| Author | Message | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
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I have a raincheck for a 3000 or 3500 watt inverter from harbour freight for $150.00 is that a pretty good deal and will it be sufficient. how many batteries should I run and can they be mix and match? I have 2 brand new 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries now. I hear 6 volts hold charge better can I or should I add 6 volts or just add more 12 volt batteries so I don't use so much space? will that inverter run 1 roof ac and for how long? I realy only plan on using it for fridge and some other small casual use apliances. also can you use 2 inverters? these questions may sound dumb to some of you but I only know 2 things about electricity, if you touch the wrong wire your gonna get shocked and if you don't pay your bill they shut it off. | ||
| Earl-8-Ky Rating: N/A |
I don't know what Harbor freight is selling but that seem very cheap for a inverter. As far as batts. don't mix them. You will not be able to run a AC from a inverter without having a lot of batts. It is not a good idea. Plan on useing your gen set for the AC. | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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I agree | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
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Ron, if it's the Coleman PMP 3000, it's definitely a good deal. Know how others can get that raincheck? I wouldn't want to stick with this inverter long-term, but would make a nice get-by for the time being. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=91596 | ||
| captain ron (Captain_ron)
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My mistake it is the 2000 watt inverter they have. I believe the guy said it was 3000 though. it is item # 47130 and it is a coleman. still a good deal? will that be good enough for my fridge and other small apliances? I don't drink coffee so I wont be running a coffee maker. just toaster, blender and simular things. should I add a couple more batteries? TwoDogs sorry I couldn't make it over for our bonding session I know your realy disapointed mabee in may  | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
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$150 is about the going price for a Coleman 2000, and I don't have the chops to tell you the pros & cons of this genre - the above things should be ok, but *not* the A/C. I think the experts would have you toss the marine batts and go all six volt. Let's see how controversial that statement is! From what I understand, "deep cycle marine batteries" is an oxymoron. Ain't no such thing. Marine is not a real deep cycle, it's kind of a hybrid which is not as good as special purpose batts for either starting or deepering. ;) | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
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have no desire to bond....sorry crybaby | ||
| Jim (Jim_in_california)
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I wouldn't put expensive electronics on a cheap inverter. I'm starting to think that one of the best deals in an inverter for quality electronics of modest drain is the 600w version of the Samlex true sine wave critter, available for $300 most places. I can see how getting two or even three of those plus a $200 "smart charger" of about 60 - 75 amps (Iota or similar with smart controller add-on) would net you a very flexible and cost-effective alternative to $1500 worth of Prosine 2000 with charger. | ||
| John G Root Jr (Johnroot)
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I now have many months experience with 6 8D AGM batteries and a Trace SW 2512 MC. The batteries will run the roof air through the inverter for about 2 hours. However, if you try to make coffee while the air conditioner is running it trips out. Also, to get the airconditioner started you have to turn off everything else. When on shore power (the front air conditioner is connectted to the inverter) you have to turn off the inverter battery charger to get the air conditioner started. In Feb 2001 I did the calculations to size my system, I added up all the watts the appliances draw and estimated how long they would be running and came up with a total watt hours and bought the batteries that added up to that figure. However, either the battery watt hours are not real or the appliance watt hours are wrong because I get about half of what I expected. I sized the system for two days of battery power and I get one day. It takes about 4 hours for the generator (Onan 6500 LP) to charge the batteris to float. So I have to run the generator 4 hours a day to keep the system working while boondocking. | ||
| Jim (Jim_in_california)
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John, how much electical stuff are you running? Put another way, do you have your fridge running on propane? Or is it a "three way" type fridge running on an electrical source, which is WAY inefficient? Or is it a standard 110v household fridge? From everything I can tell, your best bets on the fridge are to either go propane, or run a very efficient Danfoss-compressor-based fridge off of either 12v or 24v DC. I also suspect you'd do better with a smaller high-efficiency genset like the Honda E3000is or fairly similar Robin (Subaru) RG3200iSE. Both are very quiet, they can cycle their power to meet needs, get WAY better fuel usage than an Onan and drive power through an internal sine wave inverter with their own small battery bank for dealing with peak loads. The Robin is a bit less money and a bit more power than the Honda but you can lash two Hondas together to produce 6kw if you need to, and even start/stop the second Honda whenever that's needed. You can also do that with dual Honda EU2000i gensets but those are pull-start-only where the Honda and Robin are electic and can be set up for remote start. See this page on the Robin: http://www.portable-electric-power-generators.com/p_robin_generator.htm The keychain wireless remote start option on the Robin looks NEAT . Another issue: if you're pulling your AC loads through the inverter, you are unnecessarily stressing your inverter/charger/battery bank system, drawing huge amounts up and down which isn't good for the batteries. If you ran a single decent AC through a high-efficiency genset you'd probably be better off. You may also need to rethink your electric drain items, esp. the fridge. My boondocking plans involve running AC, microwave and other "short burst" items like power tools straight off an efficient genset, drive a battery charger off the genset to a much more modest battery bank than yours (pair of 8Ds) and then using minimal 12v lighting and inverter-driving as little electronics as I can. Fridge, water heat, unit heat will all be propane. | ||
| John G Root Jr (Johnroot)
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The fridge is 12v or 120v marine with the very efficient motor. I have an "instant hot" boiling water dispenser, so there is always hot water for tea, and trash compacter and four fans, etc. Satelite radio, entertainment system, coffee maker, toaster, etc. It's a lot. The generater has two legs one 30amp and one 20 amp with the 30 running the inverter and the 20 the water heater, fridge, rear airconditioner, etc. My point was only that in the real world you are likely to get about half of what you calculate you should. | ||
| Jim (Jim_in_california)
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Huh. Well just based on how I operate at home now, if I need hot water for tea I'll just boil it (on propane, in the mobile system). And the way I usually make tea, I boil a couple of cupfuls water in a small pan, pour that over six teabags and some sugar in a pyrex jar, then once that's mixed and steeped pour that, water and ice into a two-liter pitcher - one day's tea supply . I don't drink coffee, got some instant for guests. Ain't much into toast. Basically all I need in the kitchen is burners (propane) and a small nuker. But then again I'm still single <grin!>. Add a female-type-person and God only knows... Anyways. I think I can operate on a single 30amp circuit and a 3kw class genset. The rig already has a 35gal propane tank. Should be able to finally buy the sucker this coming week. The Judge ordered California to turn over $76k to me a week ago and the paperwork is supposed to take about 10 days... | ||
| busbutt Rating: N/A |
$76k Buy a real bus that is finished. | ||
| Jim (Jim_in_california)
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Yeah, and that's ALL I'd get - without enough budget for long-term issues if I went very high end. What I can find for $17k is a 34ft Bluebird skoolie in really excellent shape, pro-grade conversion, looks like a Wanderlodge so it won't be sneered at anywhere. Mechanically simple - Cummins non-turbo motor, manual Spicer tranny, spring suspension so I don't have all these sucky airbag issues that FILL THIS BOARD for God's sake. (Get real: how many "help it won't air up!" cries for help do we see around here?!) Whole drivetrain replaced or rebuilt in 1986, less than 75k miles since. Less than a year on the dual 8D house battery bank. And it runs 10mpg. All it needs is the addition of inverters and swap the since stage "charger" (read: "battery boiler") for a good multi-stage. No sweat, I can those myself. I'll also swap the 40gal fresh tank for 80, it already has 40gal each on the black/gray. $6k gets me an enclosed motorcycle platform/mini-garage on the rear adding 3.5ft to the length of the rig, making it a high security "urban boondocker special". The result is something I can run for 20+ years if I want - and I may need to, it'll be a good while before I see a windfall like this again. (Remember, the Bluebird "All American" skoolie was made with few changes for 20+ years AND shares a lot of parts with it's dognose cousins. Junkyard parts are beyond "plentiful" and an entire running parts bus can be had at around $4k tops. -------------- Yeah, for about as much money as all of the above minus the parts bus I could buy Jim Maxwell's Grumman 870 fr'instance. And I've seriously considered it, it's a damn fine bus. But the maintenance needs are higher, it actually has less water tankage on the black/gray and most of all, to deal with a motorcycle I'm looking at a trailer. Which is WAY annoying in an urban environment and not nearly as secure. And it runs about 7mpg. |