Hoping some of you guys who really know electrical well can help me out...
Looking at large capacity, 1200 to 2500 watts, modified sine, btu I don't know anything about specs and features...
The largest thing I want to run would be my Electolux vacuum occasionally, to clean the interior of the cab, which draws 9 amps...so a 1200 watt should be the smallest, and probably on the cusp for powering that. Otherwise, powering a laptop and battery charger most of the time, and in an extreme emergency (I'm a news photog) such as a natural disaster or grid failure, I would want to daisey chain as many photographers and reporters laptops and satphones as possible to keep funcitoning. I will get a dedicated deep cycle battery down the road...
Next up, this Xantrex looks more advanced, at 1500 wats continuous, 1750 watts for 5 minutes, and 3000 watts peak, and it is on sale, for $189.00 (regularly $239.00). Seems to have more advanced LED meter and remote switch as well...
Here is an AIMS "no frills inverter...1250 watts and 3 outlets at $99.00
^that's what I've been doing...except I don't have a garage, so I have to run a long extension from the living room to the street. I just figured if I am dropping in an inverter, might as well get one to handle this, just to make it easier. I'd probably keep the truck cleaner if I didn't have to mess with it.
But also, in a worse case scenario sucha s a grid failure, I'd like to have the capabilty of keeping as many of my colleagues charged up as possible. Our NY bureau and HQ had a mini-drill of this sort when they had that black out a couple years back, as well as our west coast people during the San Francisco quake in 1988, and of couse our Katrina coverage was challenging as well. I could potentially travel anywhere in the country on a big story.
is it ok to be running such a large wattage inverter nova?
Think so...thats what they are designed for. If I run the vaccum it will only be for a few minutes so I think the heavy duty battery from the tow package should be fine for that. Otherwise I am just powering a laptop and maybe a battery charger.
In an extreme situation mentioned above, it would probably require a dedicated deep cycle battery, which I will get down the road a bit...to spread out the costs...
also, i would probably go with the vector or coleman, but i like the xantrex cause of the remote switch.
x2
I especially like the Xantrex for the remote switch. I could see wiring it up to a different switch and putting it one of the slots on the dash. If fact...I think I might do that myself
__________________ 2006 Toyota Tacoma DCab Long Bed SR5 V6 5spd Auto 4x4
Tow Package, 6 CD Changer, Rear Limited Slip Differential, 16" Alloy Wheels
Silverstar H4 Headlamps and Silverstar 9005 Foglamps, Bed Storage Utility Lock Mod, Redline Tuning Gas Hood Struts, Roll-N-Lock M-Series Retractable Tonneau Cover
2. The 2500 watt AIMS (the very first unit of my OP) for power and price...
Thunder, I have a Shark cordless, and before that two B&D's, and I can tell you they all suck. They have no power, the batteries fail immediatley, and over the last five years, I get about 30 seconds of crappy suck before they whimper out and die...
2. The 2500 watt AIMS (the very first unit of my OP) for power and price...
Thunder, I have a Shark cordless, and before that two B&D's, and I can tell you they all suck. They have no power, the batteries fail immediatley, and over the last five years, I get about 30 seconds of crappy suck before they whimper out and die...
My truck deserves better...
In my opinion I would go with the most wattage that you are willing to pay for so you will not be limited. Just remember whatever amperage your equipment calls for multiply it by 120 and that is what the wattage calls for. You should allow for current surge. 2500/120=20.8 amps which is pretty good.
I'm not a genius or know to much electrical besides what i've done, but shouldn't you keep an eye on the continuous since thats what it'll mostly run all the time. Also, why not install another battery????? If you aren't planning to install a CAI, or bigger air filter, there's plenty of room by it to add another battery.
In my opinion I would go with the most wattage that you are willing to pay for so you will not be limited. Just remember whatever amperage your equipment calls for multiply it by 120 and that is what the wattage calls for. You should allow for current surge. 2500/120=20.8 amps which is pretty good.
He doesn't need that much power from his description. He only needs power to power one vacuum for cleaning his truck and then 8 or 9 laptops and battery chargers when he is doing his news stuff in a power outage or in a remote area. 1500 watts is plenty for that, my own personal laptop (Which is an average size for a laptop) only draws 70 watts when charging so the power requirements are very small. Theoretically he could run 20 of my laptops off a 1500 watt inverter. So the 1750 plus would be the best choice in my eyes the only problem I could see is the fact that it is Modified Sine and even though it's better then just sine...some computers could still be fussy and not like it heh. It's rare but it could happen. The only thing a larger inverter will do is drain the battery faster because the larger inverter you get, the less efficent they become and the more electricity is lost in the conversion.
__________________ 2006 Toyota Tacoma DCab Long Bed SR5 V6 5spd Auto 4x4
Tow Package, 6 CD Changer, Rear Limited Slip Differential, 16" Alloy Wheels
Silverstar H4 Headlamps and Silverstar 9005 Foglamps, Bed Storage Utility Lock Mod, Redline Tuning Gas Hood Struts, Roll-N-Lock M-Series Retractable Tonneau Cover
We have a smaller Xantrex and it works flawlessly. It has lasted in 110 degree temps in the desert and powerd my labtop without any surges. If you are goign to be using it for ANY electronics, then the Sine wave technology is a MUST!
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