Power Inverter - Watts to Amps...

[LAGEORGE]

Save yourself the time and money and just get a 120-volt generator. Unless you have a desire to replace expensive alternators and batteries on a regular basis. And I would never hook it up to a compact tractor with it's tiny alternator. Just buy a nice quiet generator like those 2K Hondas. They are very nice and cost about the same as a 2K SINE WAVE inverter if not less. I was in Santa Maria, CA recently for WACKO JACKO and those generators were everywhere. Best quality power one can buy for less than 1K. Inverters are nice if you needed sine wave power back in the 80’s but we are at a the dawn of a new era in generators so if I had my choice it would be a 2K Honda but I would like that bigger Yamaha version better it is so choice, if you have the means you must get one.

George

 

[Bob_Skurka]

DAVE . . . I gave up on a similar project last year. I was building my daughter's playhouse and needed electricity about 200' away from my house, figured I'd just drop an inverter on the tractor and power some hand tools with that. After a couple of pages of me argueing that I could do it (because it seemed logical to me) several people with electrical experience beat into my thick skull that it was not worth the effort. I'd still like to have a power outlet wherever my tractor is, but not at the expense of replacing batteries and alternators.

I don't know if Dave_in_CT wants to run the inverter off a tractor or a car/truck, but it just doesn't seem like an inverter is the right choice unless there is already some heavy duty electrical system already in place to back up the inverter.

I ended up running 15amp cords 200 feet and not running some of the heavier draw tools I own becuase of voltage drop concerns. I would say, a small protable generator is a handy tool to have. I already have a 9000 watt home back up generator, so I didn't want to buy another generator. If I didn't have a home back up system, I would consider buying a larger generator than a 2000 watt mini unit. I think you can probably run a furnace and a refrigerator pretty well with about 5000 watts, maybe even less. And that size unit will certainly run the tools needed, several at a time.

 

[Dave___in___CT]

Thanks...


Yep... no inverter for me...

...a 2,000 - 3,000 watt inverter type generator fits my needs very well... enough power... 1-person portable... high-quality electricity... low fuel usage... don't like the high cost though (~$1,000- $1,300)... Yamaha or Honda...

Another possibility instead of a generator... is having electric service brought to the undeveloped lot... to a tempoary "permanent" post in the ground... ~$5,000...
I plan on building a home there in ~10 years... but may not... so unsure if I should spend $5,000+ for intermittent use...


Dave...

 

[hard_yakka]

How about a couple more options;
Here is a company that has a whole list of 110/220 belt and hydraulic driven generators http://www.fabcopower.com/index.htm so you can mount them on a auto, farm vehicle, or small 'power/generator' trailer to attach to hydraulics when needed. (running multi cylinder engine for small amps wouldn't be my long term favorite solution)..

Or have you considered putting a couple of photovotaic panels up and collecting the energy while your not around, storing them in some, at least 2 'cause they are 6vdc, L16H (390ah) and hooking up to a inverter that would serve other purposes later when you build? I like the L16's better than the 105', almost 90% more amp hour capacity (200 vs 400) for only about $50 bucks more. Plus with wet cell technology the less you draw down the longer life and the happier the batteries will be. We plan on 65% draw down and have had L16's for years without one glitch.
There are also many inverter mfg's out there, OutBack (nice stuff), Xantrex that you could use to 'grid tie' in later if you do build.

 

[tucker99]

G'day mate.. Russ here.and been thru all the problems you are asking about.Skil saws draw huge curent (amps) and any power tool should have a Watts use tag somwhere on them. . For a tool showing say 1500 watts (ie 2 hp) the you need at least 2000wats to drive it. So 12 volts divided into 1500wats =125 amps.Get the picture? the formula to work out ammps,watts, volts is know. Give me a call if you need to know more.
Russ

 

[SPIKER]

you forgot to add in the loss of the conversion, most inverters are only about 80% efficient if i remember the specs.
Mark