Can you still have a microwave and watch TV without an APU? OR do you have to idle all the time for

Depends on your inverter and the number and quality of your batteries. Things that pull more juice might make the inverter alarm go off. Idling the truck may or may not help stop the alarm. With some things, it's the initial startup that pulls the most wattage.

If you have 4 good batteries, you can run quite a bit of appliances with engine off before your inverter starts complaining about low supply voltage.

 

I have to idle to run a 1700 watt microwave. I run an igloo cooler 24/7, surf internet on my laptop, charge phone, etc without idling.

If I run the bunk heater, I'll usually get a rude awakening in the wee hours from the low battery alarm going off.

 

Appliances all have tags somewhere on them listing specs, look for watts.

There's a huge difference between a microwave and a PS4. I think a PS only draws like 100 watts, roughly. That'll be like 1/8th to 1/12th of what a nuke will draw.

 

PLEASE PLEASE if you are considering installing an inverter have it installed by a company shop. For every 100 watts you use there is a bit over 8 amps being drew out of those batteries. You should also be at least idle the engine while using an inverter like this. Most class 8 trucks have a battery protection system that will kick in and cut off the power system once the storage in the battery gets below a point. Most inverters are connected directly to the battery and this gets bypassed. Use your head install the inverter correctly and idle. You should be OK.

 

Why don't you just game on a laptop? When the truck is idling, it will charge your battery; when it shuts off the battery will keep your game running til the truck starts again.

The Acer Predetor Helios 500 is supposed to be made available in the states within a few weeks. Its an i9 processor with latest and greatest graphics card and its a solid state drive, so you won't have to worry about the bumpy ride ruining the spindle in your traditional disk drives.

 

I have teamed with two guys that game on consoles in the trucks we use without APUs. They always seemed to have problems with their games cutting off when the truck does. I'm no expert on how it all works with trucks. But I have the luxury of being a computer gamer. I dont touch consoles. Like having a computer for other things like running my stock market software. Now that I am making decent money and always on the road, that's more important than ever.

Anyway, that's my pitch for switching over to pc gaming... Gaming the right way.

 

When your truck burns to the axles because of a driver-installed inverter installed with long tiny cables make sure to sift through the ashes to remove the inverter before the fire trucks arrive.

 

I told somsome this early this spring , they called me a liar.

 

If your company does not provide an APU and an Inverter for you, you are working for the wrong company.

With all the no idle states APU's are needed for driver comfort and safety.