School Me On 12V Inverters

[JimPghPA]

Some electric and some electronics devices will work fine on a cheap inverter with a bad sinewave, some won't work, and some become severely damaged.

It depends on the type of item and how it was designed, and how clean or dirty the sine wave is. Theres too many variables re the items to power and how clean or dirty an output of the lower cost inverters are, to know in advance if some combination will work.

The only sure way to know in advance is to use an inverter with a very clean sinewave and of course having a Wattage rating greater that the total load it will have to run, and a powerful enough DC supply.

 

[Pablo]

SO............

I have not run any numbers. Losses will probably kill this idea...... and of course cost and wear........BUT

I have a decent Predator 9500. It powers everything we need more or less.

Let's say I bought one of those battery UPS blocks, kept charged from line power (called a generator in jest I guess) and connected it in place of my current genny during an outage, then charge that pup with the 9500 when needed. For extended outages say. Used lightly stretch out the periods between charging.

I mean so the genny doesn't have to run at night, perhaps. We could go dark during the day to charge the block. Dunno.

Is this crazy?

 

[mk378]

No that's a good idea. You should save a lot of fuel only having to run the generator intermittently. Especially if it is a non-inverter generator which are really inefficient at low output.

You can keep using AC from the inverter while charging the battery.

Such a system is easily expanded to include solar charging and then you can use it to run some household devices off-grid all the time.

 

[The_Jeff]

SO............

I have not run any numbers. Losses will probably kill this idea...... and of course cost and wear........BUT

I have a decent Predator 9500. It powers everything we need more or less.

Let's say I bought one of those battery UPS blocks, kept charged from line power (called a generator in jest I guess) and connected it in place of my current genny during an outage, then charge that pup with the 9500 when needed. For extended outages say. Used lightly stretch out the periods between charging.

I mean so the genny doesn't have to run at night, perhaps. We could go dark during the day to charge the block. Dunno.

Is this crazy?

The battery UPS blocks are more expensive than their ingredients, because people get intimidated by wires and stuff. You'll notice they have "really cool cases and displays"-- that's where your money's going. It's the same thing with those stupid 12V jump boxes that contain a non-inspiring lead acid battery worth much less than you pay for the whole thing. An actual computer UPS would do annoying things like making alarm noises when it tranitions to its internal power source.

A LifePO4+ battery, inverter, and charger will cost you less, be higher quality and scalable. You could later add solar charging for cheap, too.

A battery and inverter would be great for overnight "fridge duty" so your real generator isn't running 24/7, keeping you awake, and inviting theft.

 

[spackard]

SO............

I have not run any numbers. Losses will probably kill this idea...... and of course cost and wear........BUT

I have a decent Predator 9500. It powers everything we need more or less.

Let's say I bought one of those battery UPS blocks, kept charged from line power (called a generator in jest I guess) and connected it in place of my current genny during an outage, then charge that pup with the 9500 when needed. For extended outages say. Used lightly stretch out the periods between charging.

I mean so the genny doesn't have to run at night, perhaps. We could go dark during the day to charge the block. Dunno.

Is this crazy?

That’s what I’m doing with my $399 DJI power 1000.
I have two Honda 1000 gen sets I can twin together and run an extension cord inside for a refrigerator and light. But, most of the time I have to set this up it’s late at night, cold, raining. Or, very hot and no air movement. It’s a lot easier to use the DJI as a first backup power, run a cord 20 feet to the kitchen, then get back to sleep. The cable modem and lights are always plugged into the DJI.
Morning comes, plug the DJI into a generator and recharge. Maybe only one hour of engine exhaust fume cloud rather than a night’s worth.
The DJI is 29dB, close to silent.

Also, the DJI can start the compressor in the refrigerator whereas a single Honda 1000 cannot.

 

[Pablo]

The battery UPS blocks are more expensive than their ingredients, because people get intimidated by wires and stuff. You'll notice they have "really cool cases and displays"-- that's where your money's going. It's the same thing with those stupid 12V jump boxes that contain a non-inspiring lead acid battery worth much less than you pay for the whole thing. An actual computer UPS would do annoying things like making alarm noises when it tranitions to its internal power source.

A LifePO4+ battery, inverter, and charger will cost you less, be higher quality and scalable. You could later add solar charging for cheap, too.

A battery and inverter would be great for overnight "fridge duty" so your real generator isn't running 24/7, keeping you awake, and inviting theft.

I guess you just pay for convenience like most things in life. I could make a set up and get much better batteries for example