Inverters under 500w - Suggestions

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Topic: Inverters under 500w - Suggestions

Posted By: lostagain
Subject: Inverters under 500w - Suggestions
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 1:01pm

We are going on a boon docking trip long enough that I can't bring enough freshly ground coffee. i've got a little coffee grinder that needs 200w of AC to run. So, I am looking at pure sine wave inverters under 500 wats to run the thing. Anyone have any suggestions on ones that aren't real expensive.

I plan to hard wire it into the DC distribution panel with a 30amp fuse and appropriate sized wire. We won't be running anything more than the coffee grinder and recharging a computer and phones. Not having fresh ground Colombian Supremo coffee, is not a good way to start the day. I looked for 12v coffee grinders and what little I found makes the inverters look inexpensive.

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Replies:

Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 1:19pm

If you still have the WFCO distribution panel, I think the only 30A rated spot is already taken. We carry a GoPower pure sine 300watt inverter I got at Lowes for about $50. So far, have not needed it. Our truck also has a 400watt inverter built in..

a quick look at the specs says 2 rated for 30A... the rest are 20A max. You should be good to go.

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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 2:28pm

Thanks, furpod, I appreciate the feedback.

I just got off the phone with the tech at PowerTech and he said that for their 600W inverter you really need to do a direct connect to the battery. He suggested 8 awg wire and an 80 amp inline DC circuit breaker. I can pick up the DC upstream from the distribution panel, put the breaker in there, then run the wire to the mounting point for the inverter. I had planned to put it next to the distribution panel, but due to its thickness, it's guaranteed to cause bloody shins in the night. I'll have to poke around for an easy and convenient place to put it. I might put it under the seat where the water heater and furnace are and wire hook it up to a standard AC plug on the wall under the seat. The bad thing is that the on/off switch is on the unit so it has to be pretty accessible. The bigger units come with a remote on/off switch. Yikes! all of this for a fresh cup of Colombian Supremo. ....it's worth it.

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 3:44pm

600watts is a lot of pull.. have you thought about a manual grinder? Then just add a couple easy peasy 12v/USB outlets for your charging needs? I always hate to see the waste of taking 12v DC, inverting it to 120v ac, then converting back to 19v or 5vDC.. when you can just go 12v DC to 5/19v DC real easy.. You have 10-20% waste at each step inverting and converting. And it's all about conserving electrons when we don't have hook ups..

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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 4:31pm

Yes, I've used a manual grinder before. In my experience, they didn't work well; lots of cranking and very little coffee.

I already wired in a couple of USB ports just the other day. In fact it came with a nifty volt meter that give battery voltage as well as a 12v plug. I got it from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MTBXHEV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I put it on the wall next to the fridge and ran the wires through the back of the space behind the fridge. It's in a convenient but out of the way space.

I looked at lower wattage inverters but didn't find any that are down in the 300w range that have a pure sine wave supposedly needed to run appliances. I have a lower wattage (don't know how much) inverter that plugs into a 12v plug that I've used before to charge my MacBook. It really boils down to being able to run the coffee grinder. That will pull 200w for about 45 seconds to a minute. I figure that since I'd be using it only once a day at most, it would not be too much of a draw on my batteries.

I think I'm going to keep poking around the internet to see if I can find a pure sine wave unit that's down in the 300w range, that isn't so bulky, and doesn't require 8 awg wire. If worse comes to worse, I'll just grind a bunch of coffee at Costco and keep it in the fridge.

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 4:38pm

http://gpelectric.com/products/300-watt-pure-sine-wave-inverter

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Posted By: texman
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 5:23pm

i have this one. i did not use a breaker, direct to the panel where battery leads attach. Has overload built in (do i need a fuse too?) got it from amazon an mounted beneath the TV in my 182g so it is close to the panel. i use it to inflate/deflate the air mattress.

MicroSolar - 300W(Peak 600w) Pure Sine Wave Inverter - with Two Wires

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TexMan 2015 182g
2018 Sequoia
http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9122&title=texman-182g-mods - TexManMods

Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 5:29pm

Thanks, furpod. I appreciate the info.

I looked up the go power unit and it's significantly bigger than the PowerTech, thus complicating installation. And it's considerably more expensive. Here's the url for the PowerTech on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0131GJ5X2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

I also found another there that may do the trick. It's comparably priced to the PowerTech, and has a lot smaller footprint. But unlike the GoPower and the PowerTech, it doesn't make it to 4 stars and there were complaints that it smelled terrible when running. i guess you get what you pay for.

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 5:54pm

Checkout the SureSine 300 by Morningstar:
https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/suresine/ - https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/suresine/

https://www.amazon.com/Morningstar-SI-300-115-Morningstar-SI-300-115V-UL/dp/B007IAFN16/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1521672450&sr=1-2&keywords=suresine+300 - https://www.amazon.com/Morningstar-SI-300-115-Morningstar-SI-300-115V-UL/dp/B007IAFN16/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1521672450&sr=1-2&keywords=suresine+300

No personal experience but @Techntrek recommended it.

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Charlie
Northern Colorado
OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD
PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD

Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 6:21pm

Thanks for the suggestion Charlie. I'll check it out.

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 6:27pm

texman, I checked on Amazon for the Micro Solar and got a message that they don't have it in stock and don't know when they'll get more. Also sold out on e-Bay. I'll keep looking for it too. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost