Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 22:07:48 -0400
Reply-To: Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Inverter/Aux Battery question
In-Reply-To: <329EF91D-F64F-4727-B250-CBE38C633CCF@verizon.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
I have a 400w installed in my van that works great. I also bought a
750 that is supposed to surge to 1500 for another purpose. That
thing draws a lot of current when you hook it up to the battery even
turned off. I can tell by the spark. Also draws a lot more than
the 400w when it is on with no load on it. Can't remember the values now.
To rule out the inverter, maybe try it on another battery or
vehicle. Do you have anything else connected to the brand new yellow
top you can turn on and see if the V drops? Couple amps on it and it
shouldn't drop much, at least for the first 10 minutes. Certainly
not below 12.
Edward
At 05:17 PM 7/29/2011, Daniel Rotblatt wrote:
>Well, I just got back from a trip to Mammoth Lakes (separate post on
>that) and got a chance to try out the aux battery and inverter I
>got. The problem I had was that with the car off, the inverter
>didn't get enough power to work. When hooked up (and I tried two
>inverters and got the same results), the voltage would drop from
>12.6 to about 8.x volts - not enough to run the inverter and it
>would automatically shut off. Thus, the only time I could charge
>the computers (keeping the kids happy), etc., was when the car was
>running. Is this how it works? What is the need for a aux battery,
>i could have just hooked up the inverter to the main battery and not
>used it when the car wasn't going an saved $175 on the aux battery.
>
>Hook-up:
>-brand new yellow top battery
>-Stock attachement to the starting battery (had to replace the relay)
>-Inverter hooked directly to the terminals of the yellow top - about
>4' of wire, (I tried just 8 gauge with about 3' of wire, and finally
>with 3' of 8 gauge and a few feet of 12 gauge hooked to that with a
>cigarette plug since that's what was on the inverter).
>-Inverter is a 375 watt Tripp-lite (good reviews on amazon).
>-Voltage at the battery (when new) was ~12.7 , with car running it's
>~13.6, with car not running and inverter attached it's ~8.5
>-All the inverters I saw shut off at a little over 10 Volts....
>
>So...is that what's supposed to happen or is something not
>right? I'm planning a trip to New Mexico next week, so it would be
>nice to have it working.
>
>
>Dan
>Los Angeles, CA
>'85 Westy Weekender
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