voltage invertors.

glenn, do you mean to say modified square wave?

Desert,

Yes, it is a 12 V 350W Modified Sine Wave inverter and I paid $199. Details can be seen at www.omega2000.com.au/12volt.htm

Thanks Bob, I'll give Jaycar a call and sus them out.

Thank you Mr.Ziggle, looks like the modified square wave will be the grouse.

Thanks phil. Tell me, does the unit generate a lot of heat? I ask because I fancy mounting it near the fridge, but if it's going to get very hot I'll have to have a rethink?

Great advice mate, thanks. Don't despair, the 35mm still gets a good thrashing while I'm bush. The cam-corder is more for reviewing and entertainment once back at home. I't impossible to catch all the action in a still sometimes.
Chow.

David you are on the money with what you did.
While the Dick Smith Electronics www.dse.com.au are good and we have a number of them we have thrashed and never had one go faulty, but as David explains these can at sometimes give you a bit of a jolt.

Lately we have been buying the Jaycar units because they are fully electrically isolated. I have also found that these definitely have more starting capacity than the DSE and some other brands we have tried. Where we have not been able to run our laptops on the DSE ones, the 140w Jaycar fire them up just dandy.
www.jaycar.com.au
Models
100w M15058 $89.50
140w M15060 $109.50
300w M15062 $139.50 on special this month.

Dave and Ozi, from what I read can I assume that a long lead run to / from battery is ok. I have assumed I need to attach direct to battery - hood up etc. i have a GME 400watt unit. Probably overkill but had it now a few years - mainly used for Notebooks etc.
I would like to plumb this in permanently if possible.
Mike

Mike,

Longer runs are a bit of a problem however use a good quality large diametre (high current) cable and quality connections. Try to use as little number of connectors as possible and solder each of them. Make the leads as short as you can, but lets face it it has to be long enough to reach the device.

From memory the cable I used was about $5/mtr and I think was rated to 50Amps at 12V. Not real sure about this however I got the most expensive twin core power cable I could get at Marlows. It was the stuff they use to wire up those huge power amps that the younger gen like to have making nosie in their vehicles. Mind you some of these sound systems will pull more than the 32Amps you need for the 400 watt inverter. 400 watts is a high power requirement and you must must must ensure that you install a fuse in the circuit near the battery - just in case your high current cable touches the chassis or something. Do not attempt to use a small spade or 5AG type glass fuse for this requirement as the connectors will have to much voltage drop. I would look at a 35 Amp monster fuse/circuit breaker that you could get from your local electrical supplier.

Hope this is of some help.
David

Mike I use two x 6mm oxygen free copper from my battery to my major battery suckers. The distance from my battery is just under 4 metres.

Using a Bosch 70 amp relay to switch the supply to the invertor can be any distance on the vehicle. The amount of power a 70amp Bosch relay takes is not worth talking about in the scheme of things.

Thank you. Will now investigate - looks good.
Mike

Mike just send cheque to Salvation Army for consultancy services rendered (vbg)=(Very Big Grin).

Thanks eric for the info and I tend to agree, but, as I said in my initial question, Panasonic do not offer a dedicated 12V charger. And to fabricate one from bastardised parts still does not get around the physical limitations of holding the battery and conecting with the very tiny terminals(about 0.5mm wide and four of them spaced about 2mm apart. So you see, I need to use the 240V charger/holder, to be able to connect to the batteries.

I agree the dedicated 12v chargers are more efficient, but when you have Hand held UHF,Computer, Battery Drill,video cam,digital Cam,Kids toys ....Etc.... thats a lot of dedicated chargers and there purchace cost!
I believe it is cheaper and more practical to buy one realy good inverter and use it for everything.
My 2¢ Worth
Brian

Yep, same situation as Brian, to many devices, and for many you cannot get 12vDC dedicated chargers.

For example the Makita 12vDC battery charger is about $160 which is just crazy. But then again, would never buy another Makita.

For my mobile phone, satellite phone and iPaq hand held computer have all dedicated adaptors, but the rest use on invertor.

Yeah - it's usually the price that does it. I can buy a 300W pure sine wave inverter for cheaper than a 12 to 16 volt adaptor for my laptop.

Much obliged, Eric.The charger "box" has a socket for the 240V input, a DC output (so you can run the camera of mains supply for editing etc) and it also has a DC input with a queer, unique socket that is marked as "car DC IN". However, the lead that plugs into this socket is not available. I would imagine that one could alter this socket to a more common socket/plug combo to be able to get the car's supply into the charger? How can I contact you Eric?
Desert.