modified sine-wave inverter - what jug will run off it?

You will need to upgrade to a much bigger inverter if you want to run anything with a heating element.

Cybermike

You have answered your own question....

"I have a SCA (Super Cheap Auto) 300 watt modified sine wave inverter that won't run my electric jug."

You will find that a household jug will start at a minimum of 1800 w and usually 2200 w to 2400 w and you will have not hope what so ever in boiling a kettle on such a small inverter. If you are heading away from a power source, purchase a small gas type cooker or better still, get a kettle that can boil on an open fire and you will be able to have hot water as easy as that.

The picture below shows that you do not need power to be comfortable in the bush. Fiona is cooking her toast on the coals of our open fire, we boiled up the kettle on the same coals and the thermo is filled with boiling water for the days use along the Anne Beadell Highway.


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Cheers



Stephen

Hi all

Cybermike, just to stick my bit in, modified sine wave or pure sine wave has nothing to do with it - it is simply the rating of the inverter as the others have said. Running a kettle of the inverter is pretty much the same as trying to run your roof top air con off it - most people would use a generator if they had to.


Alternative

I bought one of the cheap single burner things that take the gas cartridges and use that to boil up my perky coffee - simple, quick, small, gas refills are relatively cheap, no mess, no fuss. Even came in a plastic carry case - cost me about $15 pre Xmas - was not a Gasmate but some look alike from a camping store. Takes about 30 seconds to set up and break down.

http://gasmate.com.au/SCats.asp?SCatID=39&ProdID=255&CatID=4

Ken

A 1200W electric jug run of an inverter will draw about 120A from your 12v battery allowing for the efficiency of the inverter. You can buy small and slow jugs that will run of 12V, but that is not necessarily the best solution.

For $15 you can buy one of those very compact Butane gas stove. The ones that they are currently selling in Big W are rated at 11,000 BTUs whereas most of the earlier ones were rated at only 7,500 BTUs. They will boil the water more quickly. The Butane canisters for these are only about $1 each on special.

My parents were given a 12V electric jug as a present. It took them over 1 hour to boil the water (about 1L). Suffice to say it went back into storage in the garage and hasn't been used since.

As suggested you will need a 2400W inverter - AND a humongous battery as you will flatten a normal battery in no time at all. You would be drawing possibly 120 amps as suggested in an earlier post. How long does it take to flatten your car battery on the starter motor - not long, using an electric jug via an inverter will flatten the battery in around 2 or 3 the times of a starter motor. Not long at all.

As others have suggested, do not use an inverter for any type of heating, use gas or a fire instead.

Stevesub

G.day Cybermike. We use a Waeco 12v electric jug on occasions when we are travelling but it takes a good 20mins to boil. It has auto cutout. We 3/4 fill it and start it up inside a saucepan prior to the next stop while we are driving. We then have hot water for our cuppa at the next roadside stop. Bob

We run a 750W Birko drink heater in the OKA to make our coffee and to heat water for the washing up. It is powered by an inverter (1300W PSW).
It uses about 5 or 6Ahrs at 12V to make a couple of cups of coffee and only takes a few minutes.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

in our old van i had a cheapo 3500w inverter, it ran the jug,microwave(not as efficiently as home might i add)and a pedestall fan at the same time with no complaints. i did have 2 105aH batteryies in parralel on it so it was not much of an issue. i had also run the jug and 4 slice toaster together also and it never complained. gotta see if i can get another one of them again.

I had no idea the kettle would be so power-hungry for a small appliance.... was aiming for a quicker & easier way to make a cuppa than the Trangia fuel stove ... but it looks like I'll stick to that! Many thanks.

Cybermike

Better to trail a long 240V extension lead behind you :-)

As someone said above, a fire with sticks or gas is the go when on the road. The Israelis make a small jug like device that contained a butane gas cannister. Called H2Go. It had an ignition switch, auto cut out, and teflon coated water reservoir. Very quick to boil about two cups of water. Knowing how efficient the Israelis are at making things to kill people with I am confident of the quality.

Bob