Inverter selection?
- Thread starter fireball
- Start date
toyotech
Expedition Leader
Did you buy it from Amazon? http://www.amazon.com/PWRB1250-Modified-Compact-Power-Inverter/dp/B000KK295Y/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp
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Check out magnum energy and their line of inverters. We have a 1000 watt pure sine wave in our syncro and a 2800 watt pure sine wave invert/ charger in our unimog. Both have taken a beating and performed flawlessly. And their price is solid and it's a great company with good support. You can talk to real people here in the US and they want you happy. It's refreshing.
wrcsixeight
Adventurer
I have an 800 watt coleman MSW inverter in the 8/9 year old range. The fan is loud, it causes buzzing on my laptop speakers, and I have maxed it out quite often powering a Milwaukee 12amp variable speed sander/polisher on less than full speed.
It did fry a Craftsman 9.6v drill battery charger.
I do not like using it. It uses 0.9 amps per hour just turned on, powering nothing. That is more than my Vitrifrigo compressor fridge consumes in an hour in sub 90f ambients
More recently I acquired a Wagan Elite 400 watt pure sine wave inverter for my Makita 18v drill driver batteries. I was surprised to see this charger required 250 watts, and is confirmed by my battery monitor.
The Wagan is small in size, and the fan is inaudible until it is powering about 200 watts of load and the standby current is under 0.4 amps.
Many people buy inverters with huge outputs, then hook it to a tiny battery which could never supply 1500 watts for more than a minute or 2.
In general, the 400 watt inverter powering a 200 watt load will be more efficient than a 1000 watt inverter powering a 200 watt load.
In terms of finding out what size inverter you need, figure out which products you intend to power with it, and look at the power ratings on the back of it. If no wattage is listed, volts x amps = watts. AC or DC.
The rating on the back of the device is the maximum current it will pull, not necessarily the amount it will always consume.
Some electric motors have huge start up surges. i've read that one person trying to power an 80 watt dorm fridge had to get a 1200 watt inverter with a 2400 surge rating to allow the compressor to start.
If You are wanting an inverter to power a PC, type your laptop make and model into Amazon electronics and add "car adapter"
These dc to dc converters come with a ciggy plug, and are significantly more efficient than using an inverter to power the laptop's provided power supply.
Mine car adapter is 15 to 45% more efficient, depending on the task the laptop is performing.
Many ciggy plugs are inadequate for passing much over 65 watts for any length of time. I like to file some teeth into the ground springs which push against the walls of the receptacle to keep it from backing out. Backing out causes the extreme heating which will cause failure of the ciggy plug itself.
Don't be afraid to get a small Puresine inverter for the delicates, and a large MSW inverter for the wattage bragging rights.
If getting one just for cell phone chargers and the like, just get the 12v car adapters for those items. they will consume less battery power.
It did fry a Craftsman 9.6v drill battery charger.
I do not like using it. It uses 0.9 amps per hour just turned on, powering nothing. That is more than my Vitrifrigo compressor fridge consumes in an hour in sub 90f ambients
More recently I acquired a Wagan Elite 400 watt pure sine wave inverter for my Makita 18v drill driver batteries. I was surprised to see this charger required 250 watts, and is confirmed by my battery monitor.
The Wagan is small in size, and the fan is inaudible until it is powering about 200 watts of load and the standby current is under 0.4 amps.
Many people buy inverters with huge outputs, then hook it to a tiny battery which could never supply 1500 watts for more than a minute or 2.
In general, the 400 watt inverter powering a 200 watt load will be more efficient than a 1000 watt inverter powering a 200 watt load.
In terms of finding out what size inverter you need, figure out which products you intend to power with it, and look at the power ratings on the back of it. If no wattage is listed, volts x amps = watts. AC or DC.
The rating on the back of the device is the maximum current it will pull, not necessarily the amount it will always consume.
Some electric motors have huge start up surges. i've read that one person trying to power an 80 watt dorm fridge had to get a 1200 watt inverter with a 2400 surge rating to allow the compressor to start.
If You are wanting an inverter to power a PC, type your laptop make and model into Amazon electronics and add "car adapter"
These dc to dc converters come with a ciggy plug, and are significantly more efficient than using an inverter to power the laptop's provided power supply.
Mine car adapter is 15 to 45% more efficient, depending on the task the laptop is performing.
Many ciggy plugs are inadequate for passing much over 65 watts for any length of time. I like to file some teeth into the ground springs which push against the walls of the receptacle to keep it from backing out. Backing out causes the extreme heating which will cause failure of the ciggy plug itself.
Don't be afraid to get a small Puresine inverter for the delicates, and a large MSW inverter for the wattage bragging rights.
If getting one just for cell phone chargers and the like, just get the 12v car adapters for those items. they will consume less battery power.
Heloflyboy
Adventurer
No I wish I think I paid $500+ for it. Wife says it's at least 4-5 years old. Still work good.
toyotech
Expedition Leader
Haha. Guess prices have dropped. Good to hear it still works
craig333
Expedition Leader
I was Christmas shopping at Fry's yesterday and stumbled upon a Wagan Tech 180 Pure Sine inverter. Last one they had for a price I couldn't resist. Never heard of the company and its not designed for a permanent install which I'd prefer but I'll feel a little better about using it for the pricey electronics.
craig333
Expedition Leader
Well I was reminded why impulse purchases are a bad idea. Looked up the new inverter on Amazon. Seems I didn't get a deal after all but worse was reading the reviews. All over the board. So I just ran it for a couple hours with the laptop, needed to download a bunch of upgrades anyway and it seemed fine. Nothing got hot or smelly and the laptop seemed happy.