Amps between the 2 lcd's and the laptop, how much of a drain will occur on my battery. I remember reading somewhere that my batter should have about 45-60 AMPS total, is this true, and if so how many get used at one time, generally speaking.

As always thnks in advance for you input.

OK quick edit, I did another search and I guess I was way off on the battery's amperage. That should have been 450 - 600 amps on the battery. I guess I'm thinking about how much can each DC lighter/accessory plug handle?

You were right the first time. Your Durango battery is good for 45-60 amp hours. This means that at 5 amp draw, it will be completely dead in 9-12 hours. Plenty of time.

The 450-600 amp figure you probably found is the CCA or cold cranking amps rating of the battery. When the starter cranks the engine this is the maximum current that the battery can provide for 5-10 seconds.

What matters to you in this application isn’t the CCA but rather the “reserve capacity”.

Originally Posted by berniejr

In the above post, will I run into a problem with this plug? Will this send unregulated power to the LCD's? If so would I be better off using one of these?

PLUG # 2

If so how is the power regulated when using these, through the tips?

Unregulated power isn't as big an issue with most LCD's as it is for computers. The LCD I just bought off Digitalww is rated for between 11 and 14.4VDC.