Invertor / Convert Dc To Ac

[ob1]

Does anyone have a suggestion on something like this.  We annually dry camp for a 10 day stay.  Probably just going to run a hair dryer, recharge camera batteries, possibly plug in a coffee maker.  Would this one do trick or is something for less $ that would work.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/rvs/712888294.html

[Tim5055]

Sorry, but there is no free lunch.  Unless you have A HUGE battery bank you will not be able to use an inverter to power the devices you want.  Anything that produces heat is out if you are on battery.  Unless you have a fair sized generator, leave hair dryer and electric coffee pot at home.

Now, even with a decent sized battery bank (I have twin golf cart batteries) 10 days is a lot to ask just for normal items like lights, water pump and maybe a furnace fan.

Some things to try when dry camping:

12 Volt Fluorescent Light

LED Lights

Increase your Battery Bank

[wavery]

Tim5055 is right.

We have a 2500w inverter in our PU. We use it for the coffee pot and microwave during quiet hours (as needed) and our 2, 27series deep cycle batteries need charging after 2 days.

Forget the hair dryer for sure. Any appliance that draws 1200w and has to be run for 15 minutes will drain 2 batteries (plus) in a day or 2.

The math is easy. Your 1200w hair dryer will take 300+ watts in 15 minutes. 300w = 25ah of storage from your batteries (you must have 2 batteries minimum). A 25A drain with no rest will probably use up 1/2 of the capacity of one battery. You must also remember that cheap inverters (they have built in fans for cooling) are only 80-90% efficient so you must add another 10-20% to the battery drain for the inverter. More expensive inverters are more efficient. I had a Trace 2500W inverter on my boat that cost $3000. It was 95% efficient.

It all depends on the storage amps and age of your battery bank. You could destroy a 2-year-old with a 15 minute discharge from a 1200w hair dryer.

Wayne

[Tim5055]

Tim5055 is right.

Thanks Wayne!
 :W

[ob1]

Thanks guys.  I bring a second battery.  I may have to educate myself on a small generator.

Jim

[wavery]

Thanks guys.  I bring a second battery.  I may have to educate myself on a small generator.

Jim

Jim,

Do a simple search on generators here. There's a lot of info.

General rules of thumb:

1. Quiet generators are worth the $ for a variety of reasons.

2. Generators are rated at their max (short term) capacity. The running capacity is about 75-80% of the rated capacity.

If you really want to run that hair dryer, you'll need a minimum 1750-2000w generator.

If you do use the inverter, run your 2, 12v batteries in parallel or two 6v golf cart batteries in series.
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_battery_wiring.html
That will reduce the stress (heat) on each battery by 50%. Essential when running big loads for over 60 seconds.