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Hi all,
I've been fighting the purchase of a 240v inverter for some time in either the pajero or the caravan.
To that end, I've been focused on making sure everything I had was 12v compatible to allow me to make the most of my battery set ups.
Unfortunately that run has come to an end and I've had to pick up a small inverter for some gear that I can't get or don't want to get in 12v form.
The primary reason is for charging 18v batteries for my recently acquired chainsaw.
On sussing out online forums the consensus seemed to be a 300w inverter should be sufficient for charging up 18v batteries on the go .
I set that as a limit, as I didn't want to get anything bigger than I needed from either a money perspective or size.
Overkill can be good but again I was focused on just meeting my minimal needs and no more.
Of course, as we all do, I checked out the cheap ebay options and in the end avoided those when the known brand Dometic popped up for not much more at Snowys. (no affiliation)
Since I was heading away and needed it sooner, I found it local at BCF and they matched the price (usually $199) and I was able to pick it up same day. Plus, I have local support if it craps itself. That's always nice
Making sure it was going to cover my requirements and to see what sort of load it would put on my batteries, I wanted to run some tests so I'm across what real world usage looks like instead of just relying on website guff and stickers.
I've been very happy with the outcome.
Both 18v battery chargers are rated under 80w z(72 & 78) and came pretty close to it during testing.
Obviously there are losses involved but my testing at the battery showed these to be minimal with just over 80w being pulled.
Granted the power supply I had was outputting ~13.8V but I am most likely to charge up my batteries either on the go or when the solar panels are taking up the load, so the inverter should be seeing around this voltage anyway.
So I feel this was a realistic test.
If only running off a charged AGM, voltage would be closer to 12.8 and the current would come up a little to meet that 80w required.
I'm considering a double battery charger which would be handled no problems.
During my tests, 6amps was around the average requirement.
This was the same for both the toolpro and ozito 18v chargers
and the DJI spark charger was slightly under that.
The inverter fan comes on at intervals and can be quite annoying cutting in and out.
So for night time use in a van or the like, probably would get old pretty quick.
In the back of the car or day time use would be ideal.
I do like the layout of this inverter with the plug on top rather than on the end.
This will allow me to mount it upright and have the plug readily accessible.
Probably not handy if you're sticking it under a seat or need access from the end.
Overall a well put together piece of kit at what I think is a good price considering what the no name stuff is worth.
As much as I like to read forums for info, I always like to do my own tests to see if that info is actually correct.
In the end I didn't need anywhere near the 300w suggested but the extra will allow me to have confidence that it is handling the job easily.
The unit is a 350w with a peak at 700w.
Maybe this will help others looking at their options.
As always here's the video of the tests and kinda review.
cheers Brett
I've been fighting the purchase of a 240v inverter for some time in either the pajero or the caravan.
To that end, I've been focused on making sure everything I had was 12v compatible to allow me to make the most of my battery set ups.
Unfortunately that run has come to an end and I've had to pick up a small inverter for some gear that I can't get or don't want to get in 12v form.
The primary reason is for charging 18v batteries for my recently acquired chainsaw.
On sussing out online forums the consensus seemed to be a 300w inverter should be sufficient for charging up 18v batteries on the go .
I set that as a limit, as I didn't want to get anything bigger than I needed from either a money perspective or size.
Overkill can be good but again I was focused on just meeting my minimal needs and no more.
Of course, as we all do, I checked out the cheap ebay options and in the end avoided those when the known brand Dometic popped up for not much more at Snowys. (no affiliation)
Since I was heading away and needed it sooner, I found it local at BCF and they matched the price (usually $199) and I was able to pick it up same day. Plus, I have local support if it craps itself. That's always nice
Making sure it was going to cover my requirements and to see what sort of load it would put on my batteries, I wanted to run some tests so I'm across what real world usage looks like instead of just relying on website guff and stickers.
I've been very happy with the outcome.
Both 18v battery chargers are rated under 80w z(72 & 78) and came pretty close to it during testing.
Obviously there are losses involved but my testing at the battery showed these to be minimal with just over 80w being pulled.
Granted the power supply I had was outputting ~13.8V but I am most likely to charge up my batteries either on the go or when the solar panels are taking up the load, so the inverter should be seeing around this voltage anyway.
So I feel this was a realistic test.
If only running off a charged AGM, voltage would be closer to 12.8 and the current would come up a little to meet that 80w required.
I'm considering a double battery charger which would be handled no problems.
During my tests, 6amps was around the average requirement.
This was the same for both the toolpro and ozito 18v chargers
and the DJI spark charger was slightly under that.
The inverter fan comes on at intervals and can be quite annoying cutting in and out.
So for night time use in a van or the like, probably would get old pretty quick.
In the back of the car or day time use would be ideal.
I do like the layout of this inverter with the plug on top rather than on the end.
This will allow me to mount it upright and have the plug readily accessible.
Probably not handy if you're sticking it under a seat or need access from the end.
Overall a well put together piece of kit at what I think is a good price considering what the no name stuff is worth.
As much as I like to read forums for info, I always like to do my own tests to see if that info is actually correct.
In the end I didn't need anywhere near the 300w suggested but the extra will allow me to have confidence that it is handling the job easily.
The unit is a 350w with a peak at 700w.
Maybe this will help others looking at their options.
As always here's the video of the tests and kinda review.
cheers Brett
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