looking for a compact 12 > 220v inverter

[Beemerstyle]

Im looking for a decent inverter 12v to 220v must be compact and be able to run a camping fridge (engel 40l) and laptop etc. 1500w should suffice. Any input would be appreciated.

[EugeneGlock23]

A work colleague of mine got quite a decent inverter from AutoZone a short while back, they run our laptops and some other equipment when we're on site and as far as I know they have different sized ones for different applications as well.

[EugeneGlock23]

Also try a company called Enertec, they supply energizer batteries to us ( the bigger industrial type) and if I'm not mistaken I saw inverters there as well, their stuff is good quality and decently priced, that is if there is a branch close to you.

[Andrew Leigh]

Firstly you need to buy a pure sinewave invertor, anything with a modified wave will not be kind to your laptop.

You Engel probably does not draw more that 2.5A when at full load on 12V, this translates to 2.5Ax12V = 30W or 30W/220V = 0.14A @ 220V
Your laptop will draw in the order of 100W or 0.46A @ 220V.

So in total your consumption will add to about 130W. You laptop will probably be fairly consistent in current draw but the fridge can peak at around 6X. This means that the invertor will need to handle short term in rush current 0.85A. So in my opinion to correctly size your invertor you will require 0.46A + 0.85A = 1.3A @ 220V or 286W so a 300W invertor should be adequate.

On to the battery, assuming a duty cycle of 50% on the fridge and 100% on the laptop your average consumption with both running will be about 0.5A @ 220V or 110W. 110W at 12V = 9.2Ah current draw so you would get about 10h life from a 100Ah battery, worst case scenario.

[Rudes]

Im looking for a decent inverter 12v to 220v must be compact and be able to run a camping fridge (engel 40l) and laptop etc. 1500w should suffice. Any input would be appreciated.

Does your Engel not also run on 12V DC? Might not be necessary to run an inverter for it then. You might need a pure Sinewave inverter for a desktop but I don't really find it necessary for a laptop. On a laptop you are actually running from the battery and the power supply can normally take a reasonable variable input and still regulate the power appropriately.

You are not saying what you want to use it for, camping, 4x4 or home use. Different applications might require different solutions. A good place to start would be a company called Bush Power. They are in Midrand and do primarily power solutions for 4x4 and overland applications but go as far as installing off-grid solar installations for game lodges and others. I buy all my solar and other camping electrics from them and have been very happy with service and products. Give Jacques a call and chat to him about your requirements. I don't have his number handy right now but you will find his contact details on the www.bushpower.co.za website.

[Andrew Leigh]

Inverters are notoriously inefficient, typical losses are 15% on the better ones. So Rudes is 100% correct, best to run the fridge direct from 12V to circumvent these losses.

Lots of people do run laptops on modified sine wave inverters but not for me. A modified sine wave is exactly that, modified, what we call dirty power. Inductive loads prefer pure sine wave, a compressor motor is an inductive load.

[Rudes]

Inverters are notoriously inefficient, typical losses are 15% on the better ones. So Rudes is 100% correct, best to run the fridge direct from 12V to circumvent these losses.

Lots of people do run laptops on modified sine wave inverters but not for me. A modified sine wave is exactly that, modified, what we call dirty power. Inductive loads prefer pure sine wave, a compressor motor is an inductive load.

Agree on the inefficiencies of inverters. I only really use an inverter for some battery chargers that cannot accept 12V DC, everything else runs straight off 12V DC. I even found a 90W universal 12V DC notebook power adaptor that I use to keep my netbook batteries charged while camping.

[Beemerstyle]

Sorry guys i should have been more specific, I am in the film industry and often work on location where power is an issue (i have 3 honda eu2 generators) that are pretty silent but unfortunately not always suitable for the job. I def need a sine wave inverter as the laptop side is critical...but to add we occasionally use desktops which have huge psu,s not to mention the monitors. I would rather go for an overkill unit. batteries are not an issue as I have 2 x 105 amp deep cycle Varta batts in my vehicle. Thanks for all the responses so far

[mic]

Hi there
If you are interested, I have a Pure Sinewave inverter rated at 600w which I am willing to part with for R1600. Hardly used.

[Beemerstyle]

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