How many batteries needed to power 1000 watt inverter?
Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 10:56
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TentEnKaMan
Hi Guys thanks to all who have helped me thru so far :D Ive got my batteries, Ive ordered a charger (50A durst) now its inverter time. .... Okay Im thinking I want a 1000w pure sine wave inverter. This would only be used at high capacity occasionally (few minutes for the microwave and the like), and generally run at about the 150w mark. I am at the moment looking at whether to upgrade me 2x100 ah agm batteries to 3x or 4x. Im not worried about the 83Ah draw as it would only be for short times but is the load of 27amps per battery 3x27 amps=83amps too much for the batteries? Was planning on wiring in parralel but if i need to wire in series need to know now so I stick to a 2 or 4 formula as I would imagine 36v
inverters can be hard to find. What is better series or parralel? Thanks to all who help this camping noob lol...... got these damn batteries just sitting there its driving me nuts hahahaha
Reply By: Robin Miller - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 11:29
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 11:29
My 1500 watt inverter works quite happily off my one and only 50ah car battery.
Robin Miller
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Follow Up By: TentEnKaMan - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 11:41
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 11:41
Sounds promising ta Robin what sort of maximum load have you used it at?
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Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 13:17
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 13:17
Mines been tested with all sorts of loads up to and beyond its limits , it runs things like circular saw , jackhammer and even simple 1kw radiator.
There is no issue with running them from a single battery , my winch uses a lot more current than invertor , I guess its more about how long.
They normally have a low volts cut out which stops them drawing to much power
and if they don't last long enough -
well I just start the engine.
Robin Miller
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Reply By: Member -Signman - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 12:29
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 12:29
Just be careful here- even though the microwave is rated at 1000w cooking power (what ever happened to a
camp fire??), the 'gizmotron' that drives the oven might be drawing about 5 to 6 amps !!!
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Follow Up By: Member - joc45 (WA) - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 12:42
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 12:42
Correct!
The 1000w is usually the quoted power output. When selecting your microwave,
check the power input figures quoted on the label, which will be somewhat higher. It might be quoted in amps, so multiply the amps x 240v to give you the total wattage. Otherwise, allow only about 50% efficiency for a microwave oven.
Might pay to select one of lower wattage.
You can buy 12v microwaves from
places like the 12 volt
shop, but they are pretty expensive (read "very expensive") and you might be better off in the pocket with your option.
As Signman implies, the campfire is an even cheaper option!
Gerry
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Reply By: Ron George - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 13:15
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 13:15
Was just pondering why do you need a pure sine wave jobby... If you have sensitive equipment IE; computer, medical equipment, high tech gadgetry... OK, if not you would get by with the ordinary garden variety inverter, & a truck load cheaper to. Cheers Ron.
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Reply By: Member - Toytruck (SA) - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 14:33
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 14:33
I am a little curious about the actual question.
"How many batteries needed to power a 1000w inverter". The answer is that the inverter only needs a battery to connect to, and if you plug nothing into it then it will not need any batteries to run it :-) it is what you plug into the inverter and for how long, that will depend on how much current you will need.
Toytruck
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Follow Up By: TentEnKaMan - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:07
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:07
lol toytruck I guess I should have made it clearer by saying "power a 1000w inverter at full load" but then someone would have been bound to think that i meant the 2000w "surge voltage"
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Reply By: TentEnKaMan - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:16
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:16
Thanks guys the microwave is 700w. Being in a falcon
sedan with a lpg tank in the boot we havent had room for firewood. Im quite happy to
cook on our campstove, but means I always
cook. Was hoping that if i get a microwave the girlfriend may get culinarily inspired lmaoooooooo :P Guess once we get a caravan (next on the list) we will have room in the car for wood :D
Im the sort that likes to buy it right in the first place rather than "cheaping it out" only to end up spending the money twice coz ur unhappy with the economical solution. Only interested in pure sine
inverters coz ive read way too many bad things about MSW
inverters. As no one has answered re parralel vs. series battery wiring, Im thinking go in parralel keeps me to 12v and i wont have to buy extra equipment just to add another battery. Thanks to everyone who has shared their experience with me and offered their advice!!!
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Reply By: Crackles - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:23
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:23
2x100ah agm's will power the inverter fine even when running the microwave. 100 amps per battery for short periods will cause no issue at all. A winch for example would normally pull 100 amps up to 250+ at stall. Our work truck is fitted with 2 starting batteries of around 650cca & powers the 2000W inverter running big drills, jackhammers & the microwave in the side cupboard. If we are using them for an extended time we just run the engine at idle.
As already suggested I'd be looking at the actual power usage of the microwave as our 900watt unit actually uses 1400watts. You may struggle to find a microwave that has an input of under 1000watts. These power details are on a sticker on the back.
Cheers Craig...........
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Reply By: TentEnKaMan - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:35
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:35
Thanks crackles
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