Inverter

heater and frypan ...

well electric frypans can be 2400 Watt ... I've never seen any as low as 150W ... and as for heater ... well you could be waiting a long time for a 150W heater to warm you up ...

Think how much heat you get from two 75W incandescent globes ...

Cheers
Andrew who wouldn't want to be waiting for Zedd to cook dinner on the inverter.

HI zedd

I used a square wave 120 watt inverter to charge my laptop and keep it running while travelling (moving map program) and it was the ancient inverter that died in the end. The charger was fine. The tech (computer Q&A) writer Skarbek who writes for the SMH recommends a square wave no probs. (150 watt for laptop charger) They are heaps cheaper than sine wave.

A square wave/sine wave refers to the shape of the ac current in graphic presentation. A sine wave is what you you get on the house supply cos the dynamo back at the power station is a field winding revolving past an array of magnets. As the field approaches and leaves the proximity of the magnets, it produces current first in one direction and then in the other. Its a wavy line but follows a mathematical curve that can be expressed in terms of sine or cosine.

A square wave is like switching a dc current back and forth to get the alternating effect but it is sudden and when drawn on a graph it is with straight lines with right angles. The battery charger on your laptop rectifies the current into choppy one direction dc and I dont think matters cos the battery will act like a capacitor and smooth out the current before it leaves the computer side.

AC electric motors as in a fridge or or drill are more efficient with sine wave or may not even work with square wave. They absorb the energy good cos they mirror the motion of the aforementioned dynamo.

Some of the square wave jobs call themselves modified sine wave and ask for a bit more money but they should be called modified square wave cos they try to make the wave a bit more like a sine wave without really getting there. So they say anyway.

Sorry I cant explain it better. I am going to fit another one and I will put it in the engine bay where it is not really recomended cos of the heat in there but I will find out if it stuffs up. I can do without too many devices in the cab all at once trying to get charged and run things off the dc. .

You will probably run yours from the cig lighter socket like I did last time. I ran the uhf and the laptop at the same time but the laptop needed to start off with a good charge cos it started to run down towards evening despite the inverter pumping away. Like I said the inverter was ancient and hand built. These days they have ic chips to make them work better. Meantime see if you can find out how much current your charger will pull and match it with your choice of inverter and give some margin. Oh, and getting too big an inverter for your needs will only drain the car battery more when the motor is off so they say. But no matter if you only use it while the motor is running.

Try googling around for more info and ask at the shop where they sell them. I wouldn't want to bum steer you because I dont really know your requirements and I am not a techie but just a one time amateur radio person qualified in basic electronics.

cya

Owen

This is our basic range.

No fry pans.

My 150 Watt Pure Sinewave inverter is not strong enought to power my Notebook. I have burnt out 2 capacitors running the laptop whilst using moving map. The 150W is OK for charging batteries and a night light but thats about it. I would go for a minimum 300watt inverter.

Cheers

Hi,
Have you since upgraded to a stronger inverter and if so has your problem been overcome? Can I ask what brand inverter you bought at 150 watt and if you have bought a 300 watt how is it now going?
Zedd

Zedd,

Suggest get a car power supply for your laptop and forget the inverter. Likewise you should be able to find a car charger for your camera battery. (Do a search on ebay to check for their existence). Frypans and heaters - forget it - these will require at least 1200 watts and probably double that. Not only is that a seriously big and expensive inverter, but you will require some serious battery power. A big (100 amphour) battery would die under this load, but in any case, holds only enough energy for a few minutes at this rate of discharge.

Sorry - not a good idea!!!!! The laptop and camera are easy and you should be able to find suitable 12 volt power supplies for both.

John

Hi Zedd,

We have a 600W inverter and it charges up our laptop, phone and lanterns. I wouldn't go any smaller as it is amazing what new toys you buy. They are getting smaller and cheaper. I bought mine from JAYCO for $179.

Happy hunting

Dave

On the subject of 240v and safety issues (I have a 600w inverter that hasn't been used yet)
Is an RCD required between the inverter outlet and the device?
T.R.