[Che]

Who knows stuff about inverters? Looking to get something to power a laptop, a portable hard drive, and a camera battery recharger all at once.

Just wondering if you're supposed to match the inverter with the draw of your gear, or to get the max possible wattage you can afford?

Any tips and advice appreciated

[mr_ron]

Hope this helps..

http://www.invertershop.com.au/power-in ... guide.html

[89_tintop]

work out the total draw that will be on it at any given time...

then go for one that is larger then that (i would go as large as I could afford/space would allow)

[monley]

A have a 300 watt inverter with a 600watt peak, can run a drill or a small grinder, will charge a laptop, phone, and on the packet it said it will run a small t.v. to.

[foonji]

At a guess;
Laptop 80-100W
Hard Drive 10-20W
Camera Charger 10-20W

[royce]

they will all say the current draw on em, add em up and get the next size bigger

its best to get something that you can return as well, I believe some things dont like some inverters

Though I dont like converting voltage to covert to another voltage, ebay 12v laptop supply are cheap and mine at least works well, maybe you hard drive and charger will run from 12v anyway

[Che]

I saw a 300w inverter at Jaycar earlier for $70 which isn't too bad a sting, but they were run off their feet and I didn't have time to wait around to ask them a few Qs.

Might go back and snap it up.

[pyrohamish]

for running lots of special electronics like these go for a pure sine wave inverter, will cost a fair chunk more but the ac output is of much better quality

[MacDaddy]

che_guitarra wrote:

I saw a 300w inverter at Jaycar earlier for $70 which isn't too bad a sting, but they were run off their feet and I didn't have time to wait around to ask them a few Qs.

Might go back and snap it up.

I was in Ray's Outdoor yesterday, they have a 600w for $99... i nearly bought one... but wasnt sure about how much i could run off it... but if a 300w will run a drill, i might go for 600w, just for that added extra.. wonder if it will run off a standard 10amp ciggy socket...

pyrohamish wrote:

for running lots of special electronics like these go for a pure sine wave inverter, will cost a fair chunk more but the ac output is of much better quality

Hmmm so a standard inverter isnt to good for electronic items... might have to factor that in as well... AZ is full of useful info !

[fritter]

pyrohamish wrote:

for running lots of special electronics like these go for a pure sine wave inverter, will cost a fair chunk more but the ac output is of much better quality

X2

Much less chance of damaging your equipment.

[royce]

MacBear wrote:

che_guitarra wrote:

I saw a 300w inverter at Jaycar earlier for $70 which isn't too bad a sting, but they were run off their feet and I didn't have time to wait around to ask them a few Qs.

Might go back and snap it up.

I was in Ray's Outdoor yesterday, they have a 600w for $99... i nearly bought one... but wasnt sure about how much i could run off it... but if a 300w will run a drill, i might go for 600w, just for that added extra.. wonder if it will run off a standard 10amp ciggy socket...

depends on how many watts the drill is
then you need to double it for start up current, so 900w might be good

then 900w plus 20% for losses in teh inverter = 1080w

1080w / 12v = 90 amp, aint getting that from any socket
just get a cordless drill

[MacDaddy]

royce wrote:

MacBear wrote:

che_guitarra wrote:

I saw a 300w inverter at Jaycar earlier for $70 which isn't too bad a sting, but they were run off their feet and I didn't have time to wait around to ask them a few Qs.

Might go back and snap it up.

I was in Ray's Outdoor yesterday, they have a 600w for $99... i nearly bought one... but wasnt sure about how much i could run off it... but if a 300w will run a drill, i might go for 600w, just for that added extra.. wonder if it will run off a standard 10amp ciggy socket...

depends on how many watts the drill is
then you need to double it for start up current, so 900w might be good

then 900w plus 20% for losses in teh inverter = 1080w

1080w / 12v = 90 amp, aint getting that from any socket
just get a cordless drill

Ahhh ok... well its gonna need its own dedicated power supply... yep i have a 14.4v cordless drill that i carry in the back of the GV, would just be nice to know i could use a drill with grunt and speed, or even a grinder, if i had too.... but no biggy... i like to prepare for the worst, or those unseen and surprising happenings when one is furthest from help, Murphys Law....

[SuziBlu]

Without sine wave, your lap top will probably not run, many gensets I have seen cannot power a laptop.

[royce]

get a cordless grinder that uses that same battery as your drill, its good being able to cut stuff up in the middle of a paddock

then a smaller inverter that will charge your batteries is the way to go

[DarkHorse]

Whatever you get just make sure you put a fuse the lines

[jdk81]

MacBear wrote:

royce wrote:

MacBear wrote:

che_guitarra wrote:

I saw a 300w inverter at Jaycar earlier for $70 which isn't too bad a sting, but they were run off their feet and I didn't have time to wait around to ask them a few Qs.

Might go back and snap it up.

I was in Ray's Outdoor yesterday, they have a 600w for $99... i nearly bought one... but wasnt sure about how much i could run off it... but if a 300w will run a drill, i might go for 600w, just for that added extra.. wonder if it will run off a standard 10amp ciggy socket...

depends on how many watts the drill is
then you need to double it for start up current, so 900w might be good

then 900w plus 20% for losses in teh inverter = 1080w

1080w / 12v = 90 amp, aint getting that from any socket
just get a cordless drill

Ahhh ok... well its gonna need its own dedicated power supply... yep i have a 14.4v cordless drill that i carry in the back of the GV, would just be nice to know i could use a drill with grunt and speed, or even a grinder, if i had too.... but no biggy... i like to prepare for the worst, or those unseen and surprising happenings when one is furthest from help, Murphys Law....

Just run your cordless drill off the car battery, works fine and heaps of poke

[SuziBlu]

jdk81 wrote:

Just run your cordless drill off the car battery, works fine and heaps of poke

How, besides its different voltage, how do you hook it up.

[tonyevans]

I live in a remote area with solar and inverters 24/7 and run everything of them.

Your laptop would be better using a cheap 12 laptop power supply from Ebay as the first thing your 240 volt AC power supply does is convert it to low power DC anyway.

Same with your HD Power supply and most camera/battery chargers.

I would recommend a 12volt laptop supply and a 150watt plug in inverter from Ebay about $30 the lot.

Tony

[fordem]

SuziBlu wrote:

Without sine wave, your lap top will probably not run, many gensets I have seen cannot power a laptop.

Laptops are fine on both square wave & modified square wave - most computers are - that's what most small UPSs deliver - APC, BEST, MGE, Minuteman, Powerware, TrippLite - pick a manufacturer, they all have them.

The hard drive and the charger will probably be just fine, most of them use switching power supplies (same as the computers).

[Poita]

There is nothing wrong in using a stepped sine wave as the laptop power supply filters out any noise.
Most things you use with a plug pack use a switched regulator which is noisy anyway

I am looking at doing a group buy on these if anyone is interested:
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... rm=KEYWORD
I will be able to get them for under $300.

[JrZook]

SuziBlu wrote:

jdk81 wrote:

Just run your cordless drill off the car battery, works fine and heaps of poke

How, besides its different voltage, how do you hook it up.

Errrr WTF??

Cordless drill is 14.4VDC. Car batt is 12-14.4ish volts. No issue. How do you hook it up: disassemble the drill and solder up 2 fly leads to where the battery would go with battery clamps, done.

[JrZook]

Poita wrote:

There is nothing wrong in using a stepped sine wave as the laptop power supply filters out any noise.
Most things you use with a plug pack use a switched regulator which is noisy anyway

Correct!

[TheOtherLeft]

royce wrote:

Though I dont like converting voltage to covert to another voltage, ebay 12v laptop supply are cheap and mine at least works well, maybe you hard drive and charger will run from 12v anyway

What Royce said.

I have one for my laptop and works fine. Jaycar, DSE sell them.

They are a lot more power efficient compared to an inverter as well.

[tonyevans]

Poita wrote:

There is nothing wrong in using a stepped sine wave as the laptop power supply filters out any noise.
Most things you use with a plug pack use a switched regulator which is noisy anyway

I am looking at doing a group buy on these if anyone is interested:
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... rm=KEYWORD
I will be able to get them for under $300.

I brought a inverter from Jaycar and it was dead from the box - I took it back to the dealer a mate of mine - he sent it back and because there were some little scratches around the mounting holes (It was a wall mount one) they said it had been miss treated and the warranty was void.

I was $800 out of pocket and would never buy anything from them again - Tony

[Poita]

I don't buy from Jaycar, I buy from the wholesaler and use a rep to buy things through (hence the better than normal trade prices). I have been doing business with them for 10 years and haven't had any issues! Sounds like you got a bit of a retard manager.

[flatcat_auz]

A good mate of mine is a 'leco. When asked about inverters he stated what royce stated and that is stick to 12v (and utilise the alternatives).
Admittedly he did buy one recently for his camper trailer. 2000w straight up. When asked why he needed something so big he responded "I hate maths'. On a side note he has also fitted an 'endless air' compressor with air tank. He is preparing to trek the Simpson desert.

[TheOtherLeft]

Poita wrote:

I don't buy from Jaycar, I buy from the wholesaler and use a rep to buy things through (hence the better than normal trade prices). I have been doing business with them for 10 years and haven't had any issues! Sounds like you got a bit of a retard manager.

I buy from Electus Distribution, Jaycar's wholesale arm.

Granted most of their stuff is good quality I find their consumer-orientated stuff a bit low quality.

[MacDaddy]

tonyevans wrote:

Poita wrote:

There is nothing wrong in using a stepped sine wave as the laptop power supply filters out any noise.
Most things you use with a plug pack use a switched regulator which is noisy anyway

I am looking at doing a group buy on these if anyone is interested:
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... rm=KEYWORD
I will be able to get them for under $300.

I brought a inverter from Jaycar and it was dead from the box - I took it back to the dealer a mate of mine - he sent it back and because there were some little scratches around the mounting holes (It was a wall mount one) they said it had been miss treated and the warranty was void.

I was $800 out of pocket and would never buy anything from them again - Tony

I am not one to just sit back, and take that from them, and have them say that to me... i would get on to the state manager and create hell... its just not good enough mate... they are just one store, the onus is on them to prove you miss treated it... dont take shit from them, contact the state manager, and say you will take it to Fair Trading if its not sorted out !

[dank]

We were joking about running a 5000W inverter and then using it to power an electric chainsaw for a joke out in the bush..

[SSSIERA]

royce wrote:

they will all say the current draw on em, add em up and get the next size bigger

its best to get something that you can return as well, I believe some things dont like some inverters

Though I dont like converting voltage to covert to another voltage, ebay 12v laptop supply are cheap and mine at least works well, maybe you hard drive and charger will run from 12v anyway

i got one of them aswell. jacar sell em to if ur not a big ebay fan. i got an inverter aswell but thease lil power pack things are much more efficient for running the laptop.