Inverter Cooling Fan

what mike said..........my 1500watt inverters fan hardly ever comes on, only on the hottest days ie over 35 deg.

Cheers Stefan

Thanks gents, right again. Supplier has advised that fan is indeed thermo controlled so all is well....oldbaz.

Peter, you are right about the load. Supplier says fan is thermo controlled so all is well. Only intend to run 3way fridge at this point
but may add waeco/Engel later. The cost of this capacity inverter
is less than $100 so decided to go for a bit more spare capacity.
Yes I know it is Chinese, but what the hell. Someone told me
Waeco is built in China now anyway but not sure about that.
cheers...oldbaz.

I hope you have a really good battery and charging system to be running a 3 way fridge from an inverter !

Mainey . . .

Mainey, Fridge draws 75w on 12 or 240v. Hardly a big task for
an alternator, battery not a big factor either. Can you explain
further. Always ready to listen. As mentioned earlier I have evidence of 3way runing off inverter on single battery system for
many years with no problems. The user travels 6 months of the year....oldbaz

G'day, you are right about fridge not working on 12v. But problem
is not voltage drop as the wires I run direct from the battery
give me excellent voltage at the end of a 3m run...6sq mm or
whatever. I believe the problem is the 12v element contained in a very unserviceable position. 240v heats an adjacent element & works fine. Hence the inverter .. brotherinlaw..retired leco has run
his Chescold this way for many years, paid a fortune for the 300w inverter, but reckons fridge will run forever on the more stable
power source....oldbaz.

Mike, I hear you, will try the current wiring & see how it performs.
Some net research has revealed that some have successfully
mounted in the engine bay in the US, but the size of my inverter
may pose problems. The heat,again being the main factor to
overcome. I will do some underbonnet temp tests as it would be an ideal solution if feasible. Thanks again for your interest, I'll
keep tinkerin.....oldbaz.

Oldbaz,

D O N ' T even think about putting a 1200 Watt Inverter in the engine bay !!!

Mainey . . .

Oldbaz....

Mainey and I are both cringing :)

If you put it underbonnet it _will_ die before long. How about at the top of the passenger footwell?

Mike Harding

Hey ,gents lighten up, & cease cringeing. The inverter wont go in the engine bay unless I am sure of its capacity to operate in that
environment. I have already indicated that I will do tests to ascertain if that is viable. Your concerns will be far more useful if
you convey the reasoning behind them. As said before..always ready to listen ...oldbaz.

>Your concerns will be far more useful if
>you convey the reasoning behind them.

It'll be too hot and wet in that environment.

Mike Harding

Thank you Mike, I dont disagree, but there is a lot of electrical gear operating very satisfactorily in that same environment. i dont
see the "wet" part as anything that cant be overcome. The heat
will be the limiting factor, space too I fear. cheers...oldbaz.

Oldbaz, we are talking about 240 Volt.

question: would you operate the Inverter out in the rain in a storm ??

is exactly the same thing, water and moisture is 'moved' around in the engine bay as you drive, the Inverter is NOT sealed against water, and it is producing 240 Volts.

I bet the Inverter installation information states it should NOT be used where there is ANY likelihood of moisture possible, I know of no Inverter that states it is suitable for using 'outside' or in wet conditions.

The Heat will not be a *major* problem, it's the moisture that will kill you, not the heat.

Mainey . . .

Mainey, I understand where you're coming from & the danger of 240v. I'm not sure that a rainstorm & the underbonnet conditions
during rain can be compared. It pleases me that you think heat is
not the biggest issue as I reckon I can seal the inverter from moisture & duct the fan intake to where moisture wont tenter. The outlet can also be suitably protected.
Anyway, as said previously ,this option will only be investigated if current wiring proves unsuitable. Guess I'm just a stubborn old coot who wont take no for an answer, but I've always been inclined to question why things cant be done .
Thanks for your help.....oldbaz.

If memory serves (from previous posts) Oldbaz only wishes to run his fridge in this mode whilst he is driving and in order to avoid messing around with heavy gauge wiring. As three way fridges are very heavy on electrical power it would not make much sense to use them in either electrical mode unless mains 240V or engine produced 12V was available.

Mike Harding

Mike R, mate I'm only a simple sheep cocky, but I cant find any
logic in your assessment of wasted capacity. I'm saying I only got
a 200kw LC in case I want to tow a caravan one day. Who knows
what I might want to power with this inverter as time goes on?
If I've missed something please straighten me out. It is my
understanding that this inverter will produce no more output than is asked of it. The supplier has advised that the cooling fan will only operate at higher load limits, & rarely if load is low. Where is
the inefficiency?
Mike H, you are correct in that the fridge will only be run while
alternator is operating. Gas used when stopped overnight or longer
cheers...oldbaz.

Oldbaz - if you're only going to use the Inverter while you've got teh engine running then there's no need to worry about wasting a bit of power.

In case you're running on batteries, here's the explanation.

It's the same with engines - you'll use a lot more fuel if you use an engine that's way oversized for the load. If you want to run a 2 HP alternator, you would use less fuel running a 100cc engine at full revs rather than a 5 litre engine just above idle.

An Inverter will only run at its maximum efficiency ( let's assume 90%) when putting out close to full power. So a 200 watt Inverter will draw 150+15 watts when putting out 150 watts.

Even when it's producing zero output, an Inverter is still drawing current. So a 1200 watt Inverter may draw 50 watts when putting out low power, so it would be drawing 150+50 watts to produce 150 watts.

Mike R, thanks for the explanation, sounds good. I think I may have muddied the water a bit by not stating clearly the intention to only run inverter while alternator is running......oldbaz.