Power Inverters

Lighter sockets are very poor power outlets. My bet is that if you would wire yours directly (say, from the CB terminals), it would work fine without the engine running.

 

You bet wrong for any kind of high wattage inverter.

 

He said it was a 150W inverter. The lower voltage drop from the CB terminals could well allow it to run without the engine running.

 

Go read post #269. A 1000W inverter will pull 90ish amps at a low line input of say 11 Vdc at rated output. You hook that kind of equipment up to CB leads, and you're headed for a truck fire.

 

I was referring to #267, where he referenced his plug in inverter. I wouldn't be surprised to find a 2V drop across the contacts in the lighter socket when pulling full power. I learned (very quickly) not to touch the metal bits of the lighter plug after running my Burton oven.

 

^^^that's what the power box says for my asus laptop

 

OK... so your inverter output is going to be in the 110 to 120VAC range. Let's say it's 120VAC...

120VAC * 2.34A = 280.8W

Add up the power (the ratings in Watts) you need for everything else you're going to run at the same time, and you have the total load power in watts. That doesn't include start-up surges, and some extra for when your batteries start running down. A 300W inverter will barely be able to handle your laptop when it's using all of that 280W. It may not be using that all the time, but it might be at startup. It's better to choose something with more available output so you don't run into trouble.

 

I have one of those cheapy 300w AC plug inverters to hold me over and after like 15 hours of ps4 on a small tv I think it finally died.

 

I put money on the side for a 3000W pure sine invertor. Question: thereis any inconvenient for running a microwave or drill and tools? I know for laptop and laser printer is yummy but I was wondering if the rest of the herd will affect a pure sine inverter.

 

You'll be fine. For most things you don't need a pure sine wave to operate properly.