Inverter opinion

All depends on what you want to run with it.

Had the Cobra for the TV and Playstation and didnt have any problems just running off a cig lighter plug.

 

Go to the experianced drivers forum, they have a thread about inverters there. I cannot remember the names of inverters but there is a guy on there that says to get one that is a sine wave inverter if your going to use a laptop.

 

Most laptops today will work fine with a modified sinewave.. ham radios would prefer pure sinewave invertors, but they are usually twice the price.. power grounding usually eliminates the noise produced by modified sinewave invertors

I have a power drive 750 that powers my frige, tv, blu-ray and laptop. I have a power drive 2000 I turn on when I need to power my coffee pot, microwave or toaster..

 

From an article I read on inverters:
"When buying an inverter, most drivers don't realize there are 3 fairly distinct different types. (Cheap) modified sine wave, modified sine wave, and pure sine wave. Technically both of the modified sine waves are the same type, but the difference in quality between each is huge.

The interference caused by each refers to the type of wave signal that each has. The cheaper the inverter, the worse the amount of interference you'll likely see. If you plug into an inverter with high amounts of interference, your TV signal will look shaky, your DVD picture won't look clear, and you could even get interference over your CB. A cheap modified sine wave inverter can be found at a fuel stop for under $200. I strongly discourage drivers from buying these. A decent modified sine wave inverter can be had for around $400. A good pure sine wave inverter will be at least $800. The amount of power you need will vary on your usage, but a 2000 watt inverter should do the trick if all you're running is a fridge, computer, TV, and cell phone charger.

Many drivers forget that most inverters can be mounted sideways. One of the best space savers under the bunk is to mount the inverter sideways on a wall so that its footprint is half of what it would have been lying flat."

I personally only use Xantrex inverters. Specifically the Xantrex Freedom HF1800. It's a modified sinewave, 1800 watt. I think it retails for about $450? I've installed 20 or so on trucks when I do APU installs and I've never had one go bad in the past 2 years.

 

Careful on buying a cheap inverter that plugs in to 12V. All that will be able to power is a phone charger or something of that size. Those kind of inverters can do bad things to batteries and burn out fast if things that use high wattage (computers, tvs, microwaves, etc) are plugged in to them.

A good inverter should be run with battery cables directly to the batteries.

 

I have a 1500 inverter. I have my laptop/360/LCD Tv, and microwave plugged into it. It works like a charm. Hardwired to the battery. I only wish the low voltage warning would go off a little sooner. It comes on just in time to tell me there is just enough power to turn the engine a couple times, but not enough to start it... grrr. So i just have to be a little more careful if I'm on a 34 or waylayed by a shipper.

 

If they're running a company truck, they might not have much of a choice in the matter, though.

When I ran for Swift, I had one of the Cobra 400W inverters which plugged into the 12v outlet. I ran a TV, DVD player, and PS2 with it, although I didn't have a laptop at the time, so I don't know how it would've fared with that. I did take the extra step of using a surge protector, though. But the Cobra worked fine for that, plus it wouldn't cut off whenever the truck cranked up (it was a Freightliner with that Optimized Idle, and the previous inverter I had would cut everything off when the truck cranked).
I've got it made now. The truck I'm running came with one installed, as well as six 120v outlets in the sleeper, plus two in the sidebox (so I can set up a stand light if I'm securing loads at night).

 

Most power cigarette lighter receptacles on the dash or in the bunk are designed to handle 150 watts. If you are using more than that, then you need to connect directly to the battery.
Watts = Volts x Amps
example; 19volts x 1.5 amps = 28.5 watts
As for sine wave, it does help give a better deep cycle battery charge for laptops. You can get around that by keeping it plugged in and not using the battery as much as possible. Doesn't really effect cell phone chargers.
As for how long you can use it without the running the batteries down depends on how much reserve capacity your batteries have. As batteries get older they lose their reserve capacity until they eventually can't hold a charge. If you run an inverter you will need to keep your batteries in good shape.
Reserve Capacity, (RC) is a battery industry rating, defining a battery's ability to power a vehicle with an inoperative alternator or fan belt. The rating is the number of minutes a battery at 80 degrees F can be discharged at 25 amps and maintain a voltage of 10.5 volts for a 12 volt battery. The higher the reserve rating, the longer your vehicle can operate should your alternator or fan belt fail.
If you are using more than 25 amps through an inverter then you will need to adjust for the amount of time. The higher the amps, the lower the minutes. Reserve capacity is usually on the battery label. As a rule of thumb, when using an inverter, start the motor every two hours.