Posted by Joe/NC on 1/28/13 7:08am
Msg #452619

setting up portable printer

I have a HP P1102w portable laser printer that I tried to use in my car. I have an inverter plugged to my cigarette lighter and tried to print from my laptop while parked in front of McDonalds. The printer turned on and then went off.

Im assuming that the inverter does not put enough power out to keep the printer on.

I decided to bring the printer and laptop into the mcdonalds and use their electricity and the laptop showed for an ionstant the document was printing and then came up and said it is not able to print, the printer was on and seemed functional.

Im trying to asee why even when inside mcdonalds I could not print.

I then went to borrwers home explained that docs came in late while I was already out and asked if he had wifi and if I could bring my printer in to print, we tried again and laptop said document unable to print.

So I asked borrower if we can set up my printer on his computer and after trying a few times we were able to do this and print documents.

So much for Portable printing, any clues as to why this wouldnt work with my laptop and why the inverter wouldnt power the printer? has anyone out there run into a problem printing portable?

Joe/NC

Reply by HisHughness on 1/28/13 8:05am
Msg #452625

An inverter plugged into your cigarette lighter will light your cigarette. Don't expect much else.

Reply by MrEd_Ca on 1/28/13 10:13am
Msg #452655

Be Careful w/cigarette lighter ---

--- I plugged a air pump into mine once & it worked for about 2 minutes then it stopped. Turns out it burned out a fusable link for the cigarette lighter, inside the dash board, even though the pump was clearly designed for plugging into the lighter. Cost me $100.00 to have it repaired. Since then, I only charge my cell phone in the lighter.

Reply by Malbrough_LA on 1/28/13 10:29am
Msg #452661

Re: Be Careful w/cigarette lighter ---

I had this exact same thing happen. I never got it fixed since my truck has three different cigarette lighter ports. 2 in the dash and one in the center console. So, I'm down to 1 functional one in the dash and one in the console. What the hell I'd ever need 3 for, I'm not certain. I do the same as you though; I only use it to charge my phone now.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 1/28/13 10:37am
Msg #452662

The data sheet for the printer, located at

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c02011014.pdf

says it needs 12 amperes at regular household voltage, around 120 volts. Multiply them and you get 1440 watts.

A power inverter has an input voltage around 12 volts. A perfect inverter, that could never be built, would need 1440 watts / 12 volts = 120 amperes to power the printer. A real power inverter will need even more.

The cigarette lighter outlets in my truck have a 20 ampere fuse. I expect most other vehicles are similar. When you put six times as much current through a fuse as it is designed for, the fuse melts. What happens to the inverter and the printer during this episode is hard to predict.

Reply by Joe/NC on 1/28/13 1:36pm
Msg #452706

Thanks to all for the info, but why would the printer not work once I plugged it in at mcdonalds, I find this baffalling.

Joe/NC

Reply by VT_Syrup on 1/28/13 1:53pm
Msg #452710

I hope the printer wasn't damaged. A happier possibility is that the print job is stuck in the printer queue. If you're using Windows 7, click on Start, then Devices and Printers. Double-click on the printer, then on the menu that appears, see if any jobs are listed. If so, click on Printer and then Cancel All Documents.

Sometimes a document won't delete, so you have to restart your computer and try again.

Going back to the Devices and Printers menu, if you right-click on the printer, there will be a troubleshoot option that might help.