Date:         Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:17:02 -0700
Reply-To:     Daniel Rotblatt <d.rotblatt@VERIZON.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Daniel Rotblatt <d.rotblatt@VERIZON.NET>
Subject:      Inverter/Aux Battery question
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

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