I see that 1750 and even 3000 watt inverters have come way down in price over the past years. Does anyone have any experience with these? Will a 1750 watt unit do a good job of running power tool motors? (Assuming the vehicle’s alternator and battery are good).
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.â€
Replies
A 3000 watt invertor at full load would take 250 amps dc assuming 100% efficiency, which is impossible. A 1750 watt invertor would take 146 amps, again at 100% efficiency. I dont think that would be a very practical situation.
There are a couple of 1MW UPS systems down in the basement here. Is that big enough?
happy?
If the charging system will put out enough DC amps it will work, but for how long? I'm a full time paramedic. Every ambulance that our fire department has owned ruins an alternator just about annually. All the lighting, radio, and fan loads run them too close to their maximum capacity.
I think that there are special alternators that you can buy for some vehicles that directly generate 120 voltage. The higher voltage = less current flow, and possibly better long term reliability.
He just needs a different vehicle:http://www.oshkoshtruckcorporation.com/about/tech_innovations%7Epropulse.cfm
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
That's an interesting point. My truck has a Powerstroke diesel with an alternator that I believe is rated for 190 amps. Just replaced it at the 11 year mark, but of course I don't run nearly the stuff that you do.
I'm really just trying to avoid throwing my generator in the back of the truck. It's heavy, awkward, and slides around bashing things all to heck if I'm driving for extended periods. Plus it can be stolen. I thought a $300 inverter might come in handy for occaisional use.
Thanks all,
Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.â€
The inverter is a great idea, I'd just be careful with how much load and for how long the load is there. Another thought is to add another battery to the truck if it has room. The more battery capacity that you have, the more of a buffer you have for those sudden draws of power.
From my point of view, and it's worth every cent too.
For the last two to three decades, every alternator manufactured in the US puts out ALTERNATING CURRENT which is why they're called alternators. They have small rectifiers inside them to convert to DC for use in vehicles and 12 volt systems.
The average alternator puts out sufficient current(amps) to run a small 110 volt tool when routed through an inverter. A small tool would likely be less than a wormdrive saw which draws 15 amps, that's about 1650 watts, and I doubt that the average vehicle puts out sufficient power to run one for extended periods.
Oshkosh hybrid vehicles would be an exception here.
One fact often overlooked : we in the US have been producing HYBRID vehicles for 40 years. They're called deisel locomotives and GE has been making them to power our railroad industry from the first day they came out in the early 50's. Now, should you have a locomotive parked near your job site it could probably run your project even if it's a 300 home project. That's called power!
Take a look at this:
http://www.raventechpower.com/
That's pretty cool, but for my purposes (less than 10 times a year), I suspect that it's pretty spendy. I couldn't find pricing on the site.
Thanks,
Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.â€
Don't forget about the surge watts on those power tools.
The small inverter style generators are probably a better bet for light duty use, but still watch the surge watts.
I bet a Milwaukee V28 cordless tool set and a small inverter to charge the batteries in the truck is a better bet for serious cordless power.
Edited 4/7/2006 7:47 pm ET by danski0224
This is another place where a generator works better. Inverters don't have much momentum.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Inverters connected to a battery, or a engine driven inverter?
I like my 3kW Honda inverter- quiet, reasonably light and fuel efficient. It won't run a crew of construction workers, but it fits my needs. Honda offers special cables that allow you to hook up two inverters in parallel for more watts- other brands probably have the same.
Inverter connected to battery. The engine-driven inverter, as I understand it, is basically an alternator with a special exciter circuit and some other circuitry on the output that allows it to generate fixed frequency juice without fixed RPM. Whether this has good surge capacity depends on the design capacity of the output circuitry -- it must be oversized to effectively handle surges.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Has anyone had any experience with, or even seen, one of the Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid pickup trucks in operation as a generator. It is advertised as providing 20 amps/2400 watts and I would assume it could do it for a while, but probably not with minimal gasoline consumption...http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/
Sounds like something that is real expensive if you overdo it.
My Honda 3000is works pretty nice.
If the automatic low idle is selected, the engine will stall when a high demand item like a worm drive saw is turned on from low engine idle. No problems if the auto low idle is turned off.
It doesn't like small air compressors on an extension cord, either. It does fine if it is plugged right into the outlet.
I suppose that everyone knows that the ONLY place to get the FULL RATED OUTPUT of your generator is through the twist lock socket.
It will run for 8 hours on less than 3 gallons of gas with occasional tool use plus two 500W halogen lights all day.
It won't fry battery chargers. It is rated to provide computer safe power.
Did I mention that it is quiet?