psw power inverter

[05kas05]

I'm looking to get a pure sine wave power inverter
i need it to charge my macbook air and also my batteries for my
cannon t3i and my s100 there may be some other uses down the road but this is my main need for now.
i was looking for 12 volt charging adapters but after reading some reviews i am really concerned and would rather go this route and use the chargers that came with my products rather than some after market set up that might damage them.
what brand inverter should i look for what have you had the best luck with? also what power rating 300 watt or maybe a little bigger ? any help is appreciated thanks

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

This probably would have been better off down in the "Batteries, Solar, Generators" sub-forum. You'd have a better chance getting answers from the people here who really know this stuff. [note: moved by Mod]

Anyway, take a look at:

http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/inverter-issues-spring-2013/

Welcome to the forum, btw.

Regards
John

 

[05kas05]

yeah i figured that after i posted it , thanks for the link i will definitely check it out.
ideally i wish i could find 12 volt car chargers from the factory instead of using the inverter but im still looking
i saw some aftermarket ones but the reviews and horror stories just keep me from buying them so i figured this was a safer
way to do it. thanks again it is appreciated.

 

[SternWake]

http://www.amazon.com/Wagan-EL2601-Elite-400W-Inverter/dp/B007Y4BL1C/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

I like this inverter due to its small physical size, reasonable price, and the fact it is very quiet, even when the fan does start up, at around the 175 watt region.

Only thing I do not like, is when turning it off, it makes a loud beep.
I have a t5i, was considering getting a 12v charger, but had not researched any and no longer will. For some reason I assumed Canon made one.

Cheap lithium battery chargers can cost a lot of money if they cause failure of the battery. Lithium battery fires can impact ones health.

 

[akrvbob]

I have a Wasabi brand 12 volt charger for my Canon 6D,, Nikon AW110 and GoPro video camera. It works fantastically well!! I will always have one of these for all my cameras.

I think this is the one for your camera, but double-check:

http://smile.amazon.com/Wasabi-Power-Battery-2-Pack-Charger/dp/B004VTAVLE/

For $21 you get the charger and 2 batteries!! I've never had a problem with any of them. If you're worried about it wrecking your batteries (I've been using it trouble-free to charge my Canon batteries) just charge the two it gives you and put your original battery in the drawer!

I'm really surprised there isn't a 12 volt charger for your Mac?
Bob

 

[Zil]

I can see OP view. All my lap tops have 19 volt battery chargers bricks. So charger would have to convert 12 volt DC to AC then raise it to 19 volts AC, then back again to DC. Much can go wrong with a inexpensive device doing all those conversions.

 

[Willy]

I have a 1000W PSW Canadian Tire inverter which is, basically, a re-badged Xantrex Prowatt SW1000. I thought about getting something smaller but, at $180, why? A smaller one would cost nearly as much and have nowhere near the capability. Also, for the loads I generally subject it to, the fan never kicks on. Yup, higher standby current 'n such, but I've got solar (and soon even more to the tune of 280W total) and it has a remote switch. ..Willy.

 

[Zil]

$180 pure sine wave. get more of them.

 

[akrvbob]

I have a Xantrex 2000 watt Prowat PSW and I've been pleased with it. It was less than $400 which is about as cheap as they get.
Bob

 

[GotSmart]

http://www.amazon.com/Wagan-EL2601-Elite-400W-Inverter/dp/B007Y4BL1C/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

I like this inverter due to its small physical size, reasonable price, and the fact it is very quiet, even when the fan does start up, at around the 175 watt region.

Only thing I do not like, is when turning it off, it makes a loud beep.
I have a t5i, was considering getting a 12v charger, but had not researched any and no longer will. For some reason I assumed Canon made one.

That looks good, but 1 to 3 months for a delivery?

 

[SternWake]

Didn't notice the 1 to 3 months claim. Mine came in a few days.

I've bought many things that said 1 to 3 months, and it shipped that week and arrived a few days later.

Not sure if it is because I have amazon Prime.

 

[Willy]

$180 pure sine wave. get more of them.

If I had the money..

One thing I really like is the remote on/off switch. It's got abt. 10' of wire and makes things really easy. Have the inverter tucked away, though can still see the display, if needed, with the switch up on the wall. ..Willy.

 

[george warner]

try www.Renogy.com, they have pure sine waves at good prices, i just bought a 2000 watt . continuous /4000 surge for $349. and free shipping. and it works very well..

 

[TucsonAZ]

If you want something that is good but doesn't break the bank, I would look at the Samlex and Cotek inverters, 300w should serve you well and meet your needs.

You can go step up, step down with DC to DC but I wouldn't bother with that truth be told, as was mentioned, a laptop bank is normally 19v and while there are airplane adaptors and such, they more maintain the battery than they do charge it. You will always be happy to have a 300w PSW and remember to avoid modified square wave, it's nasty dirty power. Of those I've mentioned, I've seen some better deals on the Cotek and it's actually the better of the two, same company though (Xantrex as well I think, or maybe GoPower, or both for that matter).

Just checked Amazon and the Cotek is under $150 for the 200w and $15 more for the 300w.

 

[GotSmart]

If you want something that is good but doesn't break the bank, I would look at the Samlex and Cotek inverters, 300w should serve you well and meet your needs.

Just checked Amazon and the Cotek is under $150 for the 200w and $15 more for the 300w.

How many W do you need for a fridge, computer and a crock pot?

 

[TucsonAZ]

How many W do you need for a fridge, computer and a crock pot?

The crock pot will slaughter you, it just isn't going to happen, look into a Nissan thermal cooker or some other option. It's not that the inverter can't handle it but if you were trying to run that while the fridge was kicking in, you would need at least a 2,500 watt inverter. Also, the crock pot will drain your batteries faster than it will cook something.

The computer is very little, the surge on the fridge may be an issue as that could be up to 2,000 (20amps) watts even if the fridge itself is only using a few hundred watts while running. I would do a chest freezer to fridge conversion, pretty easy and uses a lot less power though it will have the same 1-2 second surges.

 

[GotSmart]

so a .9 a crock pot is too much?

 

[TucsonAZ]

so a .9 a crock pot is too much?

0.9 on high, low, warm? How many hours?

That's 108 watts an hour so it would take you 650 watts just to run it for 6 hours, I can run my chest freezer conversion for 2.5 days with that much power.

 

[highdesertranger]

I am not saying this is the case here, but I think a lot of people see the watts at 120v and forget to convert that to 12v. which if you multiplied by 10 would give you a rough guess. plus the inefficiency of the inverter of course. highdesertranger

 

[TucsonAZ]

I am not saying this is the case here, but I think a lot of people see the watts at 120v and forget to convert that to 12v. which if you multiplied by 10 would give you a rough guess. plus the inefficiency of the inverter of course. highdesertranger

No, this unit uses 0.9 amps and it's a 120v unit so it uses 108 watts, if it were a 12v unit using 0.9 amps it would be 10 watts but ohm's law is persistent and if it were a 12v unit it would be drawing 9 amps and you would still be stuck at the same consumption of 108 watts, it may even use more than that at 12v as you would need much larger wires and so on to deal with the dc current.