Quality Question about Small Inverters
I'm shopping for a small, pure sine wave inverter. I'm interested in one that provides about 300 watts. Prices vary wildly, from around $40 to over $150 for a seemingly similar product. I'm not naive....
Forum Discussion
At 300 watts I would say that how you plan to connect the inverter to the RV electrical is just as important as the inverter that you buy. If you plan on plugging into a dash mounted cigarette lighter type socket, you'll generally find that the wiring to the socket is sizes/fused for 10 amps DC at 12 volts. (it may be more but you should check that) Many RV's have 1 or more auxiliary sockets (provided by the coach builder) that is/are wired for 20 amps at 12 volts DC. If you buy a 300 watt inverter and load it up, it will try to draw up to 25 amps. Even more as the batteries discharge. See the problem? With lots of use at high loads, the socket will eventually overheat.
IMO, at more than 240 watts continuous, it's better to hard wire the inverter directly to the battery posts with terminals or at least use temporary spring loaded compression clamps rather than the cigarette lighter type battery socket if provided with the inverter.
Chum lee
IMO, at more than 240 watts continuous, it's better to hard wire the inverter directly to the battery posts with terminals or at least use temporary spring loaded compression clamps rather than the cigarette lighter type battery socket if provided with the inverter.
Chum lee
