Sine inverter 12volt

gitsho · Senior Member

Sine inverter 12volt

Dougwe · Chief one feather

IMO I would go Aussie first. More than likely dearer but I think safer for you and your appliances.

Have a look in Super Cheap Auto or similar, they have a reasonably good range. Jaycar is probably even better.

WAssa41 · Senior Member

I am looking at installing a inverter myself and curious as to your need for 1500w.

gitsho · Senior Member

Looking at all options, usage of our washing machine, toaster, blender, etc, we very rarely camp where there is power.

Regards gitsho

oldtrack123 · Guru

gitsho wrote:
Looking at all options, usage of our washing machine, toaster, blender, etc, we very rarely camp where there is power.
Regards gitsho

Hi

Apart from brand you should ensure it is:

a a pure SINE wave inverter not MWS

Fully isolated[ Ac from Dc]

and it's capacity is large enough to take the surge current of the motor of the washing machine start up [anything up to 7times running current]

then finally consider the safety aspects of any 240V

The Safety recommendation is to only connect one Class1 device at any time[Class1 always have a 3pin plug]

IF YOU CONNECT IT INTO THE VAN POWER INLET SOCKET, YOU WILL ALREADY HAVE THAT ONE CLASS 1 CONNECTED ,THE VAN ITSELF!!!

Do you have sufifcient battery capacity & battery recharging capacity ??

PeterQ

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

My 1500 watt inverter peaks 3000 watts runs the washing machine a Fisher paykel 5.5 kg with ease even the freezer running and tv going, runs my 700 watt toaster, and microwave if the batteries are fully charged, the micro is 700 watts but on normal power to heat maybe a pie in 3 mins, off the inverter takes about double the time maybe 7 mins or so. Doesn't take much to fire up my 2 kva generator to use the micro wave. Also 2 big storage batteries here 2 x 280 amp hour total 560 amps in all.

Also I buy enough bread rolls to last a fortnight then freeze them, upon putting a bread roll in the microwave for 1 min and 15 secs is as fresh as if they just came out of the bakers oven.

The batteries I got are below, there 74 kg weight each battery, expected life can be up to10 years , but i be happy if I get 6 years.

http://www.aussiebatteries.com.au/batteries/deep-cycle-agm/280ah-12v-agm-deep-cycle-battery

2foot6 · Senior Member

Gitsho,we have one of these,it has been faultless,very happy. We have 3 X 100 amp/hr batteries and 3 Xx 100 watt panels,for us it's a good combination. http://stores.ebay.com.au/SELLING-FACTORY-DIRECT......................... Peter

-- Edited by 2foot6 on Sunday 25th of May 2014 05:04:40 PM

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

Maybe Gitsho if you can afford maybe get a Honda inverter 2 kva or a 1 kva generator, great for over cast days in which i've had in SA for almost a month now.

Ive got 3 x 200 watter solar panel most often if its sunny I can make app140 amps a day,but at present I need my 2 kva generator on for 3 hrs to pump in a few more amps into my batteries, as being overcast I get app 85 amps for the day.

3 hrs on my 2 kva genny I use app 3/4 of a litre of fuel charging my batteries at 10 amps,with tv and freezer going as also my vast decoder.

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

So investing in 3 x 200 watt panels =$645.00 batteries just over $1200.00,inverters $500.00, generator almost $1500.00 =$3845.00

coolabah1au · Member

S*'t lot of money just for bread roll i did the same for half the price ok

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

Not just for a bread roll, other items as well, washing machine, my tucker box freezer which runs 24 hrs a day 7 days a week, my sat decoder, 2 TV's, a sandwich press for toasting a ham n cheese sandwich, run my black n decker drill, a bench grinder all without starting up my generator. Oh also a sm 4 ltre still to make distilled water anytime. Gee I am happy what I can run off my batteries n iverter biggrin

Alsoi can leave the outside light on all night with a engenery saver globe that uses 5 watts, and when cold can use my elect blanket all night be snug in bed wink

-- Edited by graham (chickenman) on Monday 26th of May 2014 09:29:13 AM

-- Edited by graham (chickenman) on Monday 26th of May 2014 09:29:51 AM

Jaahn · Guru

gitsho wrote:
Looking to buy a knew inverter 1500W. Which are the best - Australian or Chinese. Any suggestions for best buy. Rgds gitsho

Hi gitsho,

There have been lots of other good replies with good information. Note that some have very large batteries to run their invertors. smile

A 1500w inverter will draw about 130+amps at full load(12V), more at staring surge disbelief . Now that's a lot of current and needs proper wiring and placement for it to work correctly. Also needs a big battery bank that can supply a large current for some time, to run it. Otherwise you will not get a good outcome and it will be tripping out on the big loads. cry

blankstare jaahn

-- Edited by Jaahn on Monday 26th of May 2014 09:40:00 AM

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

blankstare jaahn, agree with you, I got 2 inverters one is a 1100 watter other s a 1500 watter I use that to run my 1200 watt vacuum cleaner but only when I have at least 20 to 25 amps going into my 560 amp batteries. I have used starter cables I got from a friend to my inverters, and from the panels to my regular is 6mm cable bought off a auto electrician.

Always pays to use the right cable and no short cuts to save a dollar or 2 ?

Always worthwile to feel your cable now and then on a sunny day to see there not heating up from a load as to being not the right cable for the load it carries.

SnowT · Guru

graham (chickenman) wrote:
My 1500 watt inverter peaks 3000 watts runs the washing machine a Fisher paykel 5.5 kg with ease even the freezer running and tv going, runs my 700 watt toaster, and microwave if the batteries are fully charged, the micro is 700 watts but on normal power to heat maybe a pie in 3 mins, off the inverter takes about double the time maybe 7 mins or so. Doesn't take much to fire up my 2 kva generator to use the micro wave. Also 2 big storage batteries here 2 x 280 amp hour total 560 amps in all.
Also I buy enough bread rolls to last a fortnight then freeze them, upon putting a bread roll in the microwave for 1 min and 15 secs is as fresh as if they just came out of the bakers oven.
The batteries I got are below, there 74 kg weight each battery, expected life can be up to10 years , but i be happy if I get 6 years.
http://www.aussiebatteries.com.au/batteries/deep-cycle-agm/280ah-12v-agm-deep-cycle-battery

Sorry I have to..

Expected Life can be 10years.. I love it when dealers Quote stuff like this.... But leave out the most important thing of the Lot.. How many cycles and to what Depth of Discharge you take the batteries..

Not even Full River gives a yearly time frame of battery life.. They go for Cycle Life/DoD..

Plus an added Fact which was pointed out to me today.. Weight.

Juergen

oldtrack123 · Guru

graham (chickenman) wrote:
I have used starter cables I got from a friend to my inverters, and from the panels to my regular is 6mm cable bought off a auto electrician.
Always pays to use the right cable and no short cuts to save a dollar or 2 ?
Always worthwile to feel your cable now and then on a sunny day to see there not heating up from a load as to being not the right cable for the load it carries.

HI Graham

Sadly, quoting cables in that manner means very little

Starter cable can be different sizes

6mm Auto cable means absolutely nothing, as it is in no way a guide to actual copper size

it is the outside dia[insulation included] not the copper core

The outside dia can /does vary from maker to maker.& even cable duty[due different insulation thickness]

And you can have cables that do not get hot but are inadequate for the job due to voltage drop.

PeterQ

--

-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Monday 26th of May 2014 04:32:49 PM

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

PeterQ, I am happy with what I got here, no wireing even gets warm when I get 25 or more amps, but its my set up and I happy with what I got, not going to count how many cores are in the 6 mm cable I got other more interesting things to do here.

coolabah1au · Member

I ask graham what kind of car,van ,bus ,or vehicle he the answer come back ( i don't know what you mean ) ?

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

HI Graham
Sadly, quoting cables in that manner means very little
Starter cable can be different sizes
6mm Auto cable means absolutely nothing, as it is in no way a guide to actual copper size
it is the outside dia[insulation included] not the copper core
The outside dia can /does vary from maker to maker.& even cable duty[due different insulation thickness]
And you can have cables that do not get hot but are inadequate for the job due to voltage drop.
PeterQ

6mm square is used in the elect industry.. It IS the actual size of the wire itself..

-- Edited by Aus-Kiwi on Monday 26th of May 2014 04:48:35 PM

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

This the private message Coolabah1au doesn't make any sense, and don't send me a personal message put it in the forum.

So what is so important what vehicle I have, a van or a bus and you cant explain the goodies? What I have is for myself not sitting here giving every details of my life ok

Oh $3993.90 cents? work that out ?

Also you don't even know me but you think I am lower or higher than you? but I say wtf furious

Look at a persons profile!

-- Edited by graham (chickenman) on Monday 26th of May 2014 05:04:33 PM

-- Edited by graham (chickenman) on Monday 26th of May 2014 05:41:37 PM

coolabah1au · Member

Thick

graham (chickenman) · Senior Member

A nice comment Coolabah1au froma fellow nomad, is it my name that annoys you wanting to pick on me?

As I see it Coolabah1au seems you pick out a person by there name?

Coolabah1au May I ask have you a white beard? yawn Your just a boring fu@ sad to say.

oldtrack123 · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
HI Graham
Sadly, quoting cables in that manner means very little
Starter cable can be different sizes
6mm Auto cable means absolutely nothing, as it is in no way a guide to actual copper size
it is the outside dia[insulation included] not the copper core
The outside dia can /does vary from maker to maker.& even cable duty[due different insulation thickness]
And you can have cables that do not get hot but are inadequate for the job due to voltage drop.
PeterQ
6mm square is used in the elect industry.. It IS the actual size of the wire itself..

-- Edited by Aus-Kiwi on Monday 26th of May 2014 04:48:35 PM

Hi

Well first off what size does it mean, Dia of copper, overall dia, or cross sectional area of the copper core???

BUt ,Yes, you are correct

The Ausralian Electrical industry[, Ie low voltage electric above 50V ac ] does use the ABBREVIATED term" 6mm," as you point out

BUT WE are referiing to a cable with a CROSS SECTIONAL AREA of 6 Sq millimeteres because we are talking in a common language

That is not the same as AUTO cables where the quoted "X" mm is the OVERALL DIAmeter, with no direct relationship to ACTUAL copper core dia, OR cross sectional area of copper !!! biggrin

One needs to understand this when looking at cables, or one could get a sad surprise when they find their 6mm AUTO cable overheats carrying 45A.

PeterQ

--

-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Monday 26th of May 2014 08:29:42 PM

Plendo · Guru

Hi Allan (Gitsho), you are getting a lot of advice on cables etc. so I will leave all that alone, but I will share my limited experience with you:

I recently set up a van with a 1,600W inverter charger from MPP Solar (Good Tiawanese manufacturer), in doing so I made a decision that I would only cater for one of my major electrical items (air con, microwave, washing machine) at a time, and also leave a little bit to run other incidentals (phone and laptop chargers) at the same time.

All went well, until my inverter started to alarm, then overloaded and cut out. We measured the current draw for each device, everything was fine, all around 5 amps. Then a phantom 5.5 Amp drain appeared, took us a while but we managed to trace it back to the HWS, which of course turns on and off by itself. LESSON, make sure you consider everything, not just what you turn on and off by yourself.

The 1,600W inverter we are using is a high frequency unit, it is light, and does exactly what we were asking it to do, giving us just over 6 amps which is enough to run any one of our major units, and incidentals. This works while we keep the HWS running on gas.

I hope this helps you make your decision.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

oldtrack123 wrote:
Aus-Kiwi wrote:
HI Graham
Sadly, quoting cables in that manner means very little
Starter cable can be different sizes
6mm Auto cable means absolutely nothing, as it is in no way a guide to actual copper size
it is the outside dia[insulation included] not the copper core
The outside dia can /does vary from maker to maker.& even cable duty[due different insulation thickness]
And you can have cables that do not get hot but are inadequate for the job due to voltage drop.
PeterQ
6mm square is used in the elect industry.. It IS the actual size of the wire itself..

-- Edited by Aus-Kiwi on Monday 26th of May 2014 04:48:35 PM
Hi

Well first off what size does it mean, Dia of copper, overall dia, or cross sectional area of the copper core???
BUt ,Yes, you are correct
The Ausralian Electrical industry[, Ie low voltage electric above 50V ac ] does use the ABBREVIATED term" 6mm," as you point out
BUT WE are referiing to a cable with a CROSS SECTIONAL AREA of 6 Sq millimeteres because we are talking in a common language
That is not the same as AUTO cables where the quoted "X" mm is the OVERALL DIAmeter, with no direct relationship to ACTUAL copper core dia, OR cross sectional area of copper !!!
One needs to understand this when looking at cables, or one could get a sad surprise when they find their 6mm AUTO cable overheats carrying 45A.
PeterQ

--

-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Monday 26th of May 2014 08:29:42 PM

Yes need to up spec on wiring rules.. I would say 240v is NOT automotive !!!

oldtrack123 · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
[1]6mm square is used in the elect industry.. It IS the actual size of the wire itself..

-- Edited by Aus-Kiwi on Monday 26th of May 2014 04:48:35 PM
[2.. I would say 240v is NOT automotive !!![end quote]

Hi
t
[1] above indicates a very limited understanding of cable specs
&the fact that in the real electrical world 6mm is an understood abbreviation for 6 SQ MMcross sectional area
In the Auto motive world 6mm is the overal outside DIAMETER of the cable which does not have any indication to the actual COPPER cross sectional area
[2]
The voltage limits of electrical systems is clearly stated & is easy to understand
"Extra low voltage" is anything between 0V <120v ripple free DC & up to 50VAC, obviously that comes into the Automotive electrical field.
LOW voltage """"""above 120V ripple free DC up to 1500V ripple free DC or above 50VAC up to 1000V AC, covers the normal domestic, commercial ,& industrial fields
PeterQ

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

I said 6MM sq all along and you know what that means..

03_troopy · Guru

6mm cable from an auto elec will most likely not be 6mmsq (maybe4.2mmsq, can't remember the actual equiv to 6mm auto wire off the top of my head). Even starter cable that looks like heavy duty (35mmsq) from the outside, can be a little misleading. We fitted a truck out this week that had compressor start cables already installed, with what at a first glance appeared to be 35mmsq cable, but on reading the specs written on the cable, it was only 25mm cable with a double layer of insulation. Similar to what we used to fit as welding leads on the smaller welders, in my previous job. And the dodgy buggers had used a hammer and a punch to crimp the lugs. This was how the compressor was supplied by the distributor too btw, so you can't even trust it to come brand new, done properly these days.

pugs · Senior Member

MMmmm was going to ask some advice,but haven't got my suit of armour back from the cleaners. Pugs

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Na the trouble is there's so many different ways to measure wire size.. I work in the Electrical industry as a Lineworker, wiring up meters and consumer SMB boards..
Generally AWG is used in DC which stands for American Wire Gauge..
Our industry we use Nom CSA [cross section Area] in mmx2..
Theres also by the strand as in 6mm = 7/1,04 or 7/044 imperial..
We have to be on guard when joining overhead mains with compression crimps the wire is the appropriate size..
Its a minefield..

03_troopy · Guru

Firstly my apologies for going off topic on this thread. But as said, it was to illustrate the difference between the various methods of quoting cable sizes.

Just to give you an example: