For best efficiency, the inverter should be somewhat matched to the total load expected. About 80% of the inverter rating is ideal. next issue is battery capacity. The inverter size should be limited so your battery can support it for ~ 5-6 hours. Drawing off the battery at a higher rate will damage the battery. A 1200 watt inverter needs over 120 amps to support it. You will need 3-4 optimas to support that load. A 300 watt inverter needs 30+ amps which will still kill that battery in ~2-3 hours. That would be my recommended limit. You will then need to drive for ~4-6 hours to put that charge back. Dennis ----- Original Message ----- From: Chris Paquette <chris.paquette@GMAIL.COM> Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 4:09 pm Subject: General Inverter Questions > Considering adding an inverter to the dual battery setup in my '88 > Westy. I have my eye on the Coleman Powermate 800. I have a couple of > general questions: > > 1.) Is an inverter on all the time if connected to my second battery, > or do they generally have an on/off switch? The concern here is that > if it's on all the time, the inverter's cooling fan (if any) might > come on intermittently during the night when I'm trying to sleep. > > 2.) Power consumption is dictated solely by what is connected to the > inverter, and not the wattage of the inverter itself, correct? > IOW, a > Powermate 1200 won't drain my battery any faster than a Powermate 800 > if they each had the same items attached to them, correct? > > 3.) Any problems/issues with permanently mounting an inverter to > either side of the stove? Seems like that would be an ideal place to > plug in the laptop, cell phone, etc. > > 4.) Finally, would the secondary battery (Optima deep-cycle marine) > last long enough, assuming fully charged, to watch a long-ish > (say, 3 > hour) DVD? > > Thanks for any help, > Chris > '88 Westy, "Rocinante" > |
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