What type inverter do you use?

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I have 3, 2 in active use, and one backup.. the 2 active are a 1500/3000 (for power tools and microwave) and my normal is a 400/800.  all of em came from harbor freight and have worked well.
 
I have 2 modified sine wave inverters, a 400W and 1000W. The smaller one is for general use and the larger for power tools. ..Willy.
 
I have an 800 watt MSW Coleman I bought in '04. &nbsp;I try my best never to use it. And buy everything I can 12 volt, or use a DC to DC converter for my Laptop which uses a minimum of 1.2 amps less than my inverter to power the laptop at all times<br><br>&nbsp;I moved the inverter's power switch to near my bed So I can turn it off from Bed when using a heating pad on my problemed Neck.
 
<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">I have a 400watt inverter but I can't remember ever using it. They've improved the technology 10 fold over the years from what I've read.<BR>&nbsp;Like wrcsixeight I use only 12 volt appliances.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM>
 
Does the inverter cause problems with your electronics?
 
My MSW inverter causes weaker TV stations to disappear when turned on, mostly those in the VHF hi (7-13 actual) range<br><br>Also It fried a portable drill battery charger, and somebody else's camcorder battery charger. &nbsp;I warned them of the possibility before hooking it up. &nbsp; Before it overheated and released the magic blue smoke, It got the battery charged enough for the rest of their trip.<br><br>Monitor the temperature of wall warts or power bricks when hooked to MSW inverters.
 
China is putting out some cheap sine wave inverters these days. I wish we could get one made I USA.
 
efficiency&nbsp;and consumption.. why use one that can handle power tools and loose the excess power when I dont need one that large to be runnin <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"> &nbsp;so having a smaller one for normal use works out well<br><br><br>
OnTheRoadAgain said:
Curious why would you use more than one? thanks
 
Nemo, Your right I have a 3k sine wave in my home base cabin. It is a hog. It did solve my problem of burning up laptops and chargers with the modified inverters but I had to add an extra panel.

Have you heard of any new technology concerning inverts?
 
&nbsp;That's strange. Been running the cheap modified sine wave inverters with my laptops for years with nary a problem. One thing I'll mention though is that my business class lappy's exhibit quieter audio (no 60Hz buzz) than the cheap Acer netbook I had did. Better components, I suppose. ..Willy.
 
Have to be honest.. I pay about zero attention to any new tech coming out.. used to, but that was many years ago, now I lean toward being less plugged in, and in time maybe can totallly unplug &lt;grin&gt;<br><br>
VanGirl said:
Nemo, &nbsp;Have you heard of any new technology concerning inverts?
 
Nemo wrote: <span id="post_message_1277461111"> I lean toward being less plugged in, and in time maybe can totallly unplug &lt;grin&gt;<br>I whole heartedly agree, i have a cheapo 400 watt modified sine wave, but i rarely use it anymore. Mostly everything is 12 volts or non - electric.<br>Hugs<br></span>
 
I use two inverters in my Safari.&nbsp; Both are modified sine wave.&nbsp; I use a 1500 watt one to power the microwave and anything big like power tools.&nbsp; I use a 1000 watt one to power everything else.&nbsp; In the e350 I'm building now, I will be using a 2000 watt modified sine wave to power microwave and big things.&nbsp; I will be getting a smaller pure sine wave inverter for television and smaller stuff.&nbsp; I haven't had any problems in the past running small things off of modified sine wave, but I figure it is better to be safe than sorry.&nbsp; For small power inverters, the price difference between modified sine wave and pure sine wave isn't that much.&nbsp; It's the big watt units that carry the crazy prices.
 
<p>To answer the question of why you would use two:&nbsp; <br><br>I use two for redundancy and efficiency.&nbsp; Large loads need big inverters to power them.&nbsp; Most inverters will scale down their power use to the load that is being placed on them, but they all have a minimum amount of power that they use just when they are powered on.&nbsp; Generally, the larger the inverter, the larger this parasitic power draw is.&nbsp; Most items that need large inverters are not used constantly.&nbsp; You will only use a microwave a few minutes per day probably.&nbsp; There is no need to waste all the extra power required to keep the big inverter on constantly for that few minutes of big power draw each day.&nbsp; I use a much smaller inverter for the majority of things that get powered in the van.&nbsp; The television, dvd player, and antenna amplifier all draw less than 200 watts combined.&nbsp; The refrigerator runs at about 150 watts intermittently.&nbsp; My 1000 watt inverter will easily handle all of that and have enough surge capacity to handle the refrigerator compressor when it turns on.&nbsp; Because its smaller, it is more efficient and doesn't waste as much power just by being on.&nbsp; <br><br>I could get by with a smaller inverter, but redundancy is why the smaller one is a 1000 watt model.&nbsp; My system is wired up so that one inverter can step in and take the place of the other in case of problems just by moving the plug from one to the other.&nbsp; Both can power anything.&nbsp; My microwave is small.&nbsp; It is a 700 watt model.&nbsp; It's actual draw at full power is just over 1000 watts.&nbsp; I can adjust the power level to 50% and that drops the power draw to around 750 watts.&nbsp; Takes a little longer to cook, but it will work with the smaller 1000 watt inverter if the big one ever dies on me.</p>
 
Top