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Pure sine wave inverters

Submitted: Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 at 22:07

Serendipity of Mandurah (WA)

Article Overview - Inverters
This article discusses how Inverters work and why they are so desirable to many travellers. View Full Article...
I just bought a 300w nominal 600w peak pure sine wave inverter for $130 new on eBay. I was hoping this is what I needed for powering my cordless makita tools. The charger is rated at 240w so I am thinking even with a bit of a surge it should handle it. Maybe I just don't get this electrical stuff. I know my mate recons that all electrical stuff runs on the blue smoke and when you lose the blue smoke nothing works again.

Anyway when I received this inverter I plugged in my makita charger only to have it overload in 30sec and go to the red light with a buzzer. Tried over and over to the same effect. Tried a 130w fan no worries. Tried a 65w laptop charger no worries.

My question is why should my makita charger which is rated less than the inverter trip it out. Should say this was connected to a fully charged good condition deep cycle battery with the very short supplied cable. I tried other batteries and other cables, even directly to the cruiser battery with the car running.

David
New Cruiser with travelander camper- camping north of Meekatharra
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Life is not a trial run - enjoy it now.
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ThreadID: 68150 Replies: 8
Views: 1037 FollowUps: 1
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AnswerID: 361169   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 at 22:25

Ianw replied:

The key might be the $130, not the 300w
Ian
Reply 1 of 8
AnswerID: 361173   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 at 22:34

Member - Paul W- Esq (VIC) replied:

maybe the "pure" is not so pure. i have one also but my hitachi battery drill charger will not work on it but the panasonic charger will?? go figure.
1 of my 3 girls!
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Cheers Paul

Reply 2 of 8
AnswerID: 361174   Submitted: Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 at 22:37

ABR - SIDEWINDER replied:

Hi David

The 240W would be the running current of the Makita charger which is close to the max of your inverter. The start up current of the charger could be 350W to 400W and the peak of the inverter for $130 would only be 0.5 to 1.0 seconds ?, which may not be long enough for the charger to stabilize. - Check the specs and let us know.

Also the supplied cable may be too thin. 600W would require 100A cable to ensure no voltage drop over 1 or 2m. So the cable should be 8 B&S (Slightly thinner than a pencil).

Regards

Derek from ABR
ABR - SIDEWINDERABR - SIDEWINDER
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Reply 3 of 8
FollowupID: 628925   Submitted: Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 08:34

Serendipity of Mandurah (WA) posted:

Thanks Derek

The actual unit cost $80 with $50 for transit so I took a risk in buying cheap. I think you are right in that the peak of the inverter is not long enough. At that price the instructions don't cover much. If my needs get more serious I might have to dig deeper in my pockets.

David
New Cruiser with travelander camper- camping north of Meekatharra
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Life is not a trial run - enjoy it now.
FollowUp 1 of 1
AnswerID: 361197   Submitted: Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 07:11

time waster replied:

I had the same issue with an inverter overloading and as Derek said it was when plugged in the cigarette fitting but not when connected straight to battery, the cigarette wiring was too thin and did not carry enough current.
Reply 4 of 8
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AnswerID: 361205   Submitted: Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 07:49

Maîneÿ . . . replied:

David, "powering your *CORDLESS* Makita tools" should be easy @ 300 watt (nominal peak 600 Watt) inverter.

I've run my 240v, 13mm impact drill from my 300W inverter, even with it's stated input power of 550 Watt.
Mainey . . .
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Reply 5 of 8
AnswerID: 361206   Submitted: Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 07:52

Member - Mike DID replied:

Try it with the engine running - the voltage will be slightly higher meaning the Inverter will draw slightly less current.

Connect a double adapter to the Inverter output and connect a 50 watt lamp to one outlet - then plug in the charger - then unplug the lamp.

When supplying 240watts the Inverter will be drawing 24 amps - your battery and wiring may be causing excessive voltage drop at the inverter.

Buy a $20 Multimeter and measure the voltage AT THE INVERTER under load.
.
Mike R
Reply 6 of 8
AnswerID: 361215   Submitted: Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 08:46

Serendipity of Mandurah (WA) replied:

Thanks for the replies.

I think the only problem really is the price a paid for a sine wave inverter. Oh well - it still works. Gearing up for some good times when camping can get expensive.

David
New Cruiser with travelander camper- camping north of Meekatharra
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Life is not a trial run - enjoy it now.
Reply 7 of 8
AnswerID: 361347   Submitted: Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 20:02

RV Powerstream P/L replied:

Ir your Inverter is light then it is a high frequency Inverter and as such the surge factor is miniscule and once you exceed the continuous duty they are not worth a spit.
If you want surge capacity you need a low frequency unit which is heavy.
Ian
RV Powerstream P/LRV Powerstream P/L
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Reply 8 of 8

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