I bought a Wagan Pure Sine Wave inverter 200 watt continious. It came with a cigarette lighter plug only. It did not have enough power to run my 20 inch box fan except on low. The box fan was rated at 90 watts on high. So I returned the unit after discussing with the Wagan tech folks. So now I am wanting to try again. How big an inverter should I buy? I did try to purchase a cord that would connect directly to my battery and was told they did not make such a plug for that size unit. Guess it was too small though the wattage was nowhere close to 200. I am confused. Any thoughts?

90w at 120v = 0.8ampthats 8 amps at 12v, and does not include conversion lossthe cig plug did not have enough power capacity ?i run a box fan on high plus the PC tv etc using a 300w go power pure sine wave600w surge,assuming this was in the RV, i really doubt the aux TV 12v outlet which is connected to the wiring for the lights, has enough capacity to fully power an inverter and run your fan ?what outlet did you use ? maybe the DASH cig plug would run the inverter and fan

Are you sure it was the inverter vs the poor battery connection?Did it shut down for overload or low voltage?

The low boltage alarm began sounding. My batteries were fully charged at 12.8. Reading at the wall plug was 12 .4. I found it odd that Wagan did not sell a cord for straight battery connection. I am willing to try it again bue what size inverter is going to work?

I assume this is the inverter: http://wagan.com/wagan-tech/power-inverters/elite-200w-pro.htmlHave you found some banana plugs rated 30 amps you could put right on the battery?

If it was me, I'd cut the cigar lighter fitting off the cord and terminate the two ends with ring terminals. Those cigar lighter fittings always seem to fail, at least the cheap ones I've used. Since I found the maxi fuses to be a tolerable way of fusing, I usually just bolt a ring terminal to the fuse and put the other side of the fuse onto the battery terminal. It's a $2 fuse cost instead of a fuse holder and and a more expensive fuse. To make it tidier, I shrink wrap the fuse, occasionally.

INVERTER SELECTION HELP? | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

time2roll
Nomad
Aug 27, 2016
400w looks to have 12v terminals for general connections. Use #6 wire.
I think it will work just fine connected direct to the battery.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 27, 2016
400 watts is not going to run a microwave or a saw, and I'm doubtful about the shop vac.

It is pure sine wave. It does accept ring terminals.

It is on sale at Best Buy for $97.99

Wagan does not have a great reputation--but if you connect it directly to the battery bank it should run the fan and other small load items well.
joebedford
Nomad III
Aug 27, 2016
Oasisbob wrote:
Did I screw up again?
If you're expecting to run your microwave, yes. Your box fan might work. Won't run a saw or other heavy draw.

The description on the Best Buy site says pure sine wave.

I don't know if Wagen is any good.

There was nothing wrong with the first inverter you had - you just didn't have a good, heavy connection to the battery.
Oasisbob
Explorer
Aug 27, 2016
Hope I got it right this time. I ordered a Wagan Elite Pro Silver Model 2601 400 watt continious 800 peak. Shows pics of micro wave, shop vac & circular saw and says "clean" power. Description does not use term pure sine wave however. Did I screw up again?
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Aug 27, 2016
Something seems odd...
At a little over three amps my Endless Breeze 12 volt fan blows enough air on high to make things uncomfottable. Inverter or not this in unaccetable to me.
dahkota
Explorer
Aug 27, 2016
My Wagan 400W Elite came with clips to connect directly to the battery. It ran fine up to 100W using a car plug but screamed over that due to the wiring, not the inverter itself. Chances are the wire at your plug is entirely too small to pull enough amps. Any inverter you buy will have the same problem.

In our tt, we had two outlets: one that came off of a radio wire (long distance and small) and one that came directly off the converter (short distance and large). We could barely pull 100W off the radio wire without an alarm but had no problem with 200W off the converter wire. YMMV
Oasisbob
Explorer
Aug 27, 2016
I have a BEST BUY gift card so have to go with Stinger or Wagan brand pure sine units. Sounds like straight to the battery is the only way to go. Still a bit unsure as to size.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 27, 2016
Go Power or Samlex, 300 watt unit wired directly to the battery bank.

Make sure what ever you buy will accept ring terminals.
MrWizard
Moderator
Aug 27, 2016
like i said 'Go Power 300'
Go Power 300 on Amazon

mine is connected to the battery wiring
westend
Explorer
Aug 27, 2016
If it was me, I'd cut the cigar lighter fitting off the cord and terminate the two ends with ring terminals. Those cigar lighter fittings always seem to fail, at least the cheap ones I've used.

Since I found the maxi fuses to be a tolerable way of fusing, I usually just bolt a ring terminal to the fuse and put the other side of the fuse onto the battery terminal. It's a $2 fuse cost instead of a fuse holder and and a more expensive fuse. To make it tidier, I shrink wrap the fuse, occasionally.

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INVERTER SELECTION HELP?

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