Inverter advice

[Alex9797]

Am hoping that someone may have some knowlege on the worth of inverters to charge/run a laptop or a kids playstation.

I run 4 batteries that are charged up with 240 volts when alongside and by an altenator on a 240hp turbo diesel when running. I can also run the genset but it seems a bit of over kill to flash up just for the kids playstation.

Being a techno idiot what size inverter would I need to run and do they have any effect on the life of the batteris. Was also thinking about running a small domestic fridge from it when not alongside.

any help would be very much appreciated


cheers


Alex

[Fish Guts]

hey alex,

cannot help you on the inverter side of things. but may be of interest you can run a laptop via 12volt cigarette lighter. pick up the charger unit from jaycar for about 30 dollars i think. that way you can check the weather while sipping on a beer after a big days fishing. works well for me.

cheers

fish guts

[Simmo2]

There is a similar (or more!) thread on here re inverters and camping....
Inverters are by their very nature quite inefficient.
If you stick to the first two items you want to run, then I would say that thier current requirements would be very low, therefore maybe some form of 'convertor' or smps may do the job? As mentioned above, they are available for lap tops, but I dunno about PS. Perhaps a small inverter is the only option.???

Running a fridge....nup..... no way...not without some serious thinking and advice from the pro's. Get a Waeco or something designed for the job.

[Dan5]

I run a 24oo watt inverter in my work truck for re-charging multiple battery's for power tool's,four 24v cordless tool's.We also have a 12oow microwave which we run off the inverter and roughly get 10min's running time before low batt alarm sound's.

The truck battery's are 2 800cca a/c delco's running as 24v,

Running your laptop off the inverter would be the safest way to go but the fridge would only really be a limited luxury at best unless you had a bank of battery's (maybe 8) but it is possible.

Ofcourse you would need to find out how many watt's the fridge is then basicly double that in capacity of the inverter,when running at max our inverter get's warm and become's unefficeint so running it at about half capacity increases it's usability by about four fold.

Dan....

[mikooh]

Hi Alex,

There are two important things to consider when buying an inverter:

1. Power output (in Watts). to work this out add up the ratings of all the appliances you wish to run. most 240V appliances will have this shown on them somewhere. Once you have worked this out it is worthwhile to add an extra 10% to 20% to your figure to ensure efficient opperation.

2. Waveform output. Make sure that your inverter has a SINE WAVE output. some cheaper units have square wave outputs which will make them cheaper to buy but will cause problems when used with electronic circuits such as modern battery chargers, computers, etc.

Mick

[Simmo2]

Hey Mikooh!! Your info is good mate, however....
The Load of inductive devices, fridge compressors etc will far exceed the output of a 10-20% buffer. Your analogy is perfect for select equipment but not fridges etc...

[mikooh]

Hey Mikooh!! Your info is good mate, however....
The Load of inductive devices, fridge compressors etc will far exceed the output of a 10-20% buffer. Your analogy is perfect for select equipment but not fridges etc...

Thanks Simmo. I have not had first hand experience with large inductive loads on inverters, but now thinking about it I would imagine that the poor power factor characteristics of these devices would have some bearing on things. I have noticed that large linear loads such as heating elements can require higher VA outputs to run effectively

It is also worth noting that your inverter output is only as good as your DC supply, so make sure that your batteries are of adequate rating and in good condition before adding large loads.

Mick

[PinHead]

used to operate microwave and TV from 1800W inverter powered by 4 deep cycle batteries. Do not try and use electric element type appliances eg stove, heater etc unless you have a massive inverter and battery bank.

[coucho]

hey mate I would suggest to charge your lap top or run a playstation plus telly you wouldn't be looking at more then 1000w bcf have inverters to run that kind of load but there not cheap.
I would suggest there is not a high inductive load on electronics so whatever your running added together and then you should have our size requirement. Guessing i would say a 600 w joby should near do and guessing again but i think you would be looking at around the $500 mark for a small unit like that.watch you batteries though they can suck the juice out of them when they are running hard. I would suggest a second bank and change over saves havin egg on your face askin the coast guard for a jump start either that or make your kids get of the playstation and have a fish.

[Alex9797]

Thanks for all the help guys. Am spending this week at the pin leaving tommorow from Manly and as part of the shake down trip will take a suck it and see approach. I may be able to convert the large eutictic freezer out the back into a fridge so the issue of a larger inverter would not be a problem. If anyone is down that way this week drop in and say gidday. Will be at tiger mullet or the northern bedrooms. 36 ft fairways "blue gum"

cheers


Alex