Samlex PST-600-12 \ Pure Sine Wave Inverter at Amazon $168

Thinking about ordering one......


Will this run a 30" led tv and charge the kids tablets and our phones?

Yes, but charge them directly from 12 volt if you can.

eDUBz wrote:
Thinking about ordering one......


Will this run a 30" led tv and charge the kids tablets and our phones?

pianotuna wrote:
Yes, but charge them directly from 12 volt if you can.

eDUBz wrote:
Thinking about ordering one......


Will this run a 30" led tv and charge the kids tablets and our phones?

Just ordered one, mainly so the kids can watch TV at some CG we stay with out hook up and can't run gens after 8pm. Now have to figure out how to wire this up.

clicky

http://www.amazon.com/Samlex-Solar-PST-600-12-Pure-Inverter/dp/B00AYH6BSO/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1454295963&sr=1-1&keywords=Samlex+Solar+PST-600-12

eDUBz wrote:
Just ordered one, mainly so the kids can watch TV at some CG we stay with out hook up and can't run gens after 8pm. Now have to figure out how to wire this up.

Overkill for your purposes. 150-200W would do. Though this Sam-600 is probably the lowest cost per W, for PSW type. Pretty average brand, IMO. There is nothing special about wiring either, with your small loads.

I'm sure we will end up using more than originally planned, nothing wrong with having more than what we need, and for the price why not :)

I have been using the AIMS Power (PWRI60012S) 600W Pure Sine Power Inverter with Cables (AMAZON) since around 2009 ($159 back then) and have had great luck with this model. It looks very similar to the Samlex Solar PST-600-12 PST Series Pure Sine Wave Inverter at Amazon (Currently $168.63) you are listing... I think AMAZON still has the AIMS model as well...

I started out with a 150W PSW Power INVERTER then went to the 300W size and finally ended up with the 600W size. Once you start adding things to the emergency power grid the more you want to add haha...

I have never considered using the MSW type Power Inverters but I read alot of folks do this and do just fine. In my case I like the idea of having Pure Sine Wave emergency power and then I don't have to worry what gets plugged into it.

My truck has a 300WATT MSW Inverter in it and when I plug in my 20-inch BOX fan to sit around a bon-fire to keep mosquitoes away from us the AC Motor starts humming pretty loud and getting hot. It will eventually burn up this motor for sure... This same fan running off the 600WATT PSW Inverter run quiet as a mouse and cool to touch just like like on Shore Power. No way would I plug in my high dollar electronics into the cheap $39 MSW Power Inverters from PEPBOYS and AUTO ZONE...

In the older days the PSW Power Inverters were pricy but this not the case anymore... Why chance it...

In my setup I just simply run two out-of-sight extension cords from the 600WATT unit which is installed very close to the battery bank, one going to the Home Entertainment area and the other one to a cabinet top near my bed area. Main use is the run all of the Home Entertainment item, WX ALERT RADIO, a couple of fans, some plug-in 120VAC chargers for laptops, and tablets, My flashlight charger, and a couple of items associated with my Ham Radio setup.

These items are usually plugged into the emergency power receptacle all the time even tho we are at Shore Power hookups...

I usually end up running around 300WATTS of these items drawing around 22-24AMPS DC from the battery banks between the hours of 6PM to 11PM when camping off the power grid. This is designed to run down my POPUP battery bank to around 50% charge state (12.0VDC) the next morning at 8AM when I am allowed to run my 2KW Generator to power up my on-board 60AMP smart Mode Converter/charger setup to recharge my battery bank back up to its 90% charge state. This takes around three hours of generator run time each morning. This is also when I hookup a couple of high wattage items directly to the generator like our Cuisinart DB-600 Grind and Brew Coffee maker that pours up into a Thermos Carafe and a couple of things the wife may want to run for cooking up things.

Been playing around with this setup since 2009 and it is all more or less second nature now camping off the power grid. We are lit up around the campgrounds just like we are at electric campgrounds...

Thinking about adding solar panels now to aid the charge of the batteries each day after we make our initial 50-55AMP Current demand when our battery bank first gets hit with 14.4VDC from the converter/charger. When the DC AMPS tapers back down to around the 6-8AMPS DC CURRENT then the solar panels can use the high sun the rest of the day to get my batteries back up to their at least their 90% charge state. I think I can easily produce around 20AMPS of DC CURRENT using three solar panels on the roof of my POPUP setup.

Have learned along time back we can't do our daily run off the batteries unless we start out with at least a 90% charge state on the batteries otherwise it gets dark on us around 10-11PM at night and we are not allowed to run the generator until 8AM the next morning... We have also learned over the years that just doing some 30 minute trickle charging from time to time is very harmful on the battery bank. I get the best performance starting out with at least a 90% charge state and running it down to its 50% charge state in one run and then charging it back up to its 90% charge right away before using it again... I think they tell me i can do 12-14 of these 50% to 90% charging cycles before I have to do a full 100% charge state run which would take over 12 hours to do with my battery setup... My battery bank was installed back in 2008 using four each 12VDC 85AH batteries in parallel and still working good... I did lose one 85AH battery in 2009 when it got over-charged and boiled out its fluids using a non-smart mode converter/charger unit. After I replaced the older converter/charger with a PD9260C converter/charger all is still working great with my three remaining 85AH Interstate batteries.

My camping off the power grid experiences...

Roy Ken

Thank! On order with the remote kit and Cobra cable kit.

RoyB ... thanks for your thorough explanation of how you dry camp without solar!

We do something similar camping in our small Class C. We idle the main engine and use it's alternator to dump about an hour's worth of heavy current into the 12V AGM batteries and then use a small and very quiet Honda EX650 for another few hours to bring the batteries up some more. We still have only the stock converter in the RV because that is all that's needed with fast charging AGM batteries. I intentionally chose AGM batteries that require a float voltage 13.6 volts so that we could float them and long term charge them using only the stock 13.6 volt converter. This converter is left connected to the batteries almost 24/7 while the RV is in storage between trips.

I've been saying for 6-8 years "we may add solar later" ... but keep putting it off because what we have been doing has worked so well without having to take the time and money to replace the stock converter or add roof solar.

The available remote adds a lot of value.