2017 - Which power inverter(s) should I get?

[spazzyone]

I've searched and searched, but nothing really definitive on our forum nor through retailer reviews to figure out what's good and reliable. Most reviews look paid for and there are just so many random issues with everything I've seen from soldered in fuses to inconsistency between what can be hooked up and what can't.

Long story short, I'm going on an extended road trip across the US (45 days) at the end of summer before we move and need an inverter, maybe 2 if that's what it will take. I need enough power to charge some or potentially all at the same time and really need help figuring this out. The numbers are pulled from the backs of the chargers or online. These are my needs:

1) Charge dslr batteries (requirements: 100-240 VAC, 0.21-0.115 A) used online calculator and this seems to be 34w
2) Charge drone batteries (Input:100V-240V~1.5A Output: 17.5V~6A (Total); 105W (Max)
3) Charge laptop (Apple 85W magsafe charger input: 100-240V-1.5A)
4) Charge AA batteries (Eneloop AA charger for 4 batteries, will EDIT to add specs tomorrow)
6) *BONUS* potentially have enough juice to use my nespresso pixie (120v 1160w) on the road. Yes.. I can suck it up and get whatever the road offers but I'd rather have something good and convenient when I want it.

I have usb ports already for our phones and tablets. My plan is to keep the small electronics up front to charge off of the standard cigarette lighter type plugs and maybe hardwire something into the rear back cargo compartment. I read that the leads should be shorter than 4 ft on some of the inverters so mounting it here would be impossible for those. This is really the only place I'm willing to mount one full-time. I thought about using multiple smaller $30 150-300w ones that just plug into the cigarette lighters, but it may be a combination of both for enough outlets.

I don't plan on charging everything in the car the whole time but there are going to be times in the national parks we won't have any other options if things need charging. I have a kicker hideaway under the driver seat and will be mounting a small amp under the passenger shortly to power my door speakers.

If anyone has any input that can help, it would be greatly appreciated.

I'd like to obviously spend the least amount possible but I'll go up to $150-200 to get this done right if it will last.

Edit:

I'll be upgrading to a Napa reman CS144 before the trip. I'm only going to be running a 550w rms sound system and these inverters. No offroad lights for now.

 

[Konkordmusk]

You need a pure sine wave inverter, they will provide the cleanest and most stable power for your sensitive electronics. They make them in many wattage flavors...But they're not cheap. I would not go cheap with an inverter, especially one I need to trust to charge my expensive equipment. Expect to spend 250-400 for one in the right wattage range.

 

[liquidnails]

What will your travel schedule be like driving vs staying put? How often will you need to be charging your stuff?

I battled with a similar problem when I did a month long trip to the arctic.

I have found the max sustained current you can pull through one of the cigarette lighters before melting anything is 8-10A or 120W max. This rules out using a cigarette lighter inverter to charge your drone batteries, and likely your laptop. (1.5AX120V=180W, and that's before taking into account the efficiency of the inverter) Another issue you may have if you're using the rear cigarette lighter socket is voltage drop. The wire running from the fusebox to the back of the truck is just to small to support much of a power draw. Your inverter won't be able to get a full 12V and will not work properly.



In my opinion the cheapest solution would be to hardwire 400-500w inverter for charging both your laptop and drone battery at the same time (while driving), and a cigarette lighter inverter for the AAs/USB stuff.

As far as a pure sine wave inverter, that may not be necessary. The power adapters for each of your chargers is designed to take a wide range of voltages/frequencies and rectify it to DC. But to be safe, it won't cost that much more.

Inverters are the most efficient when they're operating close to their maximum (continuous) rated capacity. 300-500W inverter should be good. Cost gets prohibitive if you want to run your coffee maker. Also keep in mind that the closer the inverter is located to the front of your vehicle, the smaller diameter (less expensive) wire you can use.

Figure $100-150 for a good quality 400W inverter, and another $25-50 for wiring and hardware. A car audio amp wiring kit with 4AWG cable would work well.

 

[psraff]

I'm in the process of installing a 3000W right now. It's overkill for what I need it for, but I bought it off my brother. I just was searching to give you the specs, but I'm not sure what happened. I can't find their site anywhere.

But yes, you want a clean sine wave so a good quality one is mandatory. Maybe look for one with a kind of soft start (ramps up the voltage). Maybe I missed it in your question, but is this perm. installed or just plug into your power outlet (those plug in outlets may only be 20 Amps. Not enough for much Watts)? Watts is Volt*Amps so find what the amp draw is for what you want to power and multiply by 12. Then to be safe, multiply that by 1.25 to give you some buffer.

Expect to pay 300 to 400 for a good one in the 3 to 5K range. I think most people would be happy with around 1200W, generally speaking.

 

[pluton]

You need a pure sine wave inverter, they will provide the cleanest and most stable power for your sensitive electronics.

DSLR batt chargers, drone batts, Apple laptop, AA chargers: None of these need a pure sine wave inverter. My recommendation: get two TrippLite 150W inverters and a couple of cube taps. TrippLite is a USA company, so you've got someone to deal with on the warranty if needed.
To run the 1160W coffee machine you'll probably need a 2000W inverter: cheap ones are several hundred dollars.

 

[A.Wilson013]

6) *BONUS* potentially have enough juice to use my nespresso pixie (120v 1160w) on the road. Yes.. I can suck it up and get whatever the road offers but I'd rather have something good and convenient when I want it.

[MENTION=82047]BigBluePile[/MENTION] remember when that Matt kid tried to run his new Keurig off of his tiny inverter and fried his electrical system?

Ah, the good ol' days.

Sorry I have nothing to add here =)

 

[Konkordmusk]

DSLR batt chargers, drone batts, Apple laptop, AA chargers: None of these need a pure sine wave inverter. My recommendation: get two TrippLite 150W inverters and a couple of cube taps. TrippLite is a USA company, so you've got someone to deal with on the warranty if needed.
To run the 1160W coffee machine you'll probably need a 2000W inverter: cheap ones are several hundred dollars.

Certainly you don't "need" a TSW inverter...But I fried my MacBook pro battery after charging it with my MSW inverter. I will never go back. Running my power drill with it a while before the laptop incident also caused the drill to become way hotter. It's clear the quality difference between inverter styles; you get what you pay for.
I have not seen anywhere online that says a MSW inverter will work better/safely/whatever for a laptop battery or any small low voltage energy storage device.

 

[greatape]

Check out AIMS Power ( Power Inverters, DC To AC Inverters & Solar Panels | AIMS Power ). I use an AIMS 600W pure sine wave which I bought off of Amazon. You might be able to go with just a modified but for me, I like the added capes of the PSW and more importantly the price was right at the time.

Also, depending on your wiring needs, I have found Powerwerx ( https://powerwerx.com/adapter-extension-cables) has been a good company for certain wiring needs.

I am running an Anderson SB50 from my power system to my invertor in 6ga I believe. You can also design your own cable on the site and they will build to order.

Just throwing out options..

 

[spazzyone]

Certainly you don't "need" a TSW inverter...But I fried my MacBook pro battery after charging it with my MSW inverter. I will never go back. Running my power drill with it a while before the laptop incident also caused the drill to become way hotter. It's clear the quality difference between inverter styles; you get what you pay for.
I have not seen anywhere online that says a MSW inverter will work better/safely/whatever for a laptop battery or any small low voltage energy storage device.

Can you tell me which inverter you were using when it fried? What do you use now?

 

[spazzyone]

DSLR batt chargers, drone batts, Apple laptop, AA chargers: None of these need a pure sine wave inverter. My recommendation: get two TrippLite 150W inverters and a couple of cube taps. TrippLite is a USA company, so you've got someone to deal with on the warranty if needed.
To run the 1160W coffee machine you'll probably need a 2000W inverter: cheap ones are several hundred dollars.

I was looking at tripplite's also. What are cube taps? These?

I'm more concerned with charging my batteries than I am with making espresso. It would be a nice added bonus, but not for several hundred more if I can safely charge my electronics for $100 or less.

 

[spazzyone]

I'm in the process of installing a 3000W right now. It's overkill for what I need it for, but I bought it off my brother. I just was searching to give you the specs, but I'm not sure what happened. I can't find their site anywhere.

But yes, you want a clean sine wave so a good quality one is mandatory. Maybe look for one with a kind of soft start (ramps up the voltage). Maybe I missed it in your question, but is this perm. installed or just plug into your power outlet (those plug in outlets may only be 20 Amps. Not enough for much Watts)? Watts is Volt*Amps so find what the amp draw is for what you want to power and multiply by 12. Then to be safe, multiply that by 1.25 to give you some buffer.

Expect to pay 300 to 400 for a good one in the 3 to 5K range. I think most people would be happy with around 1200W, generally speaking.

I can install it permanently (wired to battery) in the rear cargo compartment on the passenger side. That was my plan until I kept seeing that it's recommended that the wiring from battery to inverter stay under 4ft for the higher wattage models. Anyone have a high-wattage one installed here successfully? By successfully, I mean a few years that has seen frequent use. I know gauge size is determined by wattage, but if you could include which inverter you use and the wire gauge you use, that would be very helpful.

Thanks!

EDIT: Forgot to add that I've read using the cigarette lighter / power outlets only can produce 100-150w max out of the inverter. This would be enough for a laptop and/or battery chargers.

I have 3 available ports still. 2 in the front, 1 in the rear. I've removed the main one that was lit to "hardwire" my garmin gps. I plugged the traffic controller into it and moved it behind the dash and replaced that plug with an aux/usb receiver to my headunit.

 

[psraff]

I can install it permanently (wired to battery) in the rear cargo compartment on the passenger side. That was my plan until I kept seeing that it's recommended that the wiring from battery to inverter stay under 4ft for the higher wattage models. Anyone have a high-wattage one installed here successfully? By successfully, I mean a few years that has seen frequent use. I know gauge size is determined by wattage, but if you could include which inverter you use and the wire gauge you use, that would be very helpful.

Thanks!

EDIT: Forgot to add that I've read using the cigarette lighter / power outlets only can produce 100-150w max out of the inverter. This would be enough for a laptop and/or battery chargers.

I have 3 available ports still. 2 in the front, 1 in the rear. I've removed the main one that was lit to "hardwire" my garmin gps. I plugged the traffic controller into it and moved it behind the dash and replaced that plug with an aux/usb receiver to my headunit.

You can power a larger inverter at that distance, but you're right, you have to go with a larger gauge wire. That will cost a lot more and harder to run the cable cleanly. That's why I'm running a second battery near my inverter and air compressor and run a smaller gauge wire between the two batteries (this way I can use something like a 2 gauge wire instead of a 2/0). I'll be posting pics very shortly to my build thread (see my signature) showing my progress. I'm an electrician by trade, but by no means, does that mean I know everything (99% of my work is in the oil field with new construction, and upgrades). Even less when it comes to DC. I rely on a local business who deals with this kind of stuff everyday (along with solar install). Gary at Gary's Electric has been great to deal with regarding anything with my 4Runner.

Correction Note: Wire size is determined by Amperage, not Watts.

 

[spazzyone]

What will your travel schedule be like driving vs staying put? How often will you need to be charging your stuff?

I battled with a similar problem when I did a month long trip to the arctic.

I have found the max sustained current you can pull through one of the cigarette lighters before melting anything is 8-10A or 120W max. This rules out using a cigarette lighter inverter to charge your drone batteries, and likely your laptop. (1.5AX120V=180W, and that's before taking into account the efficiency of the inverter) Another issue you may have if you're using the rear cigarette lighter socket is voltage drop. The wire running from the fusebox to the back of the truck is just to small to support much of a power draw. Your inverter won't be able to get a full 12V and will not work properly.

In my opinion the cheapest solution would be to hardwire 400-500w inverter for charging both your laptop and drone battery at the same time (while driving), and a cigarette lighter inverter for the AAs/USB stuff.

As far as a pure sine wave inverter, that may not be necessary. The power adapters for each of your chargers is designed to take a wide range of voltages/frequencies and rectify it to DC. But to be safe, it won't cost that much more.

Inverters are the most efficient when they're operating close to their maximum (continuous) rated capacity. 300-500W inverter should be good. Cost gets prohibitive if you want to run your coffee maker. Also keep in mind that the closer the inverter is located to the front of your vehicle, the smaller diameter (less expensive) wire you can use.

Figure $100-150 for a good quality 400W inverter, and another $25-50 for wiring and hardware. A car audio amp wiring kit with 4AWG cable would work well.

Thanks for the response. I was leaning towards what you suggested before I posted actually. I was looking at mostly 400w-800w and leaning towards hardwiring for a clean install. Good to know that they operate most efficient at max capacity. What threw me off is the inverter manuals I read online suggesting "less than 4ft" of wire between the battery and inverter. I went into this imagining a 400w-800w inverter would require the same as a car audio amp but maybe not? 8awg would be fine for a 400w RMS audio amp. I'd rather be safe then sorry so I could go 4awg if need be. Going to need to buy new terminals to clean up the tops of my car battery.

It's broken out over 45 days so the most driving we'll see in a day is 6-8hrs. We'll be staying anywhere from 1-3 nights in different places and I'd like to have the option to charge what I can while we drive. Not that I don't want to charge in hotels/airbnb's, but there will be times we're camping without any source of electricity for a few days. We also can't forget things if they are in the truck.

 

[Airmapper]

Almost all the devices I seen mentioned in the OP actually use DC. Converting DC to AC then back to DC is a huge waste of energy.

Get DC chargers, might just need adapters really, for your devices. Camera batteries and the Drone batteries will be easy. I charge my Drone batteries off a DC battery all the time.

I bet even a laptop cord is easy, look at the brick on the supplied cord, it has the output specifications most likely. There are 12v DC AA battery chargers I'm sure.

I bet once you scrounge around and buy adapters you are still well under the cost of a good DC-AC inverter, TSW or not. Plus you won't be loading down the battery converting the current at least twice.

 

[psraff]

FYI, my pics are posted now on my build page. Sorry it took so long. Photobucket was kicking my ass.

 

[Badmotorfinger]

Yep like Airmapper said, I charge my DSLR and drone Batts all on 12volt.

I wanted an inverter too until I realized I don't really need one. I'm happy with my dual battery and isolator set up.

 

[Mark_BC]

Xantrex inverters are good. For charging batteries under 12 v just buy the 12v chargers from b&h photo, use your cigarette lighter.

 

[pluton]

I was looking at tripplite's also. What are cube taps? These?

I'm more concerned with charging my batteries than I am with making espresso. It would be a nice added bonus, but not for several hundred more if I can safely charge my electronics for $100 or less.

Yes...that's a cube tap.
Here are the inexpensive Tripplites I own/have used:
https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Inverter-Compact-PV150/dp/B0000AI0OE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488959758&sr=8-1&keywords=tripp-lite+inverter
Here's a link to some relatively inexpensive, lower wattage "pure sine wave" inverters:
75 to 900 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverters | DonRowe.com
It is theoretically safer to use a pure sine wave inverter, if you can afford it. As you can see, they cost more. It's possible that even if your present devices are fine with the square wave inverters, you might acquire some waveform sensitive device in the future. It seems that you have plenty of time to buy, and then test, and potentially return something before leaving on the trip.

 

[spazzyone]

Thanks for all the suggestions. After all the reading and research, I'm just going to pull the trigger on the Wagan Elite 400 Watt Pure Sine inverter.

It's offered by a wide range of vendors, including B&H which surprised me. I go to the store often and never would have imagined them to sell inverters. I spoke to someone there and they offer it exactly for what I want it for. The site someone posted donrowe.com also says the same. For $105 and around $40 for wiring/fuse kit, I'm right where I wanted to be. I won't need anymore than 360 watts (rated at >90% efficiency) for my chargers combined so it should work. We'll see once I get it. The only thing I don't get to use is the nespresso (for the wife). I'd need to go 1500w to get it to work properly so that's a no-go between the much thicker gauge wires, size & price for a pure sine inverter.

Good suggestions on the car chargers but I'd like to keep use of the OEM chargers for everything since I'll already have them with me. I'll only be charging in the car when I don't have access to outlets. They're "safer" and most of these items are just not worth putting to risk for the marginal savings. That's also why I've decided to go pure sine. Although the others may work, they run the risk of using my truck and items as tinder. They also charge much hotter so that definitely won't be as good for longterm electronic/battery health.

I'm still going to mount it in the rear cargo compartment and just remove the cover when in use. If it's used often enough, I'll customize the cover for breathability. Maybe a mesh of some sort.

 

[TheDurk]

Or you could get one of these. Cost would be about the same or less than the inverter to run your home machine.

https://www.amazon.com/Handpresso-127015-12V-Auto-Hybrid/dp/B00WZAAR92