Power Inverter recomendations???

by **Blazintrails03** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:58 pm

I haven't seen much talk of this subject on here so instead of the typical "what do you think I should buy" thread maybe this could turn into "show of your setup" sort of thing?

I'm asking because of course like I said above I'm looking for suggestions on what to buy. I've never had one before so I'm not sure what companies to look at or levels of wattage to keep in mind. I'm just looking for a couple of outlets and a USB or 2. Something to charge up my Cordless Makita batteries or a kids toy on a trip. Along the lines of something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-CPI-880-Inv ... r+inverter

by **Moots1288** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:10 pm

That's the one I have mounted in my truck

by **Blazintrails03** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:32 pm

Awesome. Guess I'm on somewhat of the right track haha

by **HARDTRAILZ** » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:54 pm

Same one I got

by **darring70** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:17 am

Looks like is a good one, I just have a little one for my laptop

by **Nakashige** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 3:01 am

I have that one in both trucks no issues in 2 years

by **navigator** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:23 am

I have the 750 watt from HF. I bought it to run some sound equipment for my brother's wedding on the beach. It worked fine for that. I've run a halogen light on it a little bit as well. I've not really used it a great deal but no issues.
http://www.harborfreight.com/750-watt-c ... 66817.html

Since you don't need one right this minute, I would likely get the one from Amazon. It has a lot of good reviews there and some good reviews here. If I needed one right now I wouldn't have any problem with the HF one.

I also have a small 75 watt one from HF that we have used a great deal for a few years to run a DVD player in our mini-van and to charge game devices etc. It has worked well but is a little noisy. Our 12v plug for the DVD player quit working and it was cheaper to buy the inverter and use the 110v plug than to buy a 12v plug and it would also serve other purposes.
I have also used the small one to run a CFL light when camping.

by **mikekey** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:52 am

Funny, I have that one sitting in my wishlist on Amazon. We have this littl e 150W cigarette lighter plug converter I bought from Radio Shack a long time ago. It works well for charging the laptop, ipad or phone. But I've been considering getting a wired in one for heavier duty when we setup our dual battery.

by **navigator** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:03 am

I had thought about hard wiring mine and instead of getting a 12v air compressor like the MV50, get one of those little pancake compressors they have on sale at HF all the time. I don't think the air volume is quite as good as the MV50 but it seems on par with the VIAIR 88P and it could be used for other things outside of the truck. It would also accept normal air fittings right out of the box.

by **dvanbramer88** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:13 am

That's sorta my plan. I want a big power inverter to hard wire in. I want to be able to run power tools. My impact wrench alone is 7 amps. The problem using the cig lighter is the fuse that's probably only 15A. I'd want/need something to hard wire in and hard mount that can handle higher amps. Need to check what my sawzall and other tools are rated at.

I too was considering a pancake compressor over a 12V model. It puts out more CFM and isn't dedicated to a vehicle. And they don't cost too much more than a good 12V compressor. PLUS they have a tank build right in.

by **mikekey** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:18 am

I want to be able to run my portable 8 gallon air compressor and impact tools.

by **navigator** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:26 am

the only problem I see going with the pancake style is most of the low end ones don't have great reviews. If you move up to the next level you need a <1000W inverter to run them. Then again going with a 1500w+ inverter and having an electric impact, drill, sawzall etc could provide very useful at times.

This one seems to have good reviews and good air flow but at 10 amps you would need an 1100-1200 watt inverter to run it.

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-CMB1 ... compressor

by **The Roadie** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:08 am

navigator wrote:... but at 10 amps you would need an 1100-1200 watt inverter to run it....

You'd want to test the compressor/inverter together before committing to a purchase. That one might have a softer start than normal, but most motors take 2-5 times the running current to get started. Especially compressors. Running off house AC, your circuit breakers are designed for this inrush current for a few tenths of a second, and there's essentially 5000-10000 amps (or more) available for a short time. With an inverter, many of them have "peak load" ratings (and some gullible people think that's the rated long-term capability) of 150-200% of long term load, and that isn't always enough to run compressors.

by **dvanbramer88** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:30 am

Really good point.

by **navigator** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:33 am

I was reading one of the reviews for an inverter on Amazon and the reviewer mentions most models only have a 1-2 second of surge where this version has about 10 seconds.

http://www.amazon.com/Whistler-Pro-1600 ... r+inverter

by **fishsticks** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 12:09 pm

If you had the room (and you were closer), I have 3 or 4 industrial grade 1500w inverters that we salvaged from some service trucks. I'd gladly sell them off.

They are probably 8x8x18 and weigh a LOT though.

by **navigator** » Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:04 pm

those would be awesome but like you said they are pretty big and would likely run close to $50 to ship here.

by **jonbo2002** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:47 am

navigator wrote:I was reading one of the reviews for an inverter on Amazon and the reviewer mentions most models only have a 1-2 second of surge where this version has about 10 seconds.

http://www.amazon.com/Whistler-Pro-1600 ... r+inverter

I have the 1200w version of this and haven't had a single problem with it. we used to use it to power our old camper on our property where we have no line power. I haven't set it up on the new one yet seeing as that it can run completely 12v we will be setting it up sometime though with a couple deep cycle batteries and solar panels.

by **Blazintrails03** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:03 pm

I ordered the one from my first post from amazon and got it in the mail today (amazon prime for the win). Nice and compact. Hopefully I'll be able to hide it under one of the front seats. Pleased with my purchase so far

by **jonbo2002** » Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:54 am

jonbo2002 wrote:
navigator wrote:I was reading one of the reviews for an inverter on Amazon and the reviewer mentions most models only have a 1-2 second of surge where this version has about 10 seconds.

http://www.amazon.com/Whistler-Pro-1600 ... r+inverter

I have the 1200w version of this and haven't had a single problem with it. we used to use it to power our old camper on our property where we have no line power. I haven't set it up on the new one yet seeing as that it can run completely 12v we will be setting it up sometime though with a couple deep cycle batteries and solar panels.

old post but have to update on my inverter. We had a power outage a month or so ago that lasted 2 days so I have the inverter hooked up to my battery running a small fan and also to charge the cell phones. The problem with this inverter is the fuses are internal and soldered to the board. It blew a fuse and stoped working and became useless. I would suggest finding a inverter with removable external fuses for easy changeout.

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