Inverters

[bdosborn]

[quote="arnereil"]My 500 watt inverter came with double 30 amp fuses. Since I'm running 12 guage wire from the battery, and only a single 30 amp fuse.... [quote]
arnereil,

Better use #10 wire instead of #12. #12 is only rated for 25 amps.
Bruce

[mikeschn]

It appears that you have the TV in the front of the teardrop... which means that you have you pillows in the rear. That's exactly bass ackwards of the way most folks build theirs... So tell me if I am wrong...

Mike...

[Arne]

You are right, and we love it that way. When Shirley first proposed it I fought and fought and gave in..... The dog doesn't have to walk over the bed. .When we get in, we get in on a carpeted floor, not our mattress..... it works out really well. Shoes sit on the carpet, etc.... for us, it's the only way to fly....

Oh, the largest inverter draw will be 100 watts. A coffee grinder.

The uprights under the tv is where the a/c will go (hole will be punded through between the uprights). that will be done when we get back from Virginia.

Weighed tongue weight tonight..... 45 pounds... with a/c that will go up near 70 pounds which will be just about perfect...

Mike, I put the axle on top of spings today... put carriage bolts top end under to keep tires from getting chewed up.... lowered it about 3 inches.

Almost done with the punch list.. still have to permanently mount heater and a bit of wiring..... then, we are off....

[Arne]

http://tnttt.com/album_ ... ic_id=1160[img]

Another pic of inverter.... btw, shore power and cable tv come in the space behind the power strip (flush mounted) and the inverter... battery, under floor, will be charged via one of the cigarette lighter/power things there... the battery is under the floor in the back of the tear...

Heater will be mounted on shelf above tv. all wires will run under shelves against wall and will be pretty much out of sight...[/img]

[Guy]

Dean,

I was in Target tonight and they had a 600w microwave made by Daewoo.
It was $35.

[Guest]

Too late...
I already bought one from Costco, it's a 950 watt. I picked up a 1500 watt inverter for it also, which will safely handle a microwave up to 1000 watts. I should be good to go in that department.
I didn't even think of hitting Target, one just opened up here on the North Coast. I took a quick stroll through it when they first opened and didn't see what the big deal was... I'm pulling for Home Depot to show up
There's a new shopping center in the works down in Fortuna and Home Depot might be one of the anchor stores, but because of all the legal battles, it could take up to ten years for them to have their doors open.
I don't know if I'll still be here in 10 years, I'm considering moving to Hawaii after my kids are grown and becoming a beach bum...

[DestinDave]

BeachBum is a great occupation but be forewarned it doesn't pay very well. I did that lifestyle for a while until I got married again and had to get responsible. My plans were to live on a sailboat and drift from marina to marina - working when I needed to and playing the rest of the time. My new wife said I shouldn't give up on my plan 'cause she might like that life also but when I saw her 35 pairs of shoes, I knew we'd never live on a sailboat That's why this teardrop is nautically themed - it's my pseudo-sailboat...

[GregJ]

One nice thing about a small inverter is the ability to use compact-florescent light bulbs. Much less draw and heat than a normal 12v bulb so the batteries last much longer.

Greg

[mexican tear]

Dean

Why not move to Mexico and become a "beach bum" as I have done. It is a heck of a lot cheeper.

kai

[Woody]

GregJ,

Home depot sells little battery operated flourescent lights that would be more economical to run off of 12 vdc systems for about $8-9.00 each. I have some and they work alright for the teardrop. The problem in a teardrop is that I found that conventional lighting (120 vac) is and can be rather blinding especially at night, the lower light levels are more than enough in a small space. Check them out before investing in more expensive 120 vac stuff

[Guest]

Sounds Good,
I just gotta finish raising my kids first though...
(Check your PM)

[GregJ]

Woody,

Those work too, but have been hard to find. I looked for 6 months and finally went with the inverter, but that was a couple of years ago. I have some little 5W CFs I use in a small, ummm I guess you would all it a cabin. Solar panel to recharge the batteries. Really works nicely.

Either will work and be easy on the batteries. If you are mostly using hookups, could save you duplicate wiring. 120v also uses smaller wires. Makes it easy to charge the lap top as well.

A 120v charger would do the same for a DC system. If I was mostly dry camping I would probably go this way. CF and LEDs (if you can afford them) really seem like the way to go.

[Woody]

I would be careful with a modified sine wave inverters and laptop power supply. Some power suppllies even state not use the on an inverter due to excessive heat build up and failure. I ran redundant systems in my teardrop for dry camping in the Florida Keys. I also stuck with non LED bulbs, I dont care for the quality of light they give off, With a solar panel and a charger/controller make battery mantaining easy. I have to conserve water, ice and Beer, not power. The main advantage of the little battery operated flourescent lights, I had mentioned earlier, is there cheap, work wit 12 vdc and can portable if need be.

[GregJ]

I really don't like the modified sine inverters much but they are cheap. I haven't seen any problems with laptops but considering the price it would be good to check.

I'm sure it's already listed on this site somewhere but... In general modified sine inverters work well with switching power supplies (most digital stuff, CF etc); resistive loads (regular lights and toasters) and where there is a battery being charged (wall wart to a cell phone).

Modified sine inverters are not good with inductive loads (power tools, air conditioners) and are really bad for most AV products(TV, radio et. al.)

Sorry, have no idea about microwaves, they could go either way.

I have a 150w in the Vibe (lap top, cell, PDA) and "cabin" (cf lights only) and a 1kva (1000 watt) pure sine wave for tools and telescope (cameras) stuff.

Isn't it nice to have so many options?

[kartvines]

I just picked up a 2000 watt inverter from Harbor freight. It seems to draw a lot of power, most of the time when I plug it into the 12 volt outlet, there is not enough power to power it up, the low voltage alarm sound, I most of the time have to start and run my truck engine to get it to power up, also the rear fan never seems to kick on. Maybe I have a problem and should take it back and get an exchange. Has any one used one this large and does anyone thing it is overkill? What is the average size inverter are most of you using, I have another 400 watt inverter, but I think it would not provide the power that I need, welcome feed back. I need someting large enough to run my C-Pap machine for 8 or so hours. I hope that I have better luck with a deep cell unit.