12V to 230V Inverters

[Erik D.]

Has anyone used inverters to change 12V to 230V? I'm thinking of it for charging a laptop, dig.camera batteries etc.

Erik D.

[Fuchur]

Hi Eric,

I am using one for my laptop as it was cheaper then the special caradaptor cable for my laptop. It cost me around 70 euro's

It works on a car battery all day long without problems. Dont know what it will do on a bike batt? Keep the bike running I suppose. Its around 50W which is enough for a laptop but not for your coffee machine ;-)

Hope you got the info you need

CU under the Cu

Frank

[Erik D.]

I forgot to mention it's for a LR Defender.

Erik D.

[Macca]

Any thoughts about a solar panel charger? ie, to compliment the inverter instead of running the 'Landy' engine for charging.

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Macca
Without adventure life is in full decay.

[Sam Rutherford]

I've got an invertor in my 110. It's rated to 150W which is way more than you need. Well worth it, be it for laptop/mobile phone/electric razor/camcorder/AA etc. battery charging...

Look in a chandlery (ie for boats) magazine to get the cheapest (serious) ones - Ie not what you sometimes find in car accessory shops.

[Pete Sinclair]

I'm not convinced about inverters. Why? In theory, when you convert 12v to 240v you're multiplying the voltage by a factor of 12. Therefore, if you're running something which consumes 5 amps at 12 volts, you'll be consuming 60 amps (5 X 12) when you're running it through an inverter. If you have a 60ah battery, that gives you one hour then your battery is stuffed - unless you keep the engine running or run a solar panel.

I've got most things on my Defender down to 12v. The only thing I need mains for is a battery charger to keep the battery in good order. I'm also going to fit a solar panel to keep things topped up that way.

Inverters seem an expensive way to run mains stuff when most of it will run off 12v with a little ingenuity.

Think about it. You'll be converting 12v, to 240 v and back to 12v or less just to charge your shaver / camera / lap top / mobile phone charger etc. etc. Where does all this excess energy go? The inverter chucks it out as heat. Just what you need in the Sahara.

I know that in practice, using inverters is not as grim as I suggest, but my advice would be to try and figure out a way to not use one if you can.

Coffee machines however will almost certainly need 240v.

Pete.

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Pete Sinclair.
Alnwick to Botswana
http://www.a2b.uk.net

[This message has been edited by Pete Sinclair (edited 07 May 2002).]

[Sam Rutherford]

I only use the invertor whilst driving. Because it is mainly used for charging stuff, you can plan your charging needs around your driving itinerary.

Sam.

[andrasz]

Pete, you've got the math whrong there. A 12V/5A device will need 0.25 Amps at 240V !. However when converted back, it will be the same 12/5. Of course there will be some loss, but these gadgets run at 80-90% efficiency, so you will need no more than 6A input for the inverter.

The main reason you may need one is that some battery driven electronics (laptops, satelite phones, etc) have their own sophisticated charger that only work with 110/240V. Even if available, a 12V charger will cost a fortune (they wanted $360 for a 12V charger for my Mini-M phone). I got a 300W inverter for $42.

For some it may be a good idea to buy a 110V inverter in the 'States (eBay full of them). Most laptop/phone chargers these days are dual rated, and a 110V inverter has a lower conversion ratio (more efficient, less heat) and substantially cheaper. You can get a 300W 110 for the price of a 150W 220.


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Happy Travels,
Andras

http://fjexpeditions.virtualave.net