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Topic: inverters

judy74

26/2/2008 at 6:35pm
Location: scunthorpe
Outfit: None Entered

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are these any good or do they just kill your batterys???

im just thinking if generaters too noisy i need something to charge up mobile phone and kids portable dvd players etc

dianebb72

26/2/2008 at 7:58pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Outfit: Sterling Europa 460 NT

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we have one and we also had an extra battery to run the tv off when we were on a site with no electric, we only used to use it for an hour a night (so 2 hours for weekend) and it worked great, don't really use it now as we bought a solar panel and a silent generators as do a lot of rallies

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-x- Diane -x-

May 13 - Cala Gogo, St Cyprien (didn't go, hubby too ill to travel)
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happybonzo

26/2/2008 at 8:47pm
Location: Ndidis Kraal
Outfit: Laika Ecovip 100 & Quasar

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Depends what you want to power up. I used to use mine with a 230vAC microwave so I had some 400A plus of leisure battery to back it up. Now I have got a 12vDC microwave on order, I'll have to see how much the batteries get hammered when its all conected up

Club Joker

26/2/2008 at 11:01pm
Location: Sunny Lancs
Outfit: Westfalia Club Joker VW T25 1.6TD

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I use my invertor to power a microwave when no hook-up available. They will hammer your battery if you arn`t geared up for using a lot of power, general charging of fones and kids Nintendos is no probs.

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Life is one big holiday, only broken up by as little work as possible

jb41

27/2/2008 at 12:38am
Location: Warrington
Outfit: Khyam Santiago 4 berth

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Ditto.

If you're only using it just for mobiles and portable DVD's (about 40 watts), then a 75 watt one will do. Linky thing Link2

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Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.

missmoneypenny

17/3/2008 at 11:22pm
Location: South Yorks
Outfit: autotrail apache 632 motorhome

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I've just bought an second hand electric bike with a rechargeable lead cadmium battery- is there an inverter suitable to use with recharge it? what size inverter would be best to get? we spend summer holidays in Greece, not always on ook up but the advice on using the bike is to charge the battery each time I use it.

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miss moneypenny

if in doubt, go to Greece

Hairy Rod

18/3/2008 at 1:58pm
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I would seek the manufacturers recommendations, batteries are weird things if you charge them up wrong.

you need to know the battery output in Amp/Hours (AH) and its voltage, then you can get an inverter to suit.

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Hairy Rod

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Steve121

20/3/2008 at 2:24pm
Location: Dunstable Bedfordshire
Outfit: Land Rover 110 QUECHUA BaseSeconds 4.1

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You can get mobile phone chargers which plug into a car cigarette lighter socket. I'd have thought a portable DVD player would come with a 12V cigarette lighter lead.

LegsDownKettleOn

20/3/2008 at 4:32pm
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Quote: Originally posted by judy74 on 26/2/2008

are these any good or do they just kill your batterys???

im just thinking if generaters too noisy i need something to charge up mobile phone and kids portable dvd players etc

They are good if you have a good battery. As you suspect, they do kill the battery, particularly the larger ones. There was a time when they were about 70% efficient therefore, 30% of the energy was wasted, while I expect technology has improves this figure, it is far more efficient to run directly from 12 volts. Most appliances are low voltage internally and use a transformer. Transformers being about 70% efficient equates to the waste of 60% of the battery power. Therefore it makes sense to run directly from 12 volts wherever possible.

Can't you use a car charger for the mobile phones? Portable DVD players are usually 12 volt so could also be run (in theory) from the leisure battery. The one I have came with a cigarette lighter plug.

LarryG

21/3/2008 at 1:04pm
Location: 41.785809 -88.147316
Outfit: spork and compass

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Many inverters have improved to the point where they are 85-90 percent efficient.

Correct battery type is critical. Don't plan to use an automotive type battery... most especially don't plan to use the battery in your own car less you find yourself walking or looking for a jump.

Deep cycle batteries are best... marine, golf cart, etc.

Figure out how many watts you need to connect at any one time. Don't buy a bigger inverter than you need. Once you turn it on it will consume battery power at it's rated output regardless of what you are using.

Once you know how many watts you need you can then estimate how many hours you will need to power these appliances to calculate the amp-hours and size the battery accordingly.

Best of luck! It is a lot of fun to use inverters once you figure the basics out.

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