Power Inverters

[STEVEBRENDA]

I have never used a power inverter on our boat. I purchased one to run a 45 watt snow cone machine so we can make margaritas.

A guy here at work says the invertors screw up you electrical system. Anybody have any input?

I bought a Whistler 200 watt unit.

Thanks

[jrolin1]

I have had one on my boat for years with no problem. Mine is an 800 watt one we use for a blender. They can draw a lot of power from the battery so plan accordingly. That is the only issue that I have had.

[HandymanHerb]

When I used mine before I used it on the TM batteries, I carried three as I have an old 36 volt so it never touched the boat electrical system, should do any thing but run your battery down, at pyro meets guys are running them off their car batteries, then they run the car some to recharge.

Get a second battery, a deep draw to run the inverter only, that way you won't run the starting battery down or over load the charging system

[STEVEBRENDA]

Sounds like I have nothing to worry about as long as the motor is running.

[Cowracer]

small grain of truth there...

A cheap inverter can cause harm to what you plug into it. It cannot harm your boat. Cheap inverters have nasty square waveforms and don't filter out harmonics very well. This is ok for a light-bulb or power drill, but can play havoc on more sensitive electronics. Laptop power supplies are pretty decent as far as living with that, but I have seen the control circuits on a microwave and an older LCD TV destroyed by a cheap inverter.

If your sno-cone machine has no electronics on it, you'll be ok.

Tim

[STEVEBRENDA]

I got my invertor in the mail yesterday. On the package, it states not to be used with amperage less than 20 watts. I called out local Mercury guy and eh said the 2003 Mercury 125 has an amperage output of 18 amps at WOT and the he would not use an invertor on that engine.

Now I am really confused as to whether I am able to use the invertor without damaging the alternator or the voltage regulator.

Any input would be appreciated.

[Bamby]

The Inverter will use the boats battery for the power source, not the motor itself though you'll be relying on the motor to recharge the battery again. I used to utilize one on job-sites to recharge cordless drill packs off of my pick up battery. And you should be fine utilizing yours also as long as you have a good sound battery in your boat and don't go completely overboard making your margaritas.

[jrolin1]

Like Bamby said you are using the battery for the power source, the engine is for charging. My inverter is on the pontoon with a 90hp mercury and has not caused any issues even though it is a much larger inverter than the one you are using. Mine is 800 watts continuous with 1200 peak. I usually do not have the motor on when I am using the blender since we are not moving when we are blending. I used to have a smaller inverter but it had issues with the blender. If you have a 300 watt blender it will draw more power at startup.

[STEVEBRENDA]

Thanks, I'm going to give it a try.

[rockhound]

The amperage you need to worry about is tbe battery amperage not your charging system, that being said if you have a completely dead battery do no use the amperage coming from the engine to run your equipment, charge the battedy first then fire up the inverter

[jgingrey]

Are there inverters that anyone would recommend as a good one then? I am considering running one occasionally for lights/ coffee pot off of the house battery.

[Bamby]

Are there inverters that anyone would recommend as a good one then? I am considering running one occasionally for lights/ coffee pot off of the house battery.

A convertor may work well for the OP's usage for a blender and short interment use. But even then the start-up surge for the motor may tax his system. Now on to your coffeepot that is in a whole new ballpark. A coffeepot is actually one of the most energy intensive appliances that will be found on your kitchen counter. Yes convertors can be purchased that will run them but you're going to really draining your battery deeply to enjoy that cup if java. I use a propane stove for all our java needs and we also utilize to stove to cook the bacon & eggs. You'd be amazed how far away folks can smell bacon cooking on the water.

Here's a good read on the topic: BUYER’S GUIDE: Power Inverters

[MH Hawker]

This is the way to go for a boat coffee maker


http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-Porta ... ethod=p13n

[babock]

I would never use an inverter for something like a coffee maker. If a coffee maker is 1500W and you use it for 30 minutes, you have used 75Ah from a 12V battery bank.

[jgingrey]

Obviously I hadn't thought this through completely. In my defense when I posted I didn't have my cup of coffee yet. I completely forgot about propane. Time to break out the old camp stove percolator.