YotaTech Forums - Tell me about power inverters.

YotaTech Forums (https://www.yotatech.com/forums/)

- General Electrical & Lighting Related Topics (https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f131/)

- - Tell me about power inverters. (https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f131/tell-me-about-power-inverters-243178/)

Tell me about power inverters.

I'm redoing the rear interior in my 4Runner, and I want to hide a power inverter in the rear panel. I don't want something crazy, but I want a unit that will run most small appliances and tools I might bring camping or need on the side of the road or trail. How many watts should I be looking at? What else should I consider when purchasing a power inverter?

I'm considering this one (the price is right):
http://www.amazon.com/VOT-Vot%C2%AE-...8447166&sr=8-1
Thoughts?

That's plenty of watts for most things. More is always better of course. Other things to consider are power cable length, gauge, and routing obviously(since you're mounting it). You'll probably need them to be quite a bit longer than the ones they give you, and, to be on the safe side, heavier gauge. The only other relevant issue is modified sine wave vs. pure sine wave. I highly recommend pure sine wave inverters. I screwed up and bought a MSW 400W inverter and it SUCKS!!!

Quote:

Do I need Modified Sine Wave, or Pure Sine Wave?

Advantages of Pure Sine Wave inverters over modified sine wave inverters:

a) Output voltage wave form is pure sine wave with very low harmonic distortion and clean power like utility-supplied electricity.

b) Inductive loads like microwave ovens and motors run faster, quieter and cooler.

c) Reduces audible and electrical noise in fans, fluorescent lights, audio amplifiers, TV, Game consoles, Fax, and answering machines.

d) Prevents crashes in computers, weird print out, and glitches and noise in monitors.

e) Reliably powers the following devices that will normally not work with modified sine wave inverters:

Laser printers, photocopiers, magneto-optical hard drives
Certain laptop computers (you should check with your manufacturer)
Some fluorescent lights with electronic ballasts
Power tools employing "solid state" power or variable speed control
Some battery chargers for cordless tools
Some new furnaces and pellet stoves with microprocessor control
Digital clocks with radios
Sewing machines with speed/microprocessor control
X-10 home automation system
Medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators

http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/inv....html#modified

i have a 3000 watt cobra inverter traded my bro a dvd headunit for it lol

You're talking camping and roadside, not computers and X-box. You want to run a hair drier or electric grill or maybe an small air compressor then 1200 watts of any kind of sine wave will suit your needs.

I'm bumping this thread for a new question. Instead of using a kit like this to wire the inverter, how feasible would it be to make my own wires? I'm guessing I could do it for a lot less than $25.

And thanks for everyone's comments so far!

You can wire it up like you would wire any type of stereo amp. Make sure you fuse it though as you don't wanna rely on just the inverters fuse.

I've never wired an amp, but I thought ~10ga was used for that? The inverter kit is 4ga, is that just total overkill?

I would use 4 gauge. And it depends on the power amp. I wouldn't use 10 ga on anything above 200-300 amp.

Pretty easy to buy some crimp fittings for the wire, bulk wire and have at it. 4ga can get a little pricey though. Rather simple to do, but depending on where you get the wire you might be better off just getting the kit. Keep in mind you really only need to run the positive back to the inverter and run a short ground wire also 4 ga to the body to ground it no need to run a ground wire all the way from the battery.

You're along way from your battery. Go with 4ga or larger, and make sure it's got lots of strands in it. Most of my lines are welding cable and I still get some line loss. If voltage drops (line loss) amperage has to go up to achieve same wattage.