Inverters for on board power

[RO51]

Hay guys and gals

I'm an outdoor person but like my comfort so it would be nice to be able to power laptops and stuff on the go, I also use a bait boat for fishing that I would like to charge from a mains socket rather than a solar system but in remote locations
So inverters seem to be an option but what to go for? There are many power options and I'm not an electronic guy my budget is around 40-60quid for something
Any help appreciated
Pete

 

[teddywood1]

what about one of those booster packs for when you have a flat battery mine has an inverter on it.

 

[RO51]

Well the plan is to run it on connectors in the boot of my freebie, when I go fishing I have a small trailer that I use to get my gear round the lake as I normally fish for three days or longer I carry a fair bit. My trailer has a car battery fitted that I charge my phone from so I was going to double up on batteries and Have the same connection for the inverter on the trailer.... Does that make sense

 

[asp383]

A sine wave is the better version to go for, can't remember the exact specifics, but I think they're supposed to be better if running off a battery that's charging off the alternator. if just charging up your slave batteries & then running the inverter off that once disconnected from the charging source, then the cheaper ones will be fine.

have a look on evilbay, I got a 1000w inverter for around your budget, ran my laptop, & chargers for my power tools no problem.

I've now got a 2500w sine wave inverter in my Freelander.

Only using a cheap Sealey 350w inverter in my work van for charging my power tools at the moment..

 

[Mcclegend]

Charging a battery from another battery isn't as simple as it sounds.

What charger do you charge them with at present, on it somewhere it should have a power rate, it should say how many watts it is. You need to add 20% to this figure to work out what size inverter to get. So say the charger is 100 watts you need a 120 watt inverter.

But the first thing is you need to do is look through the manual or go online or even email the people who made it if the charger will work with "modified" sine wave power or does it need a "pure" sine wave.

If they come back to you and it's pure sine wave charging only your budget of £60 might have to get a little bigger.

I've set up a lot of 12v solar systems and inverters, and learnt the hard way. My better half's £35 "bargain" low current hair straighteners cost me £180 to get working as they needed pure sine wave.

 

[Tannaton]

A sine wave is the better version to go for, can't remember the exact specifics,

+++1

Pure Sine Wave inverters use electronics to create a pure AC sine wave so the electricity is exactly the same as from a plug at home.

The cheaper inverters (also known as modified sine wave inverters) are actually a square wave and this is fine for resistive loads (light bulbs, heaters etc.) but can cause problems with inductive loads (electric motors, electronic equipment, PC's etc.) and have been known to damage some. Basic, multi voltage multi frequency chargers typically used for mobiles and power tools should be fine on either. Some TV's and audio equipment will pick up interference from them and some inductively controlled equipment (fluorescent lights) might work at reduced power.

If you are going to watch telly on a home TV or run large PC's/Servers you should look at Pure Sine Wave though. I think they are about x2 the cost.

Remember to think about your cabling though - a 2500W inverter at full load will be drawing around 2500 x 1.1 = 2750 / 12 = 230 Amps! Too much for the ciggy lighter socket....

 

[Nodge68]

In addition to the above.
A laptop power supply is rated at 60 to 120 watts depending on the laptop. When running an inverter the current used from the battery is around 1 Amp per 10 Watts of load. So in this instance, you laptop could well be using 6 to 12 Amps from the Battery. So keep in mind that an 80 Amp Hour battery will give between 8 and 12 hours use.

 

[Epicuser]

A few years ago I bought a cheap £30 inverter from Halfords to run a printer in my car.

In tests it seemed to work, but when with a client it just didn't want to work.

Gave up and bought a mobile printer instead. No regrets.

I took the inverter back and got a refund as it wasn't up to the job.

I've thought about it since then, but never done anything about it, as I rarely need power in the car. My laptop will last a day, my printer a week and my camera about 500 shots with the spare battery, so I'm sorted.

 

[Datatek]

A small generator might be better, unlimited run time if you have a can of petrol and some are very quiet.

 

[Mcclegend]

Basic, multi voltage multi frequency chargers typically used for mobiles and power tools should be fine on either.

I think it's a case of you get what you pay for, I've found cheap drills and stuff don't work I think it's due to step charging and stuff, led tv, led lights never had a problem with the modified sine wave.

I think they are about x2 the cost.

Agreed and then some, I think my 300watt pure sign wave cost over £120 but it's a bit fancy with remote switch, etc.

Remember to think about your cabling though - a 2500W inverter at full load will be drawing around 2500 x 1.1 = 2750 / 12 = 230 Amps! Too much for the ciggy lighter socket....

Was asked to help a neighbour install one in his shed once, 1000watt inverter and it came with a ciggy socket on the end of the cable. No chance I was rigging that up.

 

[Tannaton]

In addition to the above.
A laptop power supply is rated at 60 to 120 watts depending on the laptop. When running an inverter the current used from the battery is around 1 Amp per 10 Watts of load. So in this instance, you laptop could well be using 6 to 12 Amps from the Battery. So keep in mind that an 80 Amp Hour battery will give between 8 and 12 hours use.

+1, and 8-12 hours will be to completely discharge the battery, it may be 4-6 hours (at a guess) before there is insufficient charge to start a diesel engine...

 

[Tannaton]

Was asked to help a neighbour install one in his shed once, 1000watt inverter and it came with a ciggy socket on the end of the cable. No chance I was rigging that up.

Another point to note is that a lot of the cheap modified sine wave kit quotes maximum peak power, not continuous. This can vary from manufacturer but a inverter with 1000w peak might only run 750w continuous, maybe less.

Also if you are running medium-large electric motors with variable load the start-up current is often much greater than the run current, for a grinder etc. you will probably need an inverter with something like x3 the rated power or it might just trip the overload every time you turn it on.

 

[gstuart]

what about one of those booster packs for when you have a flat battery mine has an inverter on it.

snap thats what i did, bought a clarke one, that has an inventor, USB ports and tyre inflator in it and also the jump start facility

as i wanted to use a kettle and knew they were power hungry

was a great bit of kit when i was out in the snow and starting stranded motorists with it

 

[RO51]

Thanks for the info guys, or won't be running power tools at all at most it will be the laptop charger, it main use will be to charge the bait boat batteries and mobile phone on the bank. I spoke to the bait boat manufacturers today about a solar charger and it was his suggestion to get an inverter as the boat chargers are safe to use with one and he does himself.
So if I was to aim between 600-1000 that should see me good for the use I need, both trailer batteries are/will be 100 amp and a solar trickle charger to keep them in shape of can Rin one battery on the inverter at a time and top it the second

 

[Mcclegend]

Another point to note is that a lot of the cheap modified sine wave kit quotes maximum peak power, not continuous. This can vary from manufacturer but a inverter with 1000w peak might only run 750w continuous, maybe less.

Also if you are running medium-large electric motors with variable load the start-up current is often much greater than the run current, for a grinder etc. you will probably need an inverter with something like x3 the rated power or it might just trip the overload every time you turn it on.

It's such a big subject to get your head round. In the end up he went and got one of those in ring ones that fit in the cup holder to run is radio and light when he wants to get away from his wife.

 

[Mcclegend]

You should really check what wattage your battery charger is and same for your laptop. You might not need to go that high.

I would continue to charge your phone from 12v.

 

[asp383]

Another point to note is that a lot of the cheap modified sine wave kit quotes maximum peak power, not continuous. This can vary from manufacturer but a inverter with 1000w peak might only run 750w continuous, maybe less.

Also if you are running medium-large electric motors with variable load the start-up current is often much greater than the run current, for a grinder etc. you will probably need an inverter with something like x3 the rated power or it might just trip the overload every time you turn it on.

That's very true, we use 1800w mpp on our machines at work, not looked at the specs & can't remember the make, but we had been using Durite 1500w & were forever having to replace them, especially if they'd spent more than a few weeks with steel workers, but the newer higher rated units seem to be lasting a lot longer ... not changed any in the 3 months we've been using them, but still changing the Durite units. I know it's 110v, but the impact guns the steel workers are using are up to 750w.

All my inverters are wired to the battery, although I did have 1 of those little 75w inverters that went straight into the fag socket. I know I'm not likely to ever use the 2500w inverter to it's maximum, doubt even the 1000w was ever near there either.

something else to remember with some of the better units is that they may have low battery cut out, so if the battery drops below a certain voltage (say 12.4v), they'll turn off in order to allow enough power in the battery to start the engine. My cheap Sealey 350w inverter just has a "bleep" alarm, but won't cut out until the battery voltage is too low to power it, which is also too low to start the engine.

 

[RO51]

You should really check what wattage your battery charger is and same for your laptop. You might not need to go that high.

I would continue to charge your phone from 12v.

This is true but, if I over shoot my need I'm covering myself for any future needs and putting less strain on it. I will double check the requirements for the chargers just to be safe.

My phone can be charged from 12v no problem as it currently is. In fact I'm out fishing rite now and have been since Monday morning, I'm here until Sunday

Just a taster lol

 

[jedi]

A nice little 4 stroke generator in the trailer. .job done....run a toaster on it, do the ironing, watch tv etc...and no car batteries to worry about charging. ..thats what I would do.

 

[asp383]

Trouble with a generator is the vibrations through the ground & into the water, which could spoil the swims. Plus some fisheries won't allow them, or anything else that will make a noise & disturb other anglers.