Re: Vector 3,000 watt power inverter question

Mike wrote:
"James Sweet" <jamessweet@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aWGkh.6947$9H4.2464@xxxxxxxxxxx
Mike wrote:
I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).
When
I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might
have
one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start
as
soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat
and
only come on when needed?

So far I am really disappointed with this unit. I bought it to power a
microwave, toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my
house
and I noticed first thing, in the owner's manual it says the inverter
will
not power any "high wattage" equipment that produces heat, such as
microwave
ovens. Yet, on the box, it says you can power a microwave oven. Looks
to
me like false advertisement.

I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at
the
1200 watt setting. It won't run. Monitoring the AC voltage out of the
inverter, I can see it go to zero when I turn on the heater.

Thanks for any help.


What size wire are you using to connect it to the battery? 3KW is gonna
pull about 250A from the battery so you'll need some BIG cable like
you'd use to connect to a starter motor. Also don't expect to pull even
half that much for more than a couple minutes without the engine
running, even with it, most cars have less than a 100A alternator so
your continuous load will be much lower, probably around 500W for an
average car.

I am using the input cables that Vector provided with the inverter. I think
I read in the manual that they are #4 awg and there are two positive and two
negative cables. I didn't measure them but they are 3 feet in length or
less.

What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt
electric heater when our electricity goes off. (I thought a 1500 watt
heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter). I'd also
planned to use a microwave oven, a toaster oven, some 60-75 watt lights, but
I didn't intend to run more than one or two of these items at a time, and
obviously had planned to run the toaster by itself and the microwave and the
heater. I didn't realize I was going to have to have so much input current
available to power the inverter. Kind of foils my plan because I had hoped
to put a battery in a nice case, put that on the bottom of a two wheel
dolly, mount the inverter to a piece of plywood and mount that to the dolly,
wire it up and then have a set up I could wheel into the living room when
the power goes out and plug in the heat or some lights, the tv, or whatever
I needed. I was hoping someone who has such a set up would see my post and
offer some suggestions on what worked for them. It appears I should have
gone the route of the generator, but I opted not to do that because of the
carbon monoxide and also routing a power cable from outside my house to the
interior won't be easy (all brick home).

I like the idea of powering the furnace motor with a setup like this, but I
have a heat pump so unfortunately, that isn't an option for me.

Hi Mike...

Respectfully suggest that you might perhaps re-think your project...
if you're looking for heat, even a fully charged new(ish) car battery
is only going to deliver 1500 watts of heat for about a half hour, and that assuming that the inverter is somehow 100% efficient.
Even then - don't know where in the world you are, but I'm in Winnipeg
(sometimes called Winterpeg), Canada, and 1500 watts of heat is just
teasing. I'm not sure, but I might also be concerned about off-gassing
from the battery at that kind of load.

There are alternatives available - propane catalytic heaters or kerosene space heaters, with plenty of ventilation and safety barriers to protect
youngsters work quite well, and the energy concentration of the source
is much more dense than a lead acid battery. You might also consider
putting in a wood burning fireplace, if you also enjoy the aesthetics
and don't mind a little work.

You surely don't need the fridge; if it's cold enough to require much
heat, it's also cold enough on a porch or in a garage to store your
perishables. And you can do without the microwave, if the outage is
long enough, you can (again, do it safely) use a camp stove burning
propane or white gas. Another idea - if you have a baby or toddlers
who need quick and often access to milk or formula, you might
consider one of the peltier effect (Koolatron) 12 volt coolers.
Mine draws about 4 amps at 12 volts. A side benefit is you can
use it in your car for trips for soft drinks, sandwich makings, etc.

What you might like your idea for is a bit of lighting if you need it,
but a 9 watt florescent (equal to 40 watt regular bulb) will run
a long long time on a small inverter. Plug a small inverter into
your cigarette lighter, and run a temporary extension cord outside.

Take care.

Ken
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Vector 3,000 watt power inverter question
    ... light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter. ... toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my ... I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at ... What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: Vector 3,000 watt power inverter question
    ... light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter. ... toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my ... I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: Vector 3,000 watt power inverter question
    ... watt electric heater when our electricity goes off. ... watt heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter). ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: Vector 3,000 watt power inverter question
    ... I had enough power to start and run the furnace blower, several lights including outside, TV, fridge, 1 KW microwave and even 1500 watt deep fat fryer. ... light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter. ... I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: Vector 3,000 watt power inverter question
    ... In addition to my other post, for cooking during a power failure I use this: ... light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter. ... I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at ... What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)