Pure sine wave inverters
Submitted: Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 at 22:07
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Serendipity of Mandurah (WA)
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
Reply By: ABR - SIDEWINDER - Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 at 22:37
Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 at 22:37
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
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Follow Up By: Serendipity of Mandurah (WA) - Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 08:34
Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 08:34
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
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Reply By: Maîneÿ . . .- Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 07:49
Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 07:49
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.
Image Could Not Be FoundMainey . . .
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361205
Reply By: Member - Mike DID - Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 07:52
Friday, Apr 24, 2009 at 07:52
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.
.
AnswerID:
361206