Inverters

ScotJimland said:
missed the part about the main battery..



.. but 145 amps from the alternator.. I don't think so..

and risks not being able to start the engine..

I rather have a flat hab battery as engine battery
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The inverter may draw 145amps Jim, but as you said, for a 15 minute run you only need replace 37amps.
if your alternator cant provide 37amps it needs a new hamster in the wheel.
mine can provide 180amps all day long if it had to.
 
chockswahay said:
@Techno100 I gotta say all the photo's you have posted recently are impressive stuff indeed ! Are you a professional or simply someone who believes in 'doing it right' ?

I have followed a few of your threads and the attention to detail is excellent. Thank you for posting them(y)
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Electrician by trade but with a engineering craft skills background.
I know my limitations and will use fellow professionals when the need arises. Most often restricted by tools or facilities so those jobs like front coil springs upgrade I'm happy to pay for.
Thank you
 
Techno100 said:
The one on the left is a 2000watt continuous pure sine UPS inverter 4 stage intelligent charger (cost me £213 from ebay germany) Chinese.
The one on the right is a 1600 watt Sterling pure sine inverter only £322 also Chinese.
I know which I prefer
CA_07051412512584-XL.jpg
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The one on the left is the one I've got and its perfect.
As for 12 volt hair-dryer don't even consider it total crap.

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pappajohn said:
The inverter may draw 145amps Jim, but as you said, for a 15 minute run you only need replace 37amps.
if your alternator cant provide 37amps it needs a new hamster in the wheel.
mine can provide 180amps all day long if it had to.
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The old Hymers 410D were only fitted with a 55amp Alternator. I have 3 x 110ah batteries, 240w Solar and a 2kw inverter. I have no problems with Joan drying her hair.
 
John & Joan said:
The old Hymers 410D were only fitted with a 55amp Alternator. I have 3 x 110ah batteries, 240w Solar and a 2kw inverter. I have no problems with Joan drying her hair.
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as it should be....(y)

The alternator is no different to an onboard charger...no matter how large the required amperage will only provide its maximum current....it will just take longer to put back a larger drain.
 
Is it possible (in theory) to plug your EHU cable straight into the inverter and then use your standard motorhome sockets and even the electric part of the Truma water heater?
Lee.
 
Yes it is but you will be powering EVERYTHING which is mains powered.
if you have a 3way fridge with autoselect that will be running on mains as will your onboard charger unless you manually turn it off.
the inverter will draw far more than the charger can put back in.

Very easy to overload an inverter in that way....microwave and kettle together could be up to 4500watts.
even a low wattage kettle could be 1000watts.
microwave maybe 1700watts

Fine if you treat the mains sockets etc with caution.
 
thanks Papajohn, thought that way the on board charger would keep the batteries topped up!!:LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
pappajohn said:
And flatten your hab battery long before her hair is dry.

Search 12v hairdrier on the forums and see how many negative posts there are.
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Oh, and a 2 kw inverter running a 1750 w hairdryer won't flatten the battery ?

All I can say is that Lin uses her 12v hairdryer without any problems, apart from the fact it doesn't get as hot as the mains one, but none the less it dose the job
. . . . . . . .eventually
 
leeboy said:
Is it possible (in theory) to plug your EHU cable straight into the inverter and then use your standard motorhome sockets and even the electric part of the Truma water heater?
Lee.
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LOL You'd think so considering how often we see this done by the "dealers" Ideally only the 13amp sockets should be available for use when on inversion.

If your hook up lead is plugged into the inverter, the charger will start to work! That would drop the voltage in the batteries which would make the charger work harder, this would take more out of the batteries, which would make the charger work harder

In short it would be perpetual motion, which of course only exists on forums on Gassing and A Frame threads...They go one forever and are self sustaining

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joncris said:
I have a USB cables for camera, video cam and iPhone which I often plug into (my when in use) laptop causing them to be charged
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Have you thought about one of these?
It was designed and built by myself and is now a registered design and a patent applied for. It is built in the UK using high quality components and at 5v @ 3a provides 15w though not recommended for iPads. Unlike many other types out there it will not get hot though normal use and looks a lot better than a cigarette lighter socket type.
 
eddievanbitz said:
Inverters when used sensibly are a uesful part of the motorhome. With a decent charging regime of B2B and solar, and a good sized battery bank there isn't much that you can't do with an inverter.

Just be aware that if you buy a cheap inverter from ebay that originates in China and it catches fire you'll have no back up or come back from the manufacturer, the same if it blows up your eBike lol

Electric toothbrushes, Medical equipment and good coffee machines are the main reason we come across for needing pure sine wave.

We've just been asked to tender for mobile laboratories for a local authority and the procurment officer didn't know the difference!

My wife would simply refuse to go way in our motorhome is the use of a hair dryer wasn't available! So we don't see it as an option lol

If your getting one installed, it is better to have it installed with a transfer switch, which is route your 13 amp sockets, for ease of use rather than having a "dedicated" inverter socket and having to trail extension leads around the motorhome

Eddie
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hi Eddie, could I ask the approximate cost for this set up, I have the solar panels but am interested in the inverter.
 
Sedge says that she has no less than a 1500 watt hairdryer she uses at home and that gets ruddy hot but takes about two minutes to dry her hair. However some years ago she purchased a 600 watt small hairdryer to take on 'package' holidays. It was much smaller and lighter than the biggie.

It's fantastic at drying her hair, although it probably takes her a minute or two longer to do the job, she finds it easier to be honest for the simple reasons of size and weight - plus gives her longer to change her mind if 'that bit of hair is going the wrong way'.

The princely sum she paid was £3.99 from Argos - on the basis that it would either work or not - in which case she would have binned it and lost nowt.

We don't bother with an inverter by the way, so only gets used if we are on hook up - if not her hair dries with natural solar heat, hopefully! In the absence of that, fire up the Truma and sit on the floor by a vent for a bit!
 
we call our car (see Avatar) Moulinex even the dogs like it(y)

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Having long hair I understand the need for a hairdryer . Our solution is to stay in a campsite every 4-5 days so that I can have a hairwash and use the drier . At the moment it is very hot here in France and I have just dried my hair naturally sometimes riding my bike round the block a few times ...job done .
 
And then we start a thread about electric bikes, OH NO !!!
 
Or one of these? We buy them from Pro Car
Lynne Steele said:
hi Eddie, could I ask the approximate cost for this set up, I have the solar panels but am interested in the inverter.
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There are loads of permutations but in essence decent quality 2000 watt inverter with remote switching and automatic transfer switch so all 13 amp sockets utilised whilst using the inverter automatically, with an install RCD On the inverter output, would cost circa £800.00
 
eddievanbitz said:
Or one of these? We buy them from Pro Car


There are loads of permutations but in essence decent quality 2000 watt inverter with remote switching and automatic transfer switch so all 13 amp sockets utilised whilst using the inverter automatically, with an install RCD On the inverter output, would cost circa £800.00
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Eddie, that may have to go to the top of my wish list, where abouts are you based?

Lynne

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Lynne Steele said:
Thanks Eddie, that may have to go to the top of my wish list, where abouts are you based?

Lynne
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Hi Lynne we are based in the South, but there are loads of places that you can get inverters installed.
 
@eddievanbitz the setup you describe sounds pretty ideal for us also, however we do not have any solar panels. We have plenty of room on the roof though. Realistically, what output panels should we get to power the inverter setup? And an indicative price for fitting would be handy. Cheers.
 
At the Stafford Show recently we enquired about running a hairdryer with the chap on the 'inverter' stall.

We already have a solar panel and one leisure battery.....he said to add a 2000watt pure sine inverter, another leisure battery and another solar panel and that set up would power a hairdryer up to about 1800watts. Has anyone got this set-up and can confirm that it works okay?

Otherwise......does anyone use a suitcase generator? Are they reasonably quiet and will they run a hairdryer for about 15 mins?

I'm happy to try to get a lower powered hairdryer - 1000 or maybe 1200 watts (not as low as 12volts though) otherwise it's EHU every night or very unruly hair partly tamed by clips/bobbles/hairbands etc.

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