Inverters??

[dockholiday]

Getting the urge to get an inverter. Read some about them ie sine wave, modified sine wave etc. Just wondering if anyone has experience with them. Read some reviews where people are running as many as six batteries using them. My limit would be two, and if more are required, I would opt for the generator. Thinking of something in the 1500 watt range although my useage would probably be in the 300 to 500 watt range. Basically just want something that is portable that I can use in the auto and boat.
doc

[kenny80]

I have a friend that had his power turned off,and he used one for a month in his house. He said he had to stert his truck about every 1 1/2 hour but im sure he had her loaded. I am going to get one for the boat, it seems like it would work ok for what I need it for.

[HandymanHerb]

I used one for 2 years , it quit working for me I need to open it up and see if I can fix it, mine is a 2000 watt , I got for hurricane use as I have 3 deep draws for my TM 36v and I could run the TV,computer light and a fan and I was getting all day out of 2 batteries, used my brother's too and he kept them charged for me as he had power and I was out for a week.

Also used them when I was installing corrain window sills and I could cut 3 houses worth and sand them on 3 batteries, running my 8 foot light, miter saw and sanders.

But for as which one would last longer, I go with a genrator,invertor type, but it would depend how much you want to use it and for what

[bug73]

What are you wanting to use it for?

For electronic equipment a true sine wave inverter is the best but depending on what it is, they might be OK with a modified sine wave. For radios and TVs the true sine wave might be the only way to go because some of them may pick up the noise but then again they may not depending on how sensitive they are.

I have a generator I connected up to the house now but I do run a very small inverter on the boat, in the car, etc for various things...I think its only 250 watts, its about 9 years old now and the fan is getting noisy but still works. I used it to power Christmas lights on a Christmas float once before I figured out how to modify the lights to run on 12 volts. My generator is only 5000 watts but runs the whole house with a little finagling, not as much finagling as it use to be though since I now have radiant heat (no blower) and a gas water heater.

Not sure how much you know about electricity so forgive me if you already know...

There are surge watts (or ratings) and running watts. A motor typically starts out high watts and then drops off to something like 1/10 or less to keep it running. By knowing both numbers you can play with what you turn on, off and when to get the most out of your generator and maybe save a lot of money by buying a smaller generator by managing the watts.

Example:
You have a furnace fan that pulls 15 watts to start but only 2 watts to run and you have a water well that uses 25 watts to start but only 5 watts to run. No need to buy a 40 watt generator or inverter (15 + 25). Buy a generator or inverter capable of a surge of 25 watts. Start the well first then after about 15-30 secs start the furnace fan. Your only running 7 watts total then. You just cant restart the water well without turning off the blower on the furnace or it will exceed the surge watts but you can runn both if you start them like the example

You just have to be aware of what you are starting and running and when and then switch things on or off as needed to compensate for the surge. Its a bit of a pain but it gets pretty easy when you get the hang of it.

A lot of things state the amps it pulls and not the watts...the formula to convert is simple

Watts=amps x volts (Volts is typically 120

(or as the real formula is written P=IE Power (watts) is equal to current times voltage.

Remember though things like electric heaters, hair dryers or coffee pots usually are high current devices and dont use less watts after they start. They pull max power and it stay there.

[dahogman]

That's exactly what I was going to say.

[bug73]

sorry, got carried away with that post...

[dahogman]

I was just making a joke about how lost I was. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[HandymanHerb]

Dam Bug I though I was back in basic electronics again, but you did a good job at it , I was going to wait to see what he was going to run, but you covered it all good , but now you need to post how you made the lights work on 12 volt for those who haven't seen it yet or forgot ,was it W x I = V or R x I = V

[bug73]

Dam Bug I though I was back in basic electronics again, but you did a good job at it , I was going to wait to see what he was going to run, but you covered it all good , but now you need to post how you made the lights work on 12 volt for those who haven't seen it yet or forgot ,was it W x I = V or R x I = V

Ill hunt around and try and find my rough schematic...basically you have to rewire at every 10th light...I'll look...

[dockholiday]

I don't really have a specific use, just thought it would be nice to run miscellaneous items on the boat or from the car. Blender, hair dryer, fan things like that. Just wondering how long it would take to discharge a trolling size battery. I know they have an amp hr rating just not sure how to convert those numbers into usable ac electricity (watts) and the time that they could be used without cranking the motor to recharge the battery.

[bug73]

amp hour rating are the amount of amps the thing will draw in 1 hour. So if it says 5 amp hours then it will draw 5 amps in one hour. Hair dryers pull LOTS of current...a typical 1500 watt hair dryer will pull about 12.5 amps, give or take a little, the formulas are for a perfect world but 12.5 is a realistic number. 12.5 is a lot of currrent.

If you dont have a separate cranking battery though I would not figure to run things to the max becasue you will run your battery down so far that you wont be able to crank your engine.

A battery is usually rated in cranking hours. That is like 650 cranking hours. It theoritically could deliver 650 amps for 1 hour before being considered dead.

Im not sure what a blender pulls it will pull a lot more under a heavy load. Mixing drinks I dont think it will pull a lot though. If I get a chance I will dig ours out and play with it and see with a direct measurment. It should say what it pulls on the bottom though.

[Heatman]

I have a 800 watt inverter on the toon. It will easily run the cheapo blender I keep on the toon. I forget the brand but I got the inverter on sale at Gander Mountain for $60.

I have 400 watt model I keep in my work truck. Works great for charging the batteries for my cordless tools.

[dockholiday]

Pretty much decided on a 1500 watt Duracell. Found prices from 220 to 130 dollars. The 130 was at TigerDirect. They seem to be based in Florida, or that is where most of the stores are. Herb or anyone else, that may be familiar with them are they a pretty reputable outfit. Just wondering because they are so much cheaper than the other stores that carry these. The next lowest price was 180 so they are considerably cheaper. Checked the model numbers and photos an they all appear to be the same

[url]http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... dy=QA#tabs

doc

[HandymanHerb]

Haven't heard of Tiger Direct, I forgot where I got mine but I caught it on sale and got it cheap.

Oh and the 12.5 on the 110 side is going to be higher on the 12 supply end going to be closer to 25 amps or higher

[dockholiday]

Thanks Herb, Bug, and all the rest for the replies. Will just order it from them today or tomorrow. Probably won't be able to test it completely out till the Spring, but will connect to the SUV when I get it just to see how it works. Thank for the input.
doc