Portable Inverter (1 Viewer)

[Jo662]

I have searched on here for inverters and can only find info on fixed
ones.Im interested in a portable one that you just plug in when
you need.I would need at least 300w .Anyone know which ones
are a good buy?

 

[Robert Clark]

Amzdeal 300W Car Power Inverter with 4.2A Dual USB Port,DC 12V to AC 220V inverter with universal AC socket Amazon product ASIN B01LA9U2SO

 

[Jo662]

Thank you Robert,thats just what Im looking for!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[hilldweller]

Is that the Rhein in your avatar ?

300W, you will have to clip onto a battery, too much current for a cigar socket.

Vienese bought one this month, it worked !

http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/charging-my-laptop.151008/page-2#post-2309027

 

[TheBig1]

aldi have a 300w one in currently with a 3 year warranty. saw them on the shelf this afternoon and under £30 as i recall

 

[TheBig1]

Broken Link Removed

£22.99 free delivery

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Reallyretired]

Most lighter sockets are only rated up to 10A your inverter at full load will draw about 30A so definitely needs connection to the battery.

 

[Jo662]

I will only charge my laptop or phones, and not at the same
time so would`nt reach the max watts.

Is that the Rhein in your avatar ?

300W, you will have to clip onto a battery, too much current for a cigar socket.

Vienese bought one this month, it worked !

http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/charging-my-laptop.151008/page-2#post-2309027

Most lighter sockets are only rated up to 10A your inverter at full load will draw about 30A so definitely needs connection to the battery.

 

[Reallyretired]

Why charge phones on an inverter, they can just use a 12v charger. Seems a bit daft to convert 12v to 240v and then use a charger which converts the 240v down to around 5.5v to charge a phone. Laptops also can be charged with a 12v adaptor, best to get one designed for your laptop rather than the all purpose ones with loose adaptors.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[The Nomad]

I will only charge my laptop or phones, and not at the same
time so would`nt reach the max watts.

Then don't use an inverter at all - just use a 12 volt ciggie plug-to-USB for your phone, and a small universal 12volt ciggie plug-ended transformer which'll step the DC up to whatever your laptop needs (perhaps 19 volts?), from ebay, Maplins etc etc.

 

[Chris51]

Most lighter sockets are only rated up to 10A your inverter at full load will draw about 30A so definitely needs connection to the battery.

My Relay based van has a cig lighter socket on dash rated at 180 watt max -could I work a 300 or 600 watt inverter off it while driving?

 

[DavidG58]

We use a portable inverter, for reasons bet know to Maplins they do not do a 12V to my HP laptop option

But when ever we use out inverter, (mostly while on the move) we also plug in other stuff we cant charge via USB, so for us the inverter option wins, we charge both laptops, phones, karcher all off the one inverter at the same time for the same power consumption

I have checked consumption, when using a specific 12V power supply to charge Bevs laptop, the Amps taken are very similar to running the inverter, but the inverter is universal whereas the power supply has to be specific to the device, I am yet to be convinced on 12V power supplies

we also seem to get away with running our 150W inverter (which is ample for 2 laptops at the same time) from our 12V sockets

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Reallyretired]

My Relay based van has a cig lighter socket on dash rated at 180 watt max -could I work a 300 or 600 watt inverter off it while driving?

Put simply No.
180w at 12v is 15A your 300w inverter will draw twice that and the 600w four times as much. The standard lighter sockets are pretty naff anyway, my coolbox draws just 3.5A and the plug gets decidedly warm after an hour or two.

 

[mjltigger]

I run a small inverter I bought a few years ago from Halfords. It is enough to power my laptop from the cigarette lighter. I think 150 w

My laptop is issued by work so I'm not going to spend cash on 12v power for it.

I also use it in my car sometimes for see ice station conference calls etc.

 

[Viennese]

Is that the Rhein in your avatar ?

300W, you will have to clip onto a battery, too much current for a cigar socket.

Vienese bought one this month, it worked !

http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/charging-my-laptop.151008/page-2#post-2309027

Yes, after advice on this site I bought Broken Link Removed, and @hilldweller helped me get to know it! I ordered it on line and it came very quickly from Aldi... Nothing else would charge my particular laptop, tried 2 12 volt leads, no good.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Jo662]

Is that the Rhein in your avatar ?

Yes it is the Rhine,we had a great time there two years ago!

 

[Cal54]

Excuse my ignorance re inverters folks but I'm trying to find a suitable way of charging the battery for my electric bike. Any help re the following queries would be much appreciated but keep it simple PLEASE!

My current set up us 2 x 100 amph batteries and 2 x 100 wt solar panels. However my van has a compressor fridge and whatever I do I don't want to risk insufficient power for the fridge. The solar controller isn't in a visible position so I don't really know what is going into my batteries without disrupting the dining area in my van! And quite frankly I'm not sure I would understand the readings anyway!!

Q1) what size inverter would I need to charge the e bike battery
Q2) is there a way to ensure the inverter doesn't draw too much from my batteries and therefore compromise my fridge. Other than not using it of course.

 

[Viennese]

I shall also be interested in any answer to this!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

@Cal54 My answer will probably differ from others, but I think this a classic option for a small inverter, you will need to check the charger you already have for the bike, on it will be the rating, possibly only in DC volts and amps

you then need someone cleverer than me to work out the watts, unless your charge already quotes that as well (unlikely) I think it is amps multiplied by volts

so to quote my own laptop, 4 x 19.5 = 78 watts

then add a few on top and get an inverter to cope, we use a 150W and have charged our bike battery

we tend to do this while on the move to minimise the impact on the leisure battery

my controller quotes amps being taken from battery, our inverter takes around 5A, but normal laptop charging only takes 30 minutes, not sure about the bike battery

 

[Cal54]

@DavidG58 - Thanks David, I'll have a look at my charger and try and work something out. I tend to put the bike back on charge whenever I use it so probably not switched on for more than an hour at a time. I also know that if static I should do the charging during the day to maximise the use of the solar panels. I'm just a bit 'anal' about not compromising my fridge as I can't see the point in charging the bike just to go to the shops to replace all the food that has gone off because there was no power to the fridge!!

 

[Infinity31]

@Cal54 My answer will probably differ from others, but I think this a classic option for a small inverter, you will need to check the charger you already have for the bike, on it will be the rating, possibly only in DC volts and amps

you then need someone cleverer than me to work out the watts, unless your charge already quotes that as well (unlikely) I think it is amps multiplied by volts

so to quote my own laptop, 4 x 19.5 = 78 watts

then add a few on top and get an inverter to cope, we use a 150W and have charged our bike battery

we tend to do this while on the move to minimise the impact on the leisure battery

my controller quotes amps being taken from battery, our inverter takes around 5A, but normal laptop charging only takes 30 minutes, not sure about the bike battery

Ohms law calculators are useful http://www.ohmslawcalculator.com/ohms-law-calculator

My ebike charger states an output of 42v @ 3A, so from the calculator power is 126W (simple math but confirms DavidG58 workings)

180W inverters are available with 12v power plugs.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Doctor Dave]

Be aware that your ebike charger MAY require a pure sine wave to work correctly - the one shown in the link to Amazon is a modified sine wave (or modified square wave) and possibly would not be suitable.

Dave

 

[hilldweller]

Q1) what size inverter would I need to charge the e bike battery
Q2) is there a way to ensure the inverter doesn't draw too much from my batteries and therefore compromise my fridge. Other than not using it of course.

Get a Nasa BM1 fitted, it will show you the state of your batteries as a percentage and a little graph.
Use this to judge when you must switch off the inverter.
Since it shows the battery state all the time you will soon see what the fridge is using.

This is what we do though without the fridge using a 300W inverter.

 

[hilldweller]

Yes it is the Rhine,we had a great time there two years ago!

It was a toss up between Rhine and Moselle. Cocham looks very similar.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Infinity31]

Be aware that your ebike charger MAY require a pure sine wave to work correctly - the one shown in the link to Amazon is a modified sine wave (or modified square wave) and possibly would not be suitable.

Dave

Yep, personally I wouldn't save a few quid buying a modified sine wave inverter, some liken them to running a car with square wheels.

They maybe ok powering simple things like lighting but a pure sine wave inverter is a safer bet for sensitive equipment.

 

[Cal54]

Thanks for all your advice guys. Will look into this further now that I am armed with more info.

 

[Cal54]

I'm afraid the ohms law calculations have not registered on my female brain cells!

From the calculations I think a 300 wt inverter will be more than adequate, but can someone please confirm this for me - see picture above. I take the point about pure sine wave, and given the difference in cost I don't want to be buying bigger than I actually need.

Thanks

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Cal54]

@hilldweller, thanks for the Nasa BM1 recommendation. I can actually understand percentages so can see that being advantageous even without the inverter question. Looks like it might even be simple enough for me to actually attempt to fit myself although I won't!!

 

[Infinity31]

36V output @ 2A = 72W so all good. I think 300W inverter would need connecting directly to the battery. A smaller one would still be up to charging your bike battery and laptops etc, but could be conveniently powered from a 12v socket.

I use this, not cheap but has worked flawlessly with everything I plug into it.

 

[Cal54]

Thanks @Infinity31, that's what I calculated. Not a problem connecting direct to the leisure battery as that is where I would want to sit the battery during charging.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}