Slow Cooking on the move! (1 Viewer)

[hilldweller]

Could you pleeeeeze explain to a complete numpty (me) about inverters?

It's a BOX.

One end will have a normal 240V mains socket.

Other end is a wire.

You feed 12V into The Wire and 240V comes out of the socket.

 

[mjltigger]

It's a BOX.

One end will have a normal 240V mains socket.

Other end is a wire.

You feed 12V into The Wire and 240V comes out of the socket.

Perfect.. the next stage of complexity requires a little maths but basically if your batteries are big enough and your inverter is powerful enough yoh can take any ordinary domestic appliance and use it in your camper without mains hook up.

There are much more qualified people than me to explain the maths if you are interested.

 

[Dave and Ginny]

if the batteries are big enough and your inverter is powerful enough yoh can take any ordinary domestic appliance and use it in your camper

Well maybe not 'any' domestic appliance, a 2kw electric heater running from a 2000w inverter for example, will have even the biggest of batteries dead as a doornail in a very short time

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[mjltigger]

Well maybe not 'any' domestic appliance, a 2kw electric heater running from a 2000w inverter for example, will have even the biggest of batteries dead as a doornail in a very short time

ah but it will run it though.. although I'm not sure I'd run a device on an inverter with 0 margin in the capacity.

 

[Dave and Ginny]

ah but it will run it though...

Probably, but I suspect not even long enough to take the chill off the van

 

[K1m]

I use a 12volt slow cooker bought from RoadPro a few years back. Comes with elastic retaining strap for lid and sits nicely on floor of bathroom whilst travelling. In addition to the stew and curry try boiling a gammon joint...lovely!

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[CWH]

Thanks everybody - this is the perfect level of explanation for me. But of course raises other questions which I hope you won't mind:

You feed 12V into The Wire

Does this mean it has to be 'permanently' wired into one of the 12v sockets? Or would it have the cigar-shaped plug end attached?

explain the maths

I'm guessing lowest powered items only?

2000w inverter

oh blimey, and they come in different capacities as well?

Told you I was a complete numpty!

 

[Dave and Ginny]

No you wont need a 2000w inverter! Sorry, didn't want to be misleading!

My slow cooker is rated at 170w. I'm going to upgrade my inverter to a 300w so it has a bit of spare capacity and won't be working too hard. I have previously just used it for charging camera batteries, laptop etc and I've used the cigarette lighter socket on the dash. However, I'm going to wire my new (when I get it) inverter direct to the leisure battery through, probably a 25amp in line fuse.

 

[CWH]

a 25amp in line fuse.

oh, now you've lost me! and I was doing so well... But this means they can be plugged in OR wired in?
I think you're saying that a 300w is plenty big enough?
So, is the thingy I've got that plugs my laptop into a 12v socket a kind of inverter then?

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[mjltigger]

oh, now you've lost me! and I was doing so well... But this means they can be plugged in OR wired in?
I think you're saying that a 300w is plenty big enough?
So, is the thingy I've got that plugs my laptop into a 12v socket a kind of inverter then?

That gets confusing because the laptop is probably using somewhere between 5 and 12v anyway hence the big block you plug in at home to change from 240v to whatever the laptop uses. Because it is almost certainly less than 12v you dint need an inverter to step up to 240 then another box to drop to say 12 and that's why you get 12v leads for laptops.

Having said that, as I run 2 inverters anyway I haven't invested in a 12v lead and I just plug in the normal domestic lead .

 

[Dave and Ginny]

oh, now you've lost me! and I was doing so well... But this means they can be plugged in OR wired in?
I think you're saying that a 300w is plenty big enough?
So, is the thingy I've got that plugs my laptop into a 12v socket a kind of inverter then?

They can be, for low wattage items like charging camera batteries, a laptop or items of that nature. The cigarette lighter socket though on most vehicles is not designed to power high capacity or wattage items, it would be drawing to many amps and risk overheating. Wiring direct to the battery would be best for items over 150w, in which case it's wise to fit an in-line fuse as close to the connection to the battery as possible.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[hilldweller]

Just confirm above...
Up to 150W plug in.
Over 150W you need to get it wired direct to a battery, usually the leisure battery so that if you accidentally flatten it you can still start the engine.

I would dare to say do not fit an inverter over 300W because past that it's heating something and heat is best done by gas which stores far more heat in a tank than a dozen batteries.

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[Puddleduck]

Well this is what we do - and have done for many years and we are still alive and no problems so far

Thanks everybody - this is the perfect level of explanation for me. But of course raises other questions which I hope you won't mind:


Does this mean it has to be 'permanently' wired into one of the 12v sockets? Or would it have the cigar-shaped plug end attached?

I'm guessing lowest powered items only?

oh blimey, and they come in different capacities as well?

Told you I was a complete numpty!

Our invertor has the cigar plug on the end and goes into a socket in the hab area of the van. We had extra sockets put in at the bed end because we need medical equipment overnight and had both 230 and 12 v sockets put in when we did it. This 12v socket runs from the leisure battery.

Invertors do come in different capacities. Ours was a cheapie from Lidl but is fine for what we want - low power items only. Not sure of the wattage 200 I think, and the slow cooker only pulls 90 max (or was it 70?) anyway very little. The invertor is mostly used for the slow cooker. I have 12v leads for laptop.

oh, now you've lost me! and I was doing so well... But this means they can be plugged in OR wired in?
I think you're saying that a 300w is plenty big enough?
So, is the thingy I've got that plugs my laptop into a 12v socket a kind of inverter then?

They can be plugged or hard wired.

What you use the invertor for will determine the size you need. Bigger isn't always better in this case. As a general rule of thumb I was told to multiply the power draw by 1.5 to 2 to determine the size of invertor. So for a 90w slow cooker a 150 or 200 w invertor is more than adequate. All electrical appliances have labels so it's not like there is a lot of maths.

When you plug your laptop into the mains at home the box on it steps the 230v down to 12v. Just get a 12v lead for your laptop, worth paying for the branded in this case (voice of experience), they cost very little and save a lot of faffing around.

 

[CWH]

Link Broken Thank you so much everybody, I've learned such a lot from you Link Broken