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Inverters - who has one, what wattage is it, and what do you think?

BurbinOR

BurbinOR

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Guys, someone out there must have an inverter (a DC to AC power converter).........what brands are you using, did you hard wire to the battery, where do you have your's mounted, what wattage is your's and how long do they run basic items (like stereo's) before crashing your battery? Lots on the market now, all the way up to 700+ watts, so want some opinions.

Next mod is dual batteries so I can put the inverter on the 'spare/second' battery and isolate it from the engine starting battery. Hunting season is coming............

<font color=blue>'79 ONE TON TPI K5 - See it at---&gt;<a target="_blank" href=http://www.blazzinor.alloffroad.com>www.blazzinor.alloffroad.com</a>
 
The Tripp Lite brand is the best I have seen so far, PV400 is about 115.00 and is a 400 watt one, Powers a blender real good....

If you cant go over it...GO THROUGH IT !!! <a target="_blank" href=http://www.CaliforniaK5Krawlers.com>www.CaliforniaK5Krawlers.com</a>
75 Jimmy 11" lift with 40's
 
I got a inverter at Sam's Club... was $30 bucks... 400 watt with 700 watt max... I think it's a rampage? I can't remember off the top of my head. I'll have to go check tomorrow because I don't wanna go outside right now to check in my pj's!
smile.gif
I can run about everything I plug into it... I have never had a problem with it draining the battery. Then again I always start my Blazer every 15-20 minutes I use it as to keep the battery from draining out... so if you aren't willing to do that might have it drain out quicker... and it's not mounted. I keep it in a box in case I ever want to let someone else use it or I want to take it in my other car...

I removed my quote so gay, vegetarian, minority, eco-nazis who love Jesus, nuke spotted owls, vote Gore and smoke medical marijuana won't be offend.
 
They sell them all the way up to the point of running a small compressor off of them. That's with a 15 amo draw and the thing is rated at 3000 watts. I know cause I was looking into buying one for a mobil mechanic van I was going to run. Marine stores can order you one at any range cause they put them in Blue water cruisers and they power the whole boat off of them. There really isn't a limit to what they produce, just what you can spend! You really get what you pay for though, I've installed a couple across the marina when I lived in Houston and if you buy a cheap one and expect it to run a sawsall, good luck. But if all you want to run is your radio pr small TV, I think ChevyCaGal has the right idea. What you really have to look at is what you want to run, maximum. If you want to run compressors, air conditioners, Large amp pulling items, you need more juice. If you want it to be like household power then there's regulated units that control the current so you don't fry your tv or radio, but that's only if you're trying to run really expensive electronics off the thing and you never want the power to surge with the alternator output. Like I was saying, if you want it to be like your house, then you need 2000 watts or higher with a regulator built in. If all you're doing is watching football on the tailgate, look at the back of your little tv and it will say how many amps it draws, then multiply that by 110 and that's your minimun watts needed. If the item has an electric motor like a water pump or AC, then it will give starting amp ratings and that's what the motor draws in order to turn it over cold. That's the amps you should use or else you'll blow the breaker on the inverter every time it starts and you're dead in the water. I guess in general, the question should be what are you running!
Bruce
 
I think I have a Rampage also, 700watt. It was like $60 at a wholesale place like chevycalgal's. I use it to charge the cell phone right now, and will probably just use it for charging battery devices while away from home (laptop, camera's, etc.). We'll use it a lot when camping, though.
It came with a bunch of connectors, one has clamps for temporary running off the batt., another has a lighter adapter. This one has all kinds of little beeps and lights, and it will shut off if it detects the batt. getting close to losing enough power to crank the motor. I usually run it off the lighter adapter, with the unit on the floor between the TC shifter and the console. I'm not hard mounting or wiring it in yet. There's a big 1000 watter I'm waiting for that I will bolt to the floor under the passenger seat and hard wire strait up to the battery (already ran the wire). Then I'm going to wire an outlet in the bed and under the hood somewhere. Y'know, just in case I need to use my circular saw on the trail...

BatmanJr's advice is the best. Get something that fits what you're going to run.

Ratch
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**K5 - What more is there to life?**
 
Just want something to charge phone, run laptop, maybe a blender (hmmm, pina coladas), stuff like that. Not a killer air compressor............thanks.

<font color=blue>'79 ONE TON TPI K5 - See it at---&gt;<a target="_blank" href=http://www.blazzinor.alloffroad.com>www.blazzinor.alloffroad.com</a>
 
I bought a 500 watt one at some tool thing (homer gatsby or whoever he is), works good for my alarm clock while camping. I charged the batteries once in my makita driver with it while driving. I have a pretty large one (2000w) in my RV....its big enough to run an electric chainsaw

"There is a fine line between hobby and mental illness"
Luke
84 K5
 
I used to have a 400 watt Kohler that was a good unit, it was 22 years old when it finally gave out.

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I have a 600W Rampage that I run off Marine batteries when I camp.....I sleep with an Air pump because I have sleep apnea....works wonders for me...I just got the Wrangler 140A alternator for a dual battery setup....kinda weird that I got into inverters because of a sleep problem.....the side effect is that I can run TV, blender, etc....we have 3000W inverters on our repair trucks at work for powering submersible pumps, multiple lights, etc....I like them better than the Onan's and Kohlers that we have on some of the other trucks.....just an opinion....JD

Stuck?...Hell no..I still got some gas left..
 
That's pretty amazing.........that is how I got started thinking about inverters............my uncle that I hunt with has sleep apnea and uses one for his air pump.

Seems Rampage is the brand I keep seeing pop up........gotta find one of those.

<font color=blue>'79 ONE TON TPI K5 - See it at---&gt;<a target="_blank" href=http://www.blazzinor.alloffroad.com>www.blazzinor.alloffroad.com</a>
 
Anyone hard wire theirs?

<font color=blue>'79 ONE TON TPI K5 - See it at---&gt;<a target="_blank" href=http://www.blazzinor.alloffroad.com>www.blazzinor.alloffroad.com</a>
 
I'm hard wiring it in directly to the battery when I get the 1000 watter. I ran the cable already (4 guage, I think). It's been sitting coiled up on the floor waiting for the invertor... I'm mounting the box itself under the passenger seat. I figure that'll be the safest place away from water or physical damage. I'm going to run a pretty heavy switch between it and the batt, and not run it full time.

Ratch
<a target="_blank" href=http://k5.8m.com>k5.8m.com</a>
**I need a house. Friggin realtor went and sold mine.**
 
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