I've just been made aware of a piece of equipment called an Inverter ( yea! I live in the stone age ! )Apparently it converts 12 volt to 230/240 and enables you to run a portable TV in the van, off the cigarette lighter. Saves you trying to get a 12 volt TV. I plan to buy a 300watt unit to run a portable TV and Xbox for the kids ( total-150 watt )on the way to France this year. ( 3rd year in a row for my 92 Liteace )Anyone had experience of these ? Are there any issues or concerns regarding their use ?
- (#8576) stephen judge, 16 Feb 04 14:48
Hi Stephan,
The only thing to watch out for with these things is the power that they use. Too much and your battery will quickly drain. I have a customer that makes them for the PS2 and others, so I will try to get you some details of how much and where to get one tomorrow. Hope that helps
Dave Bright(Bournemouth)
- (#8576) dave Bright (Bournemouth), 16 Feb 04 14:55
Also bear in mind that the inversion process also uses some power too. Mind you on a long haul the battery would be kept well charged.
I did read something about cheap invertors not being OK for some 'sensitive' electronic equipment. Something about them not delivering 'pure sine wave'.
I don't have the knowledge to comment on the validity of the sine wave bit.....maybe someone else can chip in on this?
- (#8576) chris turner, 16 Feb 04 15:36
Dave,
Keep me posted on what you can find out. I,m looking at ebay - not one of the ??Faulty/returned units but an OEM one. Prices seem to be about £39.
Chris,
Yea, I,ve heard that too. Its all over my head - Square V's rounded sine waves. It seems the best are the units that provide a more true ( rounded ) sine wave.
All info appreciated !
- (#8576) stephen judge, 16 Feb 04 16:09
The problem with some inverters is the way they work, remember the car is 12 volts direct current, so you have to transform this 12v DC to 240v AC, to do this you first need to create AC so they use a circuit to create the AC, unfortunately it doesn't tend to create a sine wave, but more of a square wave, then uses the step up transformer to create the 230-240V, this means that it will use about 20 times the current of the 12V device, slightly more allowing for the conversion process, so a 250w device that draws 1 amp (approx) at 230 volts will draw in excess of 20 amps from your car battery, so it will kill the battery quickly if the engine isn't running, that being said, my experience with these is very good.
However this problem of sine & sqaure waves can be a problem when using some computer equipment, it can cause the clocks to run incorrectly & soem other undesirable effects. If you want to solve this problem, Maplin do list a unit as 'Pure Sine Wave' this inserts a proper sine wave output & should solve the problem, but appears to be many times the price of the cheapie ones.
Hope this helps, Regards Rob.
- (#8576) Rob Drinkwater, 16 Feb 04 16:27
I've been using an inverter plugged into the rear cigar lighter socket for a couple of years, for TV, VCR and Playstation on long trips, including Disneyland. It was £50 from www.Maplin.co.uk now £30 I think, no special sine waves.
Yes, be aware how much current you're using. Once I stupidly stopped for 5 mins in a layby and left the headlights on as well as allowing the children to continue watching the video. Starter wouldn't turn but after a few minutes with everything off the battery, recovered enough to get us going.
Inverters now come with "soft start" (mine doesn't) which is probably useful. Conventional TVs take a big surge of current at first, which is why you need an inverter rated as high as 300W. Even so, mine would trip on this surge until I rewired the rear cigar lighter socket direct (via an inline fuse) to the battery with thick wire - with the additional advantage it's always on for things like the vacuum cleaner and phone charging.
- (#8576) Dave (Sussex), 16 Feb 04 23:32
Stephen, buying one of these off Ebay might be iffy.
Other than some fancy sine wave models and some oddities with DC out, nearly all of these thing produce what is known as a "modified square wave"- the waveform looks sine in shape but a bit steppy, not smooth. Downside can be a noise pattern on some tellys. Best call into Maplin over on Boucher Road- if you're happy that a 300W unit will be OK for you, they had the 300W on offer recently. £19.95 IIRC.
David
- (#8576) david miller, 17 Feb 04 00:26
Just seen an "Soft Start" inverter on Maplins website on offer at £39.99 (usually £79.99)
www.maplin.co.uk and look in the clearance section.
- (#8576) Tony Meese, 17 Feb 04 02:13
I bought one from www.tlc-direct.co.uk. Works fine and was good price.
- (#8576) Eric Ballard, 18 Feb 04 02:53
Sorry to keep harping on about these things, everyone, but I'm still confused.
I recon I will run about 135 watts ( portable TV + XBOX )
So I assume I need a 300 watt to be safe.
I've got Square wave, pure sine wave and modified Square wave ( I assume to be Sawtooth shape) to choose from.
I've got Skytronic, Nokea and other manufacturers to choose from.
What I need is - Stephen, I've got a *** running a ***,
no TV interference, should be OK for your needs.
I'm not a TV or HI-FI nerd so a decent picture relatively interference free ( that won't have the kids complaining )is what I want.
Local Maplins store won't have a 300 watt ( Is that too powerful ? ) until end of March. Thats not too late for my needs. But I would like to solve this issue sooner.
- (#8576) stephen judge, 19 Feb 04 15:58
Nothing's too big. The quiescent current's about the same regardless of the size, any you never know what you'll want to connect in future.
I've got a Skytronic 600W jobbie. It's a modified square wave unit, and has happily done everything I've ever wanted- power drills, battery chargers, small fridge, telly. No probs.
It's a pretty generic market- you'll find a number of identical units with different brands.
I'd say pure sine is overkill UNLESS you can get one for the same price as a mod. sq. Then it's a bargain!
But Square wave only might cause problems. Not just interference- wise, but also starting electric motors, if you ever need to.
And if there is any degree of interference with your particular combo, you can filter some out with ferrite rings etc anyway...
- (#8576) david miller, 20 Feb 04 00:40
Hi Stephan,
Unfortunately I have not been able to contact my customer all week, I think he may be on holiday or something, so I have nothing for you yet. I will keep trying though and will let you know.
I’m going completely off topic here I know, but I have been trying to find out what the power rating is for a 12 cubic foot freezer. A friend needs to cover 4 of them with a generator, and I am at a loss to know what size generator she would need.
- (#8576) dave Bright (Bournemouth), 20 Feb 04 04:56
Dave, will there not be a sticker or plate around the freezers compressor somewhere? One hell of an ice box shes putting together! Alternatively pop in the local electrical shop and look at the back of the appliances.
- (#8576) chris turner, 20 Feb 04 09:37
Hi Chris.
Yes there will be a sticker on the compressor, but the freezers are in a small galley type kitchen and to make matters worse, the freezers are full of food and they are in a bar in Spain. I will have to go to Dixons or somewhere and have a look.
Thanks
- (#8576) dave Bright, 21 Feb 04 03:28
I use a standard UPS for computer backup power with a cable wired via a fuse from the internal UPS battery to the car battery via the cig lighter.A UPS is a very efficient inverter, Quasi Sine wave yes, but designed to run sensitive computers,I use mine to run a sound system ,no Hum .Sine wave UPS s can be obtained at a slightly higher price.One precaution some UPSs reqire a 240 or mains supply to start and others shut down after a period of time or have an annoying beep when operated in battery mode ,however their minimum RMS rateing is usually in the 300w range for the cheeper models and will readily power a small telly,but you will have to start the car occasionally to charge the Batteries (car and UPS) or alternatively mount a solar panel on the roof..
- (#8576) kevin, 24 Feb 04 05:28