Outer Limits 4x4 Board

what size is your inverter?
what brand?
what do you run off it?

i want to buy one but dont want more than i need powerwise so as to keep it real in price! thanks

ok ive used a 300w inverter to power a computer and 12" lcd screen worked fine
for info some aprox power wattage some things will use

videocamera battery charger - 20w
mobile phone charger - 10w
laptop - 100w
lights - whatever wattage they are
fluro light - 20-40w

most appliances have there wattge listed on them so decide what you wanna take then buy a inverter to suit

i would say a 600w inverter would cover most ppl's usage

i have ran a 800w angle grinder of a 300w inverter it didnt like it tho lol

I have a 1700w inverter by MR Inverter on the Sunshine Coast.

I run a 900w air compressor off it, sometimes a 1000w circular saw or the house fridge, TV, video etc during blackouts.

They really don't work effeciently on heating elements or microwaves etc, motors like my saw lose a bit of grunt. Anthing straight electronic is no problem. Remember motors can pull around 3 times their wattage on start up depending on loadm so cheack the surge rating as well as run.

150W in the hilux
300W in the Mav

Both of these are mainly used for charging the camera batteries when in the field, or the laptop for field video capture work.

Inverters are not 100% efficient, with losses to the conversion process itself and other ancillary items like the fan to cool the units heatsinks. As a rough guide the wattage of the unit equates to the amperage drawn at full load, or the wattage of the appliance will equal the amperage drawn from the battery - very rough guide though as lots of variables can change the amp rate.

Both of mine are dick smith specials, very happy with the reliability, mine would prolly get more use than most - lots of field work.

Both mounted solidly to cargo barrier or under dash to reduce knocks etc.

I had a 150w Jaycar unit.

I would run
2x 40w fluoros
1x laptop
1x AA battery charger.

Sometimes all at the same time. However a screw came loose inside and shorted the unit out so it is now DEAD.

I now have a Xantrex 300w but it won't run my laptop. Wierd.

Utemad wrote:
I now have a Xantrex 300w but it won't run my laptop. Wierd.

Plug a small lightglobe in as well as your laptop, then you can unplug the lightglobe. Some invertors have trouble turning on with a switchmode load, but use the resistive load of the lightglobe to start it, then it should be fine!

Cheers, Dean

I run a 400w inverter to power the XBOX for the kids. It supposedly needs around 300w to run, so I added a bit more as they apparently power spike on startup.

Tas_Dean wrote:

Utemad wrote:
I now have a Xantrex 300w but it won't run my laptop. Wierd.

Plug a small lightglobe in as well as your laptop, then you can unplug the lightglobe.

Tried that but that didn't work. Turned out the inverter actually shuts down (even thought the failure light does not light). End result is the inverter shuts down and the laptop power supply just sits there clicking.

Bugger!