Which Inverter?

[ChrisA1]

Can anyone advise me a good cheap inverter please? There seems to be 1000s out there and I don't know where to start! What does it definitely need to have? Any essential features cheap ones are missing? I only want it as a backup for the odd day when not on hookup. Some are like £25, others are £100s! We won't be needing anything high powered running off it, just the very essentials for the odd night. Thanks again, you guys are helping me out loads!

 

[pappajohn]

A lot depends just WHAT you want to run and how much power it needs.
How many batteries do you have and what's your expected usage in a timescale?

 

[two]

"Good" and "Cheap" don't normally go together.

 

[ChrisA1]

1 x 110ah battery. Couple of hours TV at night for the kids is the main thing that comes to mind. Charging a couple of phones aswell. That's probably it.

 

[Richard n Ann]

1 x 110ah battery. Couple of hours TV at night for the kids is the main thing that comes to mind. Charging a couple of phones aswell. That's probably it.

You want a 200w pure sine wave one for that usage ?

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[funflair]

I know there are some inverter disbelievers on here but I am a big fan of them BUT, TV and phone charging can both be done very easily off 12v so I would spend the money on another battery instead.

Martin

 

[pappajohn]

300 watt inverter is more than sufficient for that.
I would charge phones using USB charger leads in cig socket.
No point inverting 12v to 230v to convert it back to 5v via the phone charger..... Very inefficient use of battery power.
Even charging a laptop can be done with a 12v to 19v converter.

 

[pappajohn]

I know there are some inverter disbelievers on here but I am a big fan of them BUT, TV and phone charging can both be done very easily off 12v so I would spend the money on another battery instead.

Martin

Only if its a 230v/12v TV
Some are still 230v only.

 

[funflair]

Only if its a 230v/12v TV
Some are still 230v only.

Indeed

 

[ChrisA1]

Thanks. Sine waves I have seen mentioned. Do I need to allow for them? I see some say about being "true" and some "modified?"

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[peterc10]

Inverters are not very efficient so waste power. We have one but only use it for wife's hairdryer. Everything else, including TV, phone charging etc is run off 12V. You can get 12v adapters for almost everything nowadays.

Electronic items all use low voltage DC. It is totally inefficient to turn 12v DC to 240v AC with an inverter and then get the TV or charger to change it back to 5v or 12v DC again.

 

[DBK]

Thanks. Sine waves I have seen mentioned. Do I need to allow for them? I see some say about being "true" and some "modified?"

Modified sine wave inverters are cheaper but can damage some devices such as electric toothbrushes, your TV may also object but you'll only know that when it expires. As others have said you would be better converting everything to 12 volts. Otherwise, look for a pure sine wave inverter and install it with the correct size cables and fuse plus an isolating switch. There's a link in my signature block to how I fitted mine.

 

[ChrisA1]

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but how do the 12v adapters connect to the leisure battery then? Is the cigarette lighter shape hole what i need to recreate, or is there something else on the market? A link to what I need would be fantastic! Thanks all!

 

[peterc10]

You can fit additional ciggy lighter type sockets. There is lots to choose from on Ebay. Or if you are fussy you can buy them to match the sockets and light switches in your motorhome. Best to start with a dealer of your converter of moho. Or you could google CBE switches. They do several ranges that many converters use.

Nearly all small electronics like phones use the standard 5V USB interface and you can get adaptors for those that wire directly to your 12V or just push into a ciggy type socket. For computers use Amazon and search for 12V adaptors for your specific model. Plenty of TVs are now sold with a 12V ciggy type adaptor included. You can even get 12V chargers for shavers and rechargeable AA/AAA batteries and USB charges for toothbrushes.

 

[Richard n Ann]

You need mains for toothbrush chargers, rechargeable vacuum cleaner and hair clippers. The losses are small with small inverters, ours only uses 0.2 amps ?

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[funflair]

You need mains for toothbrush chargers, rechargeable vacuum cleaner and hair clippers. The losses are small with small inverters, ours only uses 0.2 amps ?

Do you mean "mains" or Pure Sine Wave be it from an inverter or mains EHU, and if EHU I would ask why?

Martin

 

[peterc10]

You need mains for toothbrush chargers, rechargeable vacuum cleaner and hair clippers. The losses are small with small inverters, ours only uses 0.2 amps ?

Not all correct. There is now a 5V USB based charger available for OralB toothbrushes. There was a thread on here about it a while ago. And the Dyson rechargeable we keep in the moho has a 12V charger. There are plenty of cordless hair clippers for dogs and people about, but I am not sure about charging those.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Do you mean "mains" or Pure Sine Wave be it from an inverter or mains EHU, and if EHU I would ask why?

Martin

I meant Pure sine inverter or ehu.

Not all correct. There is now a 5V USB based charger available for OralB toothbrushes. There was a thread on here about it a while ago. And the Dyson rechargeable we keep in the moho has a 12V charger. There are plenty of cordless hair clippers for dogs and people about, but I am not sure about charging those.

My toothbrush is a Philips sonic but Ann's would be ok then. Our vacuum cleaner is a black and decker 18v thing. In my opinion it's easier to use a small inverter for the lot rather than buying the separate specialist chargers.
Our solar makes 9 amps so 0.2 wasted on an inverter is nothing. And it works with everything. ?

 

[peterc10]

The 0.2 amps is the standby current I suspect. It will waste more than that I suspect when in use. Remember there will be two lots of wastage when in use, one converting from 12v DC to 240v AC and another converting in the appliance itself from 240V AC back down to whatever low DC voltage is used by the appliance. Not much I agree in the summer, but in the winter off of grid you need all the savings you can get.

 

[two]

If your toothbrush 'runs out' you could always use your arm until hooked-up again.

The extra cost of a small pure sine wave inverter (300W) is small and worth it to avoid the worry of causing damage to devices.

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[Richard n Ann]

Just looked the spec sheet up. Standby current 0.18 amps and 93% efficiency ? ?the finest Swiss inverter money can buy.
Far too expensive for you peasants ?

Only joking xx

 

[Richard n Ann]

If your toothbrush 'runs out' you could always use your arm until hooked-up again

I could walk if the car breaks down too ?

 

[peterc10]

Just looked the spec sheet up. Standby current 0.18 amps and 93% efficiency ? ?the finest Swiss inverter money can buy.
Far too expensive for you peasants ?

Only joking xx

Is it a Marks and Spencer inverter ...............................................

 

[two]

I think the cheaper ones are Sparks & Mincer.

 

[DBK]

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but how do the 12v adapters connect to the leisure battery then? Is the cigarette lighter shape hole what i need to recreate, or is there something else on the market? A link to what I need would be fantastic! Thanks all!

Just Google "12 volt USB outlet" and you will see the sort of things I fitted. I wouldn't go for the cheapest and fit an in-line 3 amp fuse. Alternatively, fit a cigar lighter socket and use a USB adapter but go for the low profile adapters not the ones which stick out a long way as they can vibrate out on the move.

Obviously you need to find a circuit you can tap into, such as a lighting circuit although you could run wires back to the batteries or the main fuse box. It will depend to some extent where you want to put them.

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[StitchesnFluff]

Just Google "12 volt USB outlet" and you will see the sort of things I fitted. I wouldn't go for the cheapest and fit an in-line 3 amp fuse. Alternatively, fit a cigar lighter socket and use a USB adapter but go for the low profile adapters not the ones which stick out a long way as they can vibrate out on the move.

Obviously you need to find a circuit you can tap into, such as a lighting circuit although you could run wires back to the batteries or the main fuse box. It will depend to some extent where you want to put them.

I didn’t realise that I could have connected the usb charge point to a lighting circuit, makes sense now I think about it!

 

[busbuddy]

just out of curiosity....has anyone on here ever bought one of the cheap chinese inverters? like the ones that cost £40 for 3000w

 

[Camping Gaza]

just out of curiosity....has anyone on here ever bought one of the cheap chinese inverters? like the ones that cost £40 for 3000w

Yeah this bloke

 

[busbuddy]

my thoughts exactly but i just thought with all the 'cheap' inverters available why has one of the big magazines not done a review/story on them

 

[DBK]

my thoughts exactly but i just thought with all the 'cheap' inverters available why has one of the big magazines not done a review/story on them

Because they don't buy adverts in the magazines. My 1500W PSW inverter was around £150 and it's still working.