Electrical Questions from a "real" newbie

1Moondoggie wrote:
I thought the inverter functions exactly like being plugged in at home... No?

Short answer is NO.. There are two types of inverters, MSW and TSW (Modified Sine Wave or Modified Square Wave depending on who is typing and True Sine Wave, also called Pure Sine Wave) the latter are more expensive and are just like plugging into the wall at home.

The first (MSW) are different. Many devices may not work properly on an MSW inverter.. There may also be other issues,,

Second question: The microwave, we were told by the dealer that in order to use the microwave (not the AC) -we primarily boondock- that we should purchase a generator; we did, a Yamaha 2000iS. Although the thing powers up the microwave, it still takes >3 minutes to warm an already half-warmed cup of coffee (think what it would take to cook a TV dinner?) Is this the normal or do we need a second generator.

Sounds about normal for a 700 watt Microwave

Question three (sorry): We're not too much on perked coffee, has anyone found a small drip coffee maker that works well off an inverter?

I have a Proctor Silex One-up job (makes 12 oz cups) that can use either ground coffee with a paper filter, Mesh filter or SENSO coffee pods.

I used to have some of these by other companies

I have a Mr. Coffee 4 or 5 cup (20 oz total)

And a Kurig Mini-10

All 3 work well with my True Sine.. The Proctor Silex would work equally well on an MSW. since it is a simple resistor and t-Stat device. (no electronics).


Assuming you have a MODIFIED sine wave.. here are the considerations for coffee pots: KISS.. (Keep it super simple) if the thing has an ON/OFF switch and no other controls (or just an ON button and auto-turn off) odds are it will work IF it has timers and brewing controls.. (Electronic) Odds go down.. On the 3 I have both the Mr. Coffee and the Kureg have timers and/or sensors.