Pure or modified inverter

[06PAJ]

Looking over inverters to setup the camper.
Pure sine wave seems the most logical, but for only running chargers wondering if wasting money on pure sine.

Seems a lot of cheap pure sine waves on ebay but would like to avoid a fire.
Any reccomendations on what your using ?
Was considering a Projecta 600W pure sine

[NTBenny]

I'm also looking at inverters so would like to know what people are using and been happy with. I'd imagine higher priced units are more efficient and deliver cleaner output wave forms but are the cheaper ebay units any good?

Benny.

[stumagoo]

I have a baby modified sine wave but it was only ever used on small devices (like an old laptop) and where the power was going back to a dc voltage as well..... I have used it before with an electric shaver and it worked fine as well but I would never use them on anything where I was worried about the item being sensitive about power supply quality.

As for cheaper pure sine wave - not experienced enough with the tech to give an answer.... yes I may use them if I was on a tight budget (which I am most the time) but if I could stretch it I would get a quality pure sine unit for bigger installs.

[Faereag]

Looking over inverters to setup the camper.
Pure sine wave seems the most logical, but for only running chargers wondering if wasting money on pure sine.

Seems a lot of cheap pure sine waves on ebay but would like to avoid a fire.
Any reccomendations on what your using ?
Was considering a Projecta 600W pure sine

06Paj
My wife has a CPAP machine that we run via a Jaycar pure wave inverter when we are off the grid. Also runs the laptop etc and has been faultless for the last 4 years. Whilst more expensive than the modified versions pure sine wave inverters can safely be used with a lot more sensitive electrical items. Jaycar occasionally have them on special - worth a look whilst looking at the likes of Projecta, etc,.

Actually - they have a number on special now - just looked

[06PAJ]

My Cpap has 12v & 240v supply so sorted there, just turn off humidifier to avoid huge power drain.
Try to keep everything 12v but im sure to get caught out if i dont have a inverter.
600W pure projecta is only $300ish for laptop & camera charging i guess

[rotare]

Really depends what you're planning on running off it.

I use a modified sine wave 300w inverter (eBay job) when camping, and that gets used for general duties of charging laptops, iPads, phones etc, as well as lights and other basic electrical stuff when needed. Had it for a few years and it's never let me down and never had a problem with it doing what I use it for.

[Jimbo2]

I have one of those cheap ebay 600w inverters, cost less tha $100 I think. Its worked perfectly for 3 years now, and when we finally got around to testing the quality of the output it was an absolutely perfect sine wave, no roughness at all, both at no load and when running an electric drill. Unfortunately no longer listed on ebay.

[Maximage]

My Cpap has 12v & 240v supply so sorted there, just turn off humidifier to avoid huge power drain.
Try to keep everything 12v but im sure to get caught out if i dont have a inverter.
600W pure projecta is only $300ish for laptop & camera charging i guess

Sure you can't just get a 12V charger for your laptop and camera gear? Most PCs have fairly generic charger plugs, even the proprietary Apple Magsafe ones can be bought in 12V.Ive got everything like that all running from 12V in our caravan.

[Poita]

Modified will be fine in most cases. I would only buy from a reputable shop though to ensure it meets Australian safety standards. Also look at getting it installed with an BRCD for protection.

Why do people use them to charge phones and other USB style appliances? It is a horrendously inefficient way of doing it! Converting from dc to ac and back to dc again. Install a cigarette lighter socket and buy a USB plug for it. You can even buy direct 12V to USB charging outlets now. Far less drain on your battery.

[Dicko1]

When I worked as a remote area tech for Telstra we were given 600watt inverters. Some had 2000watt models. They worked well. However they were expensive (Telstra bought good stuff) and really not warranted. Thing of the past really. Several hundred vehicles kitted out saw them disappear over time.Virtually everything can run off 12 volts nowadays. My tv, radio, laptops, phone chargers etc. I have the inverter sitting in my shed, unused for the last 7 years. Wouldn,t consider an inverter now unless it was required for something that did not have 12 volt capability and was necessary for travel.

[Ian H]

I've been checking out inverters for a while and finally settled on a small 150w Pure Sine wave with a cig plug adaptor. I waned it it be portable between the car and caravan and after a lot of thought, I really only needed it to charge batteries in the chain saw and drone, neither of which can be charged via 12v. It will also run the lap top which doesn't have a 12v direct charge option either. The phones and iPads all charge from USB ports in the car and van so they didn't come in to the decision. You can buy these between $60 and $130 depending on the brand.

I looked at 300w and even 600w but that's not enough to run things like toasters or a heater so the question is, what is the inverter for. If you want to run appliances which draw a lot, then a large inverter will do it but they are heavy on current draw and you only have so much battery power. A small 1000w fan heater will draw about 80amps for example. They also need to be hard wired to the battery with a fuse of course, so portability goes out the window.

I picked up a plug in power meter from Bunnings for $20 which gives me the actual power draw for any appliance on a 240v outlet and it's well worth the small investment to see how many amps and how much wattage any appliance draws.

[Drewan]

We've just replaced our inverter in the van with a 1500w pure wave one from Vic offroad at $169 its hello fan heater and shes kinda pleased that she can now have a bigger hair dryer ( its just so important when your out in the middle of the desert)

[Ian H]

We've just replaced our inverter in the van with a 1500w pure wave one from Vic offroad at $169 its hello fan heater and shes kinda pleased that she can now have a bigger hair dryer ( its just so important when your out in the middle of the desert)

What is the battery capacity of the van?

[Ent]

For sensitive equipment the pure is the go. The modified ones produce "square" waves that can be hard on capacitors in the equipment driven. The price difference is not that great so pure sine is probably affordable in most cases.

As for rating. 1000 watts will drive most appliances you would need, but at a full 1000 watt continuous draw even a deep cycle battery will be finished after fifteen minutes. Definitely not a viable option for a single starter battery.

With care most things can be found with 12 volt option, but for me ability to drive power tools was a requirement, and even the battery power ones I could not find with 12 volt charging.

In a way bit like a car oven. For some they are brilliant and for others they make no sense.

So I went 1000 watt purse sine wave with 110ah second battery. Yet to install so no comments on "ghee this is great".

[Ian H]

As for rating. 1000 watts will drive most appliances you would need, but at a full 1000 watt continuous draw even a deep cycle battery will be finished after fifteen minutes.

Not quite, at full power it will draw 1000/12 = 83amps and considering you don't want to run the battery down under about 50%, you have about 40 minutes of useful time if on one 100amp deep cycle battery.