Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
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This is the inverter I installed a couple years ago. Recently it started tripping whenever using the microwave.
The microwave is rated at 1000 watts but the inverter is rated at 1750 watts so it should be able to handle it. First thing I did was borrow a friend's Kill-A-Watt to measure the microwave. It measured at 1010 watts so the problem must be the inverter. Time for a replacement.
Picked this up at Harbor Freight. It's rated for 2000 watts.
List price is $169.99 but Harbor Freight regularly puts out 20% off coupons. You can print a current one by going to this web page: http://www.harborfreight.com/digitalsavings.html This month's (October) circular from Harbor Freight has a coupon for it at $129.99
This is not a pure sine wave inverter but the old one wasn't either and I never had any problems powering equipment with it. It's about half the size of the old one.
It doesn't have digital readout but an led bar meter instead. Does come with a usb output power port. While powering the microwave the meter shows half way.
Since I was messing around with the electronics I went ahead and removed my a/c powered battery charger since I've never used it. The solar panels have always been enough.
This was a good time to do something I've always meant to. Use the shunt resistor to find out the power usage of just about everything.
A shunt resistor has a low resistance. By measuring the voltage drop across the resistor while a device is running you can find what amperage it's using with Ohm's Law.
The rest of this is like a "note to self". All the following values are in Amps.
Nothing turned on .2
radio, just display .4
radio, loud 1.1
stock vent fan, 1/2 speed 8
stock vent fan, full speed 13.7
sink LED .3
sofa LED .4
inverter turned on .9
TV plugged in but not on 1.5
TV on 4.4
microwave plugged in but not on 1.1
microwave on 57
water pump 4.4
fridge 2.2
sofa actuator not under load 1.5
Endless Breeze fan, setting 1 - 1.2
setting 2 - 1.9
setting 3 - 2.8
Webasto Heater
start up .4
glow plug 5.1
after flame establish and fan on high (runnning mode) 1.7
final purge 1.5
The microwave is rated at 1000 watts but the inverter is rated at 1750 watts so it should be able to handle it. First thing I did was borrow a friend's Kill-A-Watt to measure the microwave. It measured at 1010 watts so the problem must be the inverter. Time for a replacement.
Picked this up at Harbor Freight. It's rated for 2000 watts.
List price is $169.99 but Harbor Freight regularly puts out 20% off coupons. You can print a current one by going to this web page: http://www.harborfreight.com/digitalsavings.html This month's (October) circular from Harbor Freight has a coupon for it at $129.99
This is not a pure sine wave inverter but the old one wasn't either and I never had any problems powering equipment with it. It's about half the size of the old one.
It doesn't have digital readout but an led bar meter instead. Does come with a usb output power port. While powering the microwave the meter shows half way.
Since I was messing around with the electronics I went ahead and removed my a/c powered battery charger since I've never used it. The solar panels have always been enough.
This was a good time to do something I've always meant to. Use the shunt resistor to find out the power usage of just about everything.
A shunt resistor has a low resistance. By measuring the voltage drop across the resistor while a device is running you can find what amperage it's using with Ohm's Law.
The rest of this is like a "note to self". All the following values are in Amps.
Nothing turned on .2
radio, just display .4
radio, loud 1.1
stock vent fan, 1/2 speed 8
stock vent fan, full speed 13.7
sink LED .3
sofa LED .4
inverter turned on .9
TV plugged in but not on 1.5
TV on 4.4
microwave plugged in but not on 1.1
microwave on 57
water pump 4.4
fridge 2.2
sofa actuator not under load 1.5
Endless Breeze fan, setting 1 - 1.2
setting 2 - 1.9
setting 3 - 2.8
Webasto Heater
start up .4
glow plug 5.1
after flame establish and fan on high (runnning mode) 1.7
final purge 1.5
