Why won't my inverter put out?
I feel there should be a 'That's what she said' joke in here somewhere... I booked a camping site that I thought had hookups, but when I got here: no hookups. I needed more juice than my house ...
Forum Discussion
westend wrote:
1)Don't run the inverter directly from the van's starting battery. If you don't have any other means of charging, get jumper cables from the van to the house batteries.
I thought I understood from a previous thread that the inverter route was safer. Is there a danger of blowing out my van's computer, if I have the clamps on the correct terminals?
2) Connect the inverter to the house batteries with good cable, not alligator clamps.
I was not connecting them at all.
3)Either buy a bigger/better inverter or remove some loads. A mattress pad or mattress heater is not a "tiny" load.
15 watts for the heating pad, about 55 for the mattress warmer.
5) A freezer or refrigerator has a larger load when starting. My dorm fridge has about a 5-6 Amp load when the compressor starts. A 600W inverter was incapable of running it. A 1000W inverter runs it well.
Thanks, that is very helpful.
