Power Inverter

[dieselsmoke1]

Thinking about buying a power inverter, mostly for recharging cordless stuff from my pickup. Been doing a little repair work at the old homeplace, no power there but I just can't let it decay away yet. May end up there someday if the Bride throws me out.

Homier has one big enough and certainly cheap enough, so cheap as to be scary.

Are there known issues with this piece, or for that matter, inverters in general?

Thanks

 

[gotrocks]

Bought Vector from WalMart couple years ago. 750 peak 350 watts.
Use it on trips to keep laptop running with Map& Go. Last trip we stopped for lunch and browsing shops. Two hours, left laptop on and when we started to leave the 2000 Venture would not start. Battery too weak. Got home and had battery checked and under load it was ready to be replaced.

I don't really know how much drain is put on vehicle battery when converter is under a load.

I tried running a small drill when first purchased and I could stall it with my hand on the chuck running on the inverter.

Good luck.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have been using a "StatPower" inverter for over 10 years on my truck to run a small air-compressor and skill saw. It works well, but I ended up adding a second battery because I did not want to drain the starting battery to the point it would not start the truck.

I have heard that some inverters do not provide "Sine Wave" power which make them not compatible with certain applications. "Sine Wave" output converters do cost more and are often found on boats.

 

[Mrwurm]

I have an inverter that puts out 400/800 peak. It has no trouble running a small fan or Playstation console. It is unable to run the smallest corded drill and also can't power a cordless tool charger (my original intended purpose). Also, found that it will completely drain my battery in about 20 minutes if the engine is off. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[kenmac]

Some cordless drills won't allow you to charge their batteries with any power inverter. Some cordless drill batterie chargers require pure sine wave inverters that usually cost more.I had a milwaukee brand that I had this trouble with.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Mine are all DeWalts. Any way to tell if which catagory they would fall in?

thanks

 

[kenmac]

I can't remember but, I think, after I burn up the inverter I read the manual for the drill, and it stated to use 110 v outlet only or inverter that produced pure sine wave.

 

[orangebluegreen]

I have a small 300w inverter in my motorhome I use for TV and electric blanket. I found it would not start either until I cut off the cigarette lighter type plug and wired it directly to my batteries (two group 27 AGM’s). At first I ran about 15’ of 12 gauge wire to its location and that didn’t work either. Only way I could get full capacity was wiring direct off the 2’ long cord provided then running an extension cord to the appliance. A hassle but it works great and starts the appliance no problem. I know if I ran a 6-8 GA wire to it I would probably be ok, but they are very sensitive to this apparently. As far as charging tools....probably need true sine wave....starting at about $600. from what I’ve seen. I like Camping World and my local RV dealer for this stuff. Both have great catalogs full of inverters and info. RV dealers tend to be far better priced than boat shops in my area.

 

[kenmac]

There is a inverter out that is a modified sine wave. I haven't tried it to charge power tool batteries. I haven't bought a true sine wave inverter as they are high at this time.I hope that given time, the price will drop.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I haven't bought a true sine wave inverter as they are high at this time )</font>

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like a good excuse to buy that small generator I've been wanting.