Power inverter, what do you guys use

[DRMabe]

Looking for advice on a power inverter, what are some reliable choices that you guys use? Looking to mainly power a laptop, and charge camera batteries.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I run a 400 watt Vector. It will power a modest 15 inch laptop no trouble. It chokes on a beastly 17 inch laptop though. I recommend getting a good DC-DC laptop power supply. You waste power going DC-AC-DC, and I've run into more trouble trying to power laptops that method than directly DC-DC. Some other threads:

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?15269-Power-invertor-for-laptop
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?15641-AC-camera-power-and-power-inverters
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?4285-Power-inverter..-Please-help
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?7459-Power-Inverters
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&...verter&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.&fp=b74a227c0bae400b

 

[DRMabe]

Good deal, I'll be running a 17" Toshiba.

 

[Rob H]

400w Cobra has worked for two laptops. Just make sure your laptops don't draw more than the inverter can take. The Cobra has been a trooper for us, and we've had 3 (4?) Black and Decker units go bad on us just in the last year.

The one thing that we did like from B&D was "The Boombox". I don't know what it's really called, but it's basically a giant rechargable battery that you can plug stuff into. We run the ThreatNet unit off of this, and charge low-draw things like cell phones without any problems. It's nice knowing that even if the power inverter or battery died, we could still get radar or charge a cell phone if we needed to, and it frees up a lot of things from having to be plugged into the inverter.

 

[Mark Blue]

I will have to second what Skip said about a DC to DC laptop adapter. I first purchased a pure sine wave inverter from Lind, then after reading a thread about the adapter I decided to purchase another product from Lind and I have never looked back. It is the single best decision I ever made. Check out the models they have available on their website here: Lind. Their website is a bit cumbersome and not so user friendly, but their products are top notch and of the highest quality.

 

[Jason Foster]

I know (Worst) Buy has DC-DC laptop power adapters for $125. I had to get one in a pinch. Works great. Even has a USB power port. As stated...do that and the most you need is 400watt inverter for the silly stuff.

 

[DRMabe]

Speaking of "Worst Buy", where are some of the best places (price wise) to buy a decent converter? Newegg?

As far as uses, really just the laptop and camera batteries....prob not at the same time though to not "overload" the inverter. Also be used to run a portable DVD player and charge my little girl's DS when on road trips.

 

[D. Hayes]

One thing to know is don't get too big of a inverter for your vehicle. My 1500w Duracell will go into low volt protect pretty quickly unless I'm driving down the road. Course my high output alternator needs a faster spin to output optimum voltage.

 

[Scott MacArthur]

Purchased a Xantrex PROWatt 600 Pure Sine Wave inverter on Amazon. Pure Sine is the way to go and you won't ever have to worry about your expensive electronics. This is one area I wouldn't cut corners on. It wired up to a second battery in my vehicle that is isolated from the car's battery via a battery isolator and in line circuit breaker. Never have to worry about power again. Hope that helps!

 

[DRMabe]

Purchased a Xantrex PROWatt 600 Pure Sine Wave inverter on Amazon. Pure Sine is the way to go and you won't ever have to worry about your expensive electronics. This is one area I wouldn't cut corners on. It wired up to a second battery in my vehicle that is isolated from the car's battery via a battery isolator and in line circuit breaker. Never have to worry about power again. Hope that helps!

How much was the inverter? You said you wired it to a extra battery, does that spare battery still charge from the alternater? Can you start your vehicle off of that battery too if needed?

 

[Scott MacArthur]

How much was the inverter? You said you wired it to a extra battery, does that spare battery still charge from the alternater? Can you start your vehicle off of that battery too if needed?

I think it was $165 shipped. The alternator will charge both but when the car is not running the inverter will only pull from the 2nd battery. This works only with an isolator. The rear battery will not be used in cranking but you shouldn't have a problem with the front battery unless you leave your lights on or something. Carry some jumper cables that will reach the rear battery then you could us it to jump off the first in an emergency. I wouldn't suggest running the batteries in parallel (without isolator) as I've seen before. The batteries will try to equal out each other and the one that is charged more will tend to drain down to the other. Never works out well in the long run.

 

[S Kalka]

I also run a second battery to use when parked. I use a deep cycle battery (boat type) and charge it every 3 or 4 days at a motel. I have never had any trouble with it not having enough charge to power to run a laptop for several hours at a time. I also use a "Battery #1/Both/Battery #2 switch (don't know what it's called) to switch from the car to the backup without interrupting power to the inverter. It's a simple setup that seems to work for me.

 

[Ric Burney]

I entertained the second battery system but space is limited in my vehicle so: http://wxdallas.com/inverter

 

[Dan Robinson]

I've used a 750-watt inverter direct-wired to the main fuse panel since 2004, this is the way to go for worry-free power. Cheaper and more practical than getting direct DC for every possible device. During one trip, we had four laptops, two routers and several various camera/cell phone chargers plugged into it with no issues. The cigarette lighter plug is a troublesome way to connect any size power inverter, for reliable performance you will need to run a circuit with heavy-gauge wire to the fuse panel under the hood (make sure to fuse the circuit). Prior to 2004, I ran the small 400-watt inverters with the cigarette plugs and always had problems with low voltage alarms at the slightest provocation - many times it would simply not work. Cigarette plugs will eventually develop bad contacts over time as well. They just aren't made for hardcore use that chasers put them through.

 

[Robert Keller]

750 watt. I run a fan on it also, as sometimes I cannot tell if it is on as my laptop will run on it's battery and my Baron WXWorx will run for awhile on the laptop's power but I will lose my XM signal if I am not using the converter. I can't get A.M. with mine running, could be a grounding problem.