Inverter (1 Viewer)

Apr 27, 2016
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Note carefully that there are two types of inverter.

An inverter changes 12V DC into 240 volts AC, but changing the voltage level is not the whole story. AC means the voltage changes from positive to negative and back, 50 times per second. The designer chooses whether to just switch it crudely or to make it nicely increase and decrease like a smooth water wave. The smooth wave type is called 'Pure Sine Wave' (PSW), the other type is called Modified Sine Wave (MSW) or Quasi Sine Wave. The domestic mains electric supply is always Pure Sine Wave.

Some things like lights, heaters, drills etc can use MSW with no problem. Other things, typically those with electronics and digital controls, can have problems. I have a Nespresso automatic coffee machine (1250 watts) that just won't work on a 2000W MSW inverter.

Unfortunately your Sky box sounds like exactly the kind of thing that will have problems with an MSW inverter. If you can try before you buy, then by all means give an MSW inverter a go. But I'd bet that you need a PSW inverter for this. It's more expensive, but for small wattages not massively so.

Pure Sine Wave inverters are usually clearly labelled on the box/web site. MSW inverters often have this property missing or hidden down in the small print of the specification. Usually if you have to ask, it's not PSW.
 
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scotjimland

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Feb 24, 2013
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@scotjimland

Morning Jim, thanks for the link, I have been planning to upgrade mine, the answer may simply be the larger unit was not available when you bought yours, but from my quick scan of the spec the 800W for £7 more looks a much better option

Will it simply take more out of the battery?

http://www.sp-shop.co.uk/Power-Inverters/


EDIT ignore me, didn't read properly, the 800W is the Q (quasi not sine) o_O

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scotjimland

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Will it simply take more out of the battery?

Hi David..

No inverter is 100% efficient.. there are losses in converting 12vdc to 240vac .. so there is a very small power loss with all inverters.. and the bigger they are the more power lost.. but in relative terms it is quite small .. a few percent of the full load.

The power used from the battery depends on the connected load.. not the inverter rating..

as a general rule of thumb.. buy an inverter that is about 25% bigger than you need.. the reason being, inverters are at their most efficient when used at or near full load.. a big inverter only being used at 10% of it's max load is inefficient .. it's wasting energy...

for example.. you have a 500watt max load .. then buy a 750watt inverter.. this leaves spare power for start up loads which can be 3 or 4 times the continuous load.. but inverters can generally cope with this.. usually stated as 'continuous power' and 'peak power.'

Quality PSW inverters deal with this by having a 40%-100% surge capacity.


hope that helps and doesn't confuse...
 
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Jul 29, 2013
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I have a Maplins 300w modified sine wave inverter that runs the Sky box without any trouble the box is 45w as I recall
 
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Small wattage but cheap

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Dec 7, 2009
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I run my Sky box with a 150w modified wave inverter - it was a very cheap one from Aldi / Lidl.

Unfortunately my Macbook pro doesn't like the modified supply so I have just ordered a 150 pure sine wave. I will leave the Sky box on the 'cheapo' unit and use the 'good' one for charging laptop, iPads etc.
 
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I run my Sky box with a 150w modified wave inverter - it was a very cheap one from Aldi / Lidl.

Unfortunately my Macbook pro doesn't like the modified supply so I have just ordered a 150 pure sine wave. I will leave the Sky box on the 'cheapo' unit and use the 'good' one for charging laptop, iPads etc.

Why not just charge from USB in the van power sockets while on the go?
 
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scotjimland

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I dont know. I was presuming the ipads and etc would be mobile phones.

yes.. you can charge an iPad and mobile phone from a USB .. but not a laptop..

however.. you can charge most laptops from a 12v adapter.. but there isn't an Apple approved one to charge a MacBook Pro .. I believe there are third party adapters.. but I won't risk damaging an expensive laptop .. hence buying the PSW Sterling Inverter
 
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Yes then I need another sky card and can't view programs from the planner
Sorry, didn't realise you were taking the one out of the house.
My 12v sky box is set up as multi room and get everything including the planner just as if I were at home.
 
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Lot lover

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Am I correct in suspecting that somewhere on my little black box will be a label telling make, model no, output and all sorts of other things that I will not understand?

And am I correct in guessing that it will be behind or underneath something seemingly welded in place?

And other than the label they all look the same?

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Jul 29, 2013
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Yes then I need another sky card and can't view programs from the planner
You can get a sky pace box which are no longer made but they are not HD and hard to find but you can use the card out of your home Sky box in it.
Just search pace javelin on eBay
 
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Mar 21, 2009
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I have a 200 watt Sterling Pure Sine Wave .. that would be more than adequate for your needs.. http://sterling-power.com/products/pro-power-sb-pure-sine-wave-inverters

I use mine to charge camera batteries, tooth brush, my MacBook Pro and other things that have no 12v charger option..

As said.. don't buy a cheap quasi sine wave for sensitive electronics..

I purchased mine from this vendor

http://www.sp-shop.co.uk/Sterling-P...B-charger-with-Cig-Connector-PN-SIB12200.html
Would this charge an electric bike battery, @scotjimland?
 
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Mar 21, 2009
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Look on your chargers data label for input watts or amps.
Without that info its not possible to say.

240 watts at 240volts is 1 amp
240 watts at 12 volts is 20amps.

All it says is 36V 13.4 Ah 500Wh - presumably that's the output though? Sorry, but electricity is a complete mystery to me!
 
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scotjimland

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Would this charge an electric bike battery, @scotjimland?


All it says is 36V 13.4 Ah 500Wh - presumably that's the output though? Sorry, but electricity is a complete mystery to me!

That is the capacity of the battery, expressed in watt hours .. the formula for V x A = W .. 36v x 13.4A = 482.4 watt ( more or less 500watt )

Without knowing the charger input amps its impossible to say, The 200watt inverter has an output of less than 1 amp , which I would I imagine is less than required for the bike charger.. you will probably need an inverter that can supply about 3 amps, at 240v that = 720watt inverter.. nearest size up would probably be 1,000 watts 1kw ..

A PSW 1 kw inverter is quite expensive.. and personally wouldn't risk using a cheaper.. quasi sine wave.. It would also need heavy cabling .

Charging the bike battery from an inverter is only practical on the move and the alternator is charging the leisure battery .. otherwise your leisure battery would soon be flat..

I have two electric bikes and looked into charging from an inverter and decided it was too expensive and more work than I wanted to do.. so decided to only use them when I have a site with EHU .. If going abroad quite a lot of aires have an EHU..

Hope that helps..

PS.. the other option which you may have considered is a generator.. a 1kw Honda suitcase model would do the job... but noisy and heavy to carry, and it would take several hours to fully charge a bike battery .. I threw that idea out on the grounds of causing too much disturbance
 
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Welsh girl

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We used to charge our bike batteries from A 300 watt sine wave inverter but even in the portuguese sun it would run the battery down using the leisure batteries so in the end we charge them while driving.
Took a while when the batteries were empty though ( bike batteries)

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Mar 21, 2009
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That is the capacity of the battery, expressed in watt hours .. the formula for V x A = W .. 36v x 13.4A = 482.4 watt ( more or less 500watt )

Charging the bike battery from an inverter is only practical on the move and the alternator is charging the leisure battery .. otherwise your leisure battery would soon be flat..

I have two electric bikes and looked into charging from an inverter and decided it was too expensive and more work than I wanted to do.. so decided to only use them when I have a site with EHU .. If going abroad quite a lot of aires have an EHU..

Hope that helps..
Thanks, Jim. That is very helpful indeed. I will take your advice and buy the Sterling you recommend to charge my laptop and camera batteries.
 
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Sep 3, 2009
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My previous 200w inverter wouldn't power a bike charger marled 1.8 amp input. I've now got a 600w one from Maplins. Schaudt recommend connecting to the starter battery to avoid confusing the Elektroblock on my Hymer. To ensure it's only in use when the engine is running, I want to connect it through a relay powered with the D+ signal. How do I calculate the relay rating required? The new bike charger is marked 90 watt input, and I also want to connect a Dell charger marked 2.5 amp input.

Malcolm
 
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