1000 watt inverter limits

you really are better off having it put in. My 1000 watt inverter was wired with battery cables. if a wire that large chafes and grounds out it can pull lots of juice and your wallnuts are roasted.

Just to reinforce the quality issue of inverters. I had one of the vector brans and it wasn't bad at all but the transformer for my laptop charger would get hot enough to burn you pluged into it and when I'm at home it's barely warm

 

I work at a truck stop (atleast i do till the end of this next week then leave for CDL school) but a guy bought an inverter the other night...the cables and the connection was too small for the battery. Our shop dont touch installing inverters. Not to mention the cables that come with the inverter are only 2 ft long...MAYBE 3. But he says he tries to sell $45 pair of real nice pair of jumper cables. He said he likes to run them out the bottom in the sleeper, and take the end and grip them to the battery.


But anyways, what i was curious about, is what all do you normally run off the inverter. i know a fridge, laptop charger/cell phone charger, small microwave and a TV/DVD combo. But what else....am i forgetting anything?

Getting into driving OTR, i dont want to have to worry about burning my truck down, but then again, i want to have entertainment when I am in the sleeper, or nuke a hot pocket or something.

 

you mean it's not so you can grab the live ends and wake up in the morning?

Darn!

Fridge/microwave are really all that typically need a big inverter. Cell / laptop charger and TV dingus can do fine on a smaller one. At least mine do. I also swap out the big flashlight charger and the 12 inch fan - running on my 300W inverter.

When I put my tower in the cab, THEN I'll need bigger inverter. Not sure if I'm gonna bother with the fridge/microwave.. not even on my shopping list.

A small window A/C however... that's a thought

 

Put your tower in the cab...why not get a new laptop? Much MUCH faster, and also can take it into truck stops when you get the chance to relax a bit.

I forgot all about a fan. I would think the 300w inverters that plug into your cig lighter are safer (from the standpoint of frying it) than the ones you have to hardwire to the battery.

 

Sattalite dish for TV, vacuum cleaner, cooking utensils (coffee pot, pot for boiling potatoes and making soup), drill motor for working on truck, polisher for aluminum.

 

Don't have to worry about a Sat. dish. Don't really "need" to watch TV when I am down. I'd have an LCD with built in DVD player...plus my laptop with a billion movies already on it. I will invest on a good quality cordless drill. and if i cant eat it cold, or nuke it, i wont eat it. =) i dont drink coffee, and can nuke a potato. But the vaccum is a good idea.

 

yeah - forgot the vacuum. I would recommend a small wet/dry cannister- get the most powerful motor you can. I have a hand-held rechargable.. it's ok, but I would prefer a bunch more ooomph.

I agree on the TV. Why bother? There's nothing on worth watching most of the time, anyway.

As for the Tower/laptop. One point to consider is that I already have them. That's important, y'know. Don't spend money you don't need to in this job. Tower is a dual-core 3.2Ghz machine with 750Gigs of hard drive and 4 gigs of RAM - no laptop on the planet is gonna touch it.

I'll need to think about the drill for a bit.

You might also consider a leaf blower (electric or Gas). Makes sweeping out the trailer a HECK of a lot easier.

 

Can you talk to the Space Station with that tower? I mean a computer that big, it had better wash your truck for you from time to time, or what a waste. LOL Who makes it, and/or how much was it to build? I would be willing to bet that tower could run any webcam and keep the stream flowing much easier than a laptop.

Want to change to a better vaccum cause it sucks better??

 

Greetings...

Just a thought: what about buying 12v models of these appliances? aka RV style?

I understand that they would be a lot more expensive, but you wouldn't have to worry about the inverter, right?

 

the inverter is only about 200 bucks it will save you more than that on buying the 110 volt stuff versus buying all of the 12 volt stuff and having problems with them.