Can I power a drill with my camper's inverter?

[siiva]

Installed in my camper are two lithium batteries and a WCS COMBI Inverter 2000W/100A. I assume that as long as the power consumption of a device (amps x volts) is below 2000w then I should be fine?

Also, on the panel for the inverter, there is a switch that has three options: Off, 1, 2. The dealer told me never to use 2, but I didn't ask why, but I'm curious as to what is the difference between these two settings?

Thank you

 

[Bessy765]

CombiMaster 12/3000-100 (230 V) | Mastervolt

Most compact and lightweight 12/3000-100 (230 V) Combi in its class. With the CombiMaster, power dips and failures belong to the past

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[oldiesontour]

Beware that motors can draw Upto 10 times their rated power on start up , especially if starting under load.But in answer to your question you have aa output of whatever it says on the inverter ...but not a good idea to run at full load for a sustained period, inverters usually have lots of self protection built in IE.over voltage under voltage,over load and overheat

 

[tonka]

Check the label on the drill for it's power in watts.
Basic electric drill can be rated as low as 500 watts.

 

[Barclaybasher]

I just carry a battery operated drill

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[siiva]

Thanks for the replies. Any thoughts on the second question?
there is a switch that has three options: Off, 1, 2. The dealer told me never to use 2, but I didn't ask why, but I'm curious as to what is the difference between these two settings?

 

[AdrianChen]

Thanks for the replies. Any thoughts on the second question?
there is a switch that has three options: Off, 1, 2. The dealer told me never to use 2, but I didn't ask why, but I'm curious as to what is the difference between these two settings?

WCS manual is in German - but I think it may be a power save mode, so not sure why it shouldn't be used, except that it still draws a reasonable amount:

Extract:
To reduce the power loss of the battery when the combo is idle, you can activate the power saving mode. Simply switch the toggle switch to II. If the AC load of the combo is below 30W for more than 30 minutes, the combo will switch to power saving mode to reduce the power loss of the battery. Example: In power saving mode, the combo works intermittently and the set idle loss of the device is about 10W. The idle loss of the device in non-power saving mode is 45W. In contrast, power saving mode can significantly save the loss of battery.

It maybe that you have kit on the van that might keep the power save function from engaging, and the dealer was advising you to use just on or off - which is often good advice with inverters anyhow!

 

[Jev88]

You can always try your drill from inverter with no load first.... If the inverter senses too much draw it will shut down (if it's a good one) and probably bleep at you.

 

[frenchie46]

As Barclaybasher (great name!) said, why not get a battery powered drill? In my workshop all my power tools are battery now.

 

[Carpmart]

Don’t get the problem? I have a mains drill but it’s be not used for 20 years!

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[Northernraider]

On my last van I could use my drill, angle grinder and even the lawnmower powered off my 700ah bank and 2000watt inverter .

But as others have said your best option is like I have now . Cordless rechargeable drill. I even found an adaptor so the charger can work off a 12v cigarette socket.

 

[cyberyacht]

You take a lawnmower with you?

 

[Northernraider]

You take a lawnmower with you?

No that's the beauty of living in a van fulltime , I don't have grass to cut.


But when I was parked up at my mums for 6 months and I had my last van with 1100watt of solar. I uses the van in the summer to power the lawnmower to cut her grass. Might aswell as I had lots of extra power after the batteries were fully charged.

 

[Brains]

You take a lawnmower with you?

Oddly enough, we bought our van as the ex demo vehicle,
It had gone to all the NCC and Warners shows over an 18 month period.

It had a lawn mower in the back, as the sales guys would cut the grass and then carefully remove the clippings with a rake and vacuum cleaner !
(It made the stand look nice and reduced the amount of grass and mud that was carried into the show vans by all the tyre kickers.)

Unfortunately they claimed the lawn mower back !