12 volt to 240 inverter

[sidspop]

600watt, 1000 peak, Maplins Electronics places, £30 quid. Cheap!
Andy

[FredTransit]

I actually though about this to run the only blue lights I could find, also from maplins, for the amby! In the end we cobbled together the lenses from the maplins mains lights and some 12V amber beacons!

[sidspop]

It's actually 1500 peak, although unsure if I would use hat much power. I got it so I could charge cordless drill whilst at work (I am carpenter), but it will also run a drill, and small TV when camping.
Seems a very good price

[Luke]

i have an inverter in my camper i get about half an hour out of the leasure battery from the tv i think its about 50watt

[crazyscoot]

It's actually 1500 peak, although unsure if I would use hat much power. I got it so I could charge cordless drill whilst at work (I am carpenter), but it will also run a drill, and small TV when camping.
Seems a very good price

Or a microwave for dinner in these cold times

[jay]

i got one from maplin but was only 600watt and was £20. just before xmas..i use it in the luton to power my tv in it and the battery I have is a old lorry one thats big it last for about 5-6 hours.I use the second battery to power the inverter and power the internal lights and heater .so i can still start the engine with the main one then using a relay it then charges up the second battery.

[stevew]

i have an inverter in my camper i get about half an hour out of the leasure battery from the tv i think its about 50watt

You've got a problem then mate!
50W is about 4A at 12V so in half an hour you've used 2Ah. Allowing for only dischaarging your battery to 50% that means your battery is 4Ah! I'ver got a bigger battery in my torch!
Stve

[Luke]

i have an inverter in my camper i get about half an hour out of the leasure battery from the tv i think its about 50watt

You've got a problem then mate!
50W is about 4A at 12V so in half an hour you've used 2Ah. Allowing for only dischaarging your battery to 50% that means your battery is 4Ah! I'ver got a bigger battery in my torch!
Stve

hmmm time for a new battery this year then

[sidspop]

I tried it yesterday in the garage, running off an old battery, works a treat. 12 volt battery, feeding inverter up to 240 volt, to power a charger, for a 12 volt drill. Bit daft really!
I am gonna feed it with a split charger, so I can have 12v fridge, and inverter off one battery, and starting off the main one.
I did try with a tube heater, about 2 feet long, used in greenhouses I think. Worked great, and will be ideal for the car shows in the back of van as night heater. With the insulation I am fitting should be toast.
Regards
Andy

[stevew]

You might need to re-think the heater.
Any kind of electrical heater that will make any impact on the temperature of your van is going to draw a massive current from the battery! What is the power rating of the greenhouse heater?

Steve

[sidspop]

Steve, greenhouse heater is 120 watts, designed not to heat a greenouse but just keep the frost off, I believe. I know nothing of gardening, I built a garage over mine!

Andy

[MrMPuk]

120watt, that's a bulb isn't it

[chrisuk]

Ifits not a sine wave type inverter your wasting good money for nothing, the prope sine wave inverters peking to 1000watts will set you back £200 but then the battery lasts a hell of a lot longer too, the ones Maplins sell will drain your battery flat in rougly 20~30 minutes as told by one of their electonic buffs, so I didnt buy one

[MrMPuk]

Ifits not a sine wave type inverter your wasting good money for nothing, the prope sine wave inverters peking to 1000watts will set you back £200 but then the battery lasts a hell of a lot longer too, the ones Maplins sell will drain your battery flat in rougly 20~30 minutes as told by one of their electonic buffs, so I didnt buy one

You are correct there, also these cheap ones will kill batterys in things like laptops.

[stevew]

Ifits not a sine wave type inverter your wasting good money for nothing, the prope sine wave inverters peking to 1000watts will set you back £200 but then the battery lasts a hell of a lot longer too, the ones Maplins sell will drain your battery flat in rougly 20~30 minutes as told by one of their electonic buffs, so I didnt buy one

You are correct there, also these cheap ones will kill batterys in things like laptops.

Well I hate to disagree here but, coming from a background of working with batteries and chargers and having a degree in electrical engineering, that's bullshit!
A laptop will not know the difference between sine and quasi-sine or even square wave since the power supply converts it all to smoothed DC anyway.
There's no reason think a quasi-sine wave inverter will draw more from the battery either. OK really cheap ones might be less efficient but at the most by like 10%.
You need a true sine wave inverter if you're running a TV say other wise the cheaper ones are fine.

Steve