What size inverter can I buy to work with one 12V deep cell battery which can be charged with either renogy solar suitcase (100V) or with the house electric? I have a trailer that has one 12V outlet and I want to use it occasionally to operate a very small food processor or stick blender for a short time.
inverter question
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Trebor English
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Look at the food processor label and the stick blender label for the watts they take. My stick blender says 1.0 amps so 120 volts times 1.0 amps is 120 watts. Some blenders and juicers are serious microwave level power hogs. Look at the label. The inverter I use is the Harbor Freight 400/800 $25 model. It is actually good for 350 watts.
A small battery and small solar just means you can't run it very long.
A small battery and small solar just means you can't run it very long.
Not to do with battery or panel.
The inverter needs to be sized large enough for the startup current required by the load devices.
We need to know their operating current draw to estimate that - measuring with a Kill-a-Watt - but even then, it'll be little more a guess, some motors' startup need 4x operating.
If you post the specific make/model of the biggest-drawing one, maybe someone has experience with it.
Note these are not light loads, run for more than a few minutes per day, that's when the capacity of your bank and panels come into play.
The inverter needs to be sized large enough for the startup current required by the load devices.
We need to know their operating current draw to estimate that - measuring with a Kill-a-Watt - but even then, it'll be little more a guess, some motors' startup need 4x operating.
If you post the specific make/model of the biggest-drawing one, maybe someone has experience with it.
Note these are not light loads, run for more than a few minutes per day, that's when the capacity of your bank and panels come into play.
Trebor English
Well-known member
5 amps times 120 volts is 600 watts. That's about a half a microwave. The inverter will need 60 amps from the battery. This means you need to have the inverter very close to the battery and finger sized wire from the battery to the inverter. Depending on many variables including what food do you grind, the starting power for the motor could easily double and could be 10 times. Now it is thumb size wire and two batteries, still, only minutes of use.
The largest inverter on one battery is probably 2000 watts but then it is only a few seconds of use like the engine starter motor is a few seconds. For one 12 volt 100 amp hour battery the stick blender is likely fine. The food processor is definitely iffy. Do you have a cutting board and a long sharp knife?
The largest inverter on one battery is probably 2000 watts but then it is only a few seconds of use like the engine starter motor is a few seconds. For one 12 volt 100 amp hour battery the stick blender is likely fine. The food processor is definitely iffy. Do you have a cutting board and a long sharp knife?
The specs plate usually shows a higher current rate than what is actually used.
A KillaWatt is not expensive and may let you save a fair bit, not just on a smaller more efficient inverter, but wiring, fuse etc.
Plus useful for other things in the future.
A KillaWatt is not expensive and may let you save a fair bit, not just on a smaller more efficient inverter, but wiring, fuse etc.
Plus useful for other things in the future.
MrAlvinDude
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tx2sturgis said:
Here are examples of 'stick blenders'
http://www.independent.co.uk/extras...lender-for-soup-making-smoothies-9750784.html
tx2sturgis said:
Always a relevant question. But it is likely that once you have used a stick blender, you will measure your life as: before and after I discovered this revolutionary tool.
Both stages were living life to the fullest, and yet, there is still hardly any way to compare.
MrAlvinDude said:
Umm....No. I dont plant to make slurry out of steaks and hamburgers. Soup in a can is already like liquid baby food.
Another way to go is make sure to buy from a vendor with a great returns policy and try one out.
This is one product category where poor quality abounds, but good quality costs **a lot**. If you go cheap, which may well make sense financially, factor in the likely need to replace it sooner or later.
This is one product category where poor quality abounds, but good quality costs **a lot**. If you go cheap, which may well make sense financially, factor in the likely need to replace it sooner or later.
scottorious
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What about a cordless? A smaller inverter would charge the appliance and then you'd be set.
http://m.homehardware.ca/h5/m/en/r/...mersion-Handheld-Blender/_/N-ntl4h/R-I3816215
http://m.homehardware.ca/h5/m/en/r/...mersion-Handheld-Blender/_/N-ntl4h/R-I3816215
scottorious
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wayne49 said:
Do you really NEED one? I guess I haven't been doing it that long but I've been charging cordless tools from a modified sine wave inverter for a bit and it hasn't killed them yet.
I would buy a blender that is best to use on 12V. There are plenty that are more around 200 watts power.
https://www.consumersearch.com/immersion-blenders
https://www.consumersearch.com/immersion-blenders
MrAlvinDude said:Always a relevant question. But it is likely that once you have used a stick blender, you will measure your life as: before and after I discovered this revolutionary tool.
Both stages were living life to the fullest, and yet, there is still hardly any way to compare.
I use a stick blender to make mayonnaise and make almost everything from scratch. Trying to gauge how I can translate this into full time RV.
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