Equipped To Survive Equipped To Survive® Presents
The Survival Forum
Where do you want to go on ETS?

Topic Options
#18521 - 08/19/03 02:03 AM Thoughts on Inverters
rodmeister Offline
new member

Registered: 03/23/02
Posts: 54
Loc: ca
Don't see much about inverters on this forum. Generators are too expensive for something I might use only once or twice during my lifetime. Since my car already has a generator and battery, my plan is to use my 500 watt inverter to convert DC into AC during blackouts. Used carefully, I can power a TV and a few lights. I plan to trade two hundred watts of the power to my adjacent neighbors for gasoline and monitoring of the battery.

The disadvantages are having to monitor the battery and/or run the car continuously which is an inefficient use of the gas. But inverters are relatively cheap and compact. Even a small, cheap 100 watt inverter could charge NiMh batteries, a cell phone, a computer or a 60 watt bulb for several hours without running the car generator.

I've tested my inverter, powering my 19" color TV and a bare 100 watt bulb.

Any thoughts, advice or opinions?

Top
#18522 - 08/19/03 02:30 AM Re: Thoughts on Inverters
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2995
Invertors are usefull for short term power. A sugestion, if you have a truck or SUV where you can mount it under the hood or in the bed, you can add a second battery and an isolator. The car aduio guys like like the Optima ones and they make a deep cycle. Then hook the invertor off the deep cycle and you can run it dead and still start the truck and charge it backm up. Remember when buying invertors they have a peak and and continus rateing. So make sure you buy big enough for what you need, but not too large as i understand the larger usually get less efficient. I'm thinking of getting a couple of the little 75w ones that are sold for $20-$30 and put one with my cordless drill/saw/flashlight combo and one with my laptop to supplement the 300/600w in my truck. If I ever had to pack and go in a hurry, the laptop is one of the primary things I would take as it has all my receipts/pictures/etc all scanned and stored there as well as a set of backup cd's in the bag, so its high on the priority to keep with me.

Top
#18523 - 08/19/03 03:28 AM Re: Thoughts on Inverters
rodmeister Offline
new member

Registered: 03/23/02
Posts: 54
Loc: ca
Good ideas. I'm getting one of the cheap 75 watters to charge my NimH batteries without taxing my car batteries.

I'm completely symied on the long term question. I have a brunton solar charger but that's only enough to charge 4 AA batteries per day, on a good bright day. That's just enough to keep one or two flashlights and a mini-radio fed indefinitely, but the laptop and TV are out.

Generators eat a lot of gas, and I live in a big city. So I'm screwed if the power is out for more than a few days except for the small flashlight and radio.

Top



Moderator:  Alan_Romania, Blast, cliff, Hikin_Jim 
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online
0 registered (), 453 Guests and 95 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
GallenR, Jeebo, NicholasMarshall, Yadav, BenFoakes
5367 Registered Users
Newest Posts
What did you do today to prepare?
by dougwalkabout
03/27/24 11:21 PM
Zippo Butane Inserts
by dougwalkabout
03/27/24 11:11 PM
Question about a "Backyard Mutitool"
by Ren
03/17/24 01:00 AM
Problem in my WhatsApp configuration
by Chisel
03/09/24 01:55 PM
New Madrid Seismic Zone
by Jeanette_Isabelle
03/04/24 02:44 PM
EDC Reduction
by EchoingLaugh
03/02/24 04:12 PM
Newest Images
Tiny knife / wrench
Handmade knives
2"x2" Glass Signal Mirror, Retroreflective Mesh
Trade School Tool Kit
My Pocket Kit
Glossary
Test

WARNING & DISCLAIMER: SELECT AND USE OUTDOORS AND SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Information posted on this forum is not reviewed for accuracy and may not be reliable, use at your own risk. Please review the full WARNING & DISCLAIMER about information on this site.