Would like to get a power inverter for the truck to run some tools from, charge batteries for the cordless stuff, and whatever else.
I was thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 watt continuous/4000 watt surge, something with low voltage alarm/shutdown so it doesn't kill the truck batteries.
Saw one in the new Harbor Freight catalog for 149.99.
it is made by Chicago Electric.
Wondering if anyone has had any experiences with them.
Just getting tired of throwing the generator in the truck by myself.
Any suggestions?

Rich

 

harbor freight is as about as low as one can go on the totem pole. be carefull if u buy there.

 

I'm going to second that, HF is great for sandpaper and 9 dollar air chisels.

As for electrical items, I would do it right the first time and get one more widely used.

Is Chicago Electric the same as Chicago Pnuematic(sp?)

 

I've had good luck with my Coleman 2k inverter. I think it was a little over $200.

Hate to say it ('cuz I've bought stuff there) but lots of that stuff at HF isn't the highest quality.... but I will go back and buy more stuff when needed...

 

I thought it was kind of a low price for what it was.
I'm gonna look around some more. I don't mind spending more money on something I know is of better quality.

I'll check out the Coleman.

OK I just noticed something
At the top of the screen in the Ads By Google, there are a few links to inverters. This is one of the many reasons I like this site.

Thanks Jack and the Admins.

Rich

 

I just noticed the same things on another post I made about shipping containers. I thought I was losing it at first. Keep us updated. My last roadtrip I was eyeing the inverters at the truck stops.

 

do NOT forget that a modified sine wave inverter will destroy many batteries and battery chargers.

 

Have not heard that before. Are you saying that a square wave converter will damage battery chargers? How? Also, if it can damage the charger, how will this then cause damage to a battery?
Not saying you are wrong, just curious.
I do know that some variable speed drills will not run on a modified square wave converter.

 

i am not really sure why it happens. maybe an EE will chime in

i plugged my drill charger in to my inverter and it broke the battery and the charger. when i went to buy another one, the new one had a disclaimer on it: do not use with dc to ac inverters. i guess i wasn't the only one who attempted it. this should all be fixed with a true sine inverter but these are expensive!

 

Google's pretty good...

 

Yup, I was going to mention this as well. The cheap inverters do not put out a full sine wave voltage. Ive used my inverter sparingly for this reason.

 

I spent the $80 on one from the farm store along with a small sump pump. I wanted to use it to drain a 500 gallon water trough thats in the middle of no-where. The inverter was rated way over what the pump needed for power, but I never did get it to work. Everytime I plugged it in it just tripped the breaker on the inverter. Took it back and exchanged it for a bigger model, same thing. Never have got it to work for anything. Still ridin around in my tool box just in case somebody smarter than me ever needs it.

 

You will quickly note the difference in speed of something like a fan running on a square or mod square inverter versus the sine wave. The nature of a square wave is it can set up parasitic oscillations that are high frequency and can short out wiring.

Another note of caution - - be very careful trying to run a 2K inverter off your cigarette lighter plug in. Wiring is way too small.
Bob

 

Here is a picture of a modified sine wave and a regular sine wave:


The modified sine wave introduces a few problems. First, it doesn't pass through zero volts quickly (like the sine wave) and secondly it has sharp edges (the vertical up and down lines). These sharp edges are composed of high frequencies which (as fiverbob said) can cause harmonics and noise issues.

~Rob

 

Another thing to think about is the wattage rating on these things.
Take a 2000W unit for example. That is the output power. Input power will be more than that. They might tell you the device is a certain percent efficient (say 87%), but that is most likely the peak (or best) efficiency (think of a HP or Torque curve, there is a peak, that is what everyone spouts out when asked what HP or TQ their engine has). I would assume around 80% efficiency for one of these things.

So:
Efficiency = Power Out / Power In
OR
Power In = Power Out / efficiency

In this case: Power In = 2000W/80% => 2000/.80 = 2500W

Power In = Voltage In X Current In
OR
Current In = Power In / Voltage In

In this case: Current In = 2500W/12Volts = 208 Amps. (A lot of juice)

(even if effficiency were 90%, input current would be 185 Amps for a 2000W output inverter)

Just keep that in mind when you are sizing the wiring you are going to run for your inverter.

~Rob