Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 20:26:07 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject: Re: Inverter converter/charge system for $500-1000 ??
In-Reply-To: <026401c61178$049e51b0$c901a8c0@w2ktopcat>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
There are a number of inverter/charger combinations available in smaller
sizes, even from Xantrex. Of course, their equipment is top notch.
Do you really need seamless or uninterruptible power? Be realistic for
both cost and space constraints.
Forget solar. There isn't enough roof area to do much more than slow
charge batteries and run a radio and they cost becomes prohibitive
quickly.
The first things you need to do is determine you amp/hour/day or trip
requirements and determine the required battery capacity and then how
much money, weight, and space can you afford. That 3,000 watt combo
needs 4 golf cart batteries. If you only want to use an optima, a 400
watt inverter is too much for any extended operation. Ideally, you only
want to discharge a battery at a 5 hour rate. This is ~13 amps or <150
watts.
If you can be electrically creative, a cheap alternative is a PC UPS,
(Uninterruptible Power Supply). Most of them use an internal 12 volt
sealed battery. Remove the battery and connect to your 2nd battery. You
now have an inverter and automatic battery charger.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of TC
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 4:44 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Inverter converter/charge system for $500-1000 ??
So it now time for me to get down to the
2nd battery install that has been waiting for me
I was thinking what I would like was the full monty but at $ stores
prices
What I want
-AC charge system
-seamless ac/dc supply from the 2nd battery *OR* the external ac supply
-battery discharge regulator so that current is stopped if the 2nd
battery
is at less that
some percentage (say 50%) as measured by voltage, to protect the deep
cycle
battery from large dischrage conditions that tend to shorten any
battery
life
So it seems the ideal magic box would would be both a converter to take
the
external ac & send it to either ac or dc circuits and it would also do
the
reverse
take the dc from the 2nd battery & send it to either ac or dc circuits
at
the same time.
This way the standard vanagon ac outlet would work any time & same with
the
devices on the dc circuits (light, stereo, cig lighter)..
It would also act as regulator to stop draw on the battery of it was to
discharged
to protect the battery life
I could also use the external ac supply to trickle charge the 2nd
battery
I would also want to add a solar charge system later to trickle charge
during outback camping
I think this is the type of device to handle these demands
xantrex call it an inverter / charger
http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/49/p/1/pt/8/product.asp
but it is over 3000 watts I dont need that much power / price
I am open to any solution with attention to price/function :)
