Electrical inverter?

[Fishbusters]

I rigged up an inverter that was in my parents motor home to my truck in order to power the laptop as well as perhaps charge several other devices that require 110V power to charge or even operate. My first use of it was our trip down to Fla. While there my nephew told me that I should not use it to power/charge things with rechargeable batteries in it as power inverters mess these things up. I asked him where he got his info as I was skeptical and he said while he was researching offsetting/powering his house in New Mexico using solar power he talked with people who had done it including a techno-geek (his term). The geek told him he had to keep minimal power incoming on a separate system from the house for recharging the laptop and all other things like drills and such because inverted power has the wrong wavelength and messes up rechargeable batteries. In any event I have not used the inverter since that trip but I would like to. I have been unable to come up with any negative feedback on the use of inverters and none regarding rechargeable batteries. Is this something to worry about or was it something specific to solar power or is it just something someone got into their mind and they are wrong? I do know a little about power and 110 can fluctuate from 105 to 120 (or something like that) also I understand European and Japanese power grids will not power American items w/o some sort of an adapter but beyond this I am really clueless.

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Electrical inverter?

yo PFB. i haven't researched this, so i'm just giving it off-the-cuff here.<br /><br />i imagine the standard wavelength/cycle would be easily engineered into the inverter. so i think that info is bogus... <br /><br />i only say this because i doubt the issue is wavelength/time, but maybe harmonics(square vs sine)... but i'm curious to know.

 

[snapperbait]

Re: Electrical inverter?

Peter.. There are two common types of inverters, modified sine wave and pure sine wave...<br /><br />Modified sine wave inverters are not good for use with sensitive electronics and some battery chargers, among other things...<br /><br />Pure sine wave type inverters would be better suited for your use because they more closely mimic AC (alternating current) household current... They are ok for use with computers and other sensitive electronics, and they will run all AC (alternating current) loads.. You should be ok using it for charging your re-chargeable batterys too...

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Electrical inverter?

Snapperbait, How do I tell what type I have? This thing is about 15 years old if not older and was built before anyone had to worry about running a computer or all those rechargeable bateries like are around now. I do know it seemed to work okay on the FL trip and worked just fine running the TV and VCR mom and dad had in the motorhome back then. I am not so worried about the laptop as I am recharging the digital camera that I better recieve soon (of course I am not paying for it yet they don't start deductions till you get your stuff). I know they sell a battery charger for the car but it costs a bundle where this is free.

 

[JB]

Re: Electrical inverter?

Howdy, PFB.<br /><br />Most rotating machinery inverters produce a pretty clean sine wave, most electronic inverter circuits do not. Rotating machinery inverters can be controlled in frequency of output, but not perfectly.<br /><br />Devices that were designed to use a sine wave input of 60 HZ often have circuitry that can be harmed if the frequency is too far off of 60 HZ or if it includes harmonic frequencies.

 

[NathanY]

Re: Electrical inverter?

I had a power inverter in my work truck when I worked for the cable company, I dont remember the brand right off hand, but it had its own battery under the hood, and was charged off the alternator. When you turned this thing on, it had some serious power. I could run a skil saw and a hammer drill off of it at the same time. I also used it to charge my cell phone, and my dewalt 18v drill and had no ill effects.

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: Electrical inverter?

This thing says it is Frequency modulated to 60htz so I figure by all the info I got I should be okay. We are gonna keep using it for the laptop and only use it for the camera in the event of total discharge and lack of any other means of recharge. If the laptop runs good and lives after a while the camera will be on it too form time to time.

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: Electrical inverter?

One way to determine the type of invertor output is to find a local ham radio operator or electronics tech with an oscillloscope, the scope will show what you have, sine wave, modified sine wave, square wave, and what trash or noise is on the output. I've used a cheap modified sine wave invertor at hunting camp for years with transformer battery chargers and never had a problem. The frequency of your home electicity is not always 60hz, it varies slightly based on generator load, but the electric company makes adjustments so the long term acuracy allows your clocks to be quite accurate. I check mine against the WWV shortwave time signals and the clock is usually within a few seconds a month.

 

[marty_scher]

Re: Electrical inverter?

Peterfishbuster<br /><br />Unless I am missing something, it really should not matter, since rechargable batteries are charged by DC power, converted from AC.<br /><br />Any minor variations in AC sine waves, should not be apparent after converting to DC, as DC is merely a clipped portion of the AC sine wave.<br /><br />I could certainly understand power issues in a solar-powered house, but I don't believe it is directly related in what you are doing, anyway.<br /><br />IMO, if it spits out something close to 110v 60 cycle AC, I would not hesitate to plug a DC battery charger into it.<br /><br />I had just purchased a Jenson 300W 12V-110V, to run a TV/VCR, on a road trip. Those things are great! I'll use it to recharge my digicam batteries on the boat.<br /><br />Marty

 

[John Carpenter]

Re: Electrical inverter?

Not usually one to give advice on a subject I am almost completely ignorant on but...I do use an inverter regularly. My first experience with an inverter was on a camping trip...I wanted to be able to recharge the digital camera as well as my DeWalt flashlights. The digital camera recharging went fine, however the instant I connected the DeWalt charger to the inverter...both the inverter and the charger fried. Went to WallyWorld and returned the inverter...got a different brand. The DeWalt charger was another story. DeWalt wanted $80 for a new charger...no way, so I spent about a month trying to find the tiny fuse that was the problem. DeWalt's literature (read after the fact)warns against the use of an inverter to power the charger.<br /><br />All that said, I now use an inverter to power the laptop and digital camera...have a different drill (Bosch) but have not had the nerve to plug it into the inverter. Before plugging an expensive device up to an inverter I would check with the manufacturer or at least read the manual.

 

[jee70611]

Re: Electrical inverter?

I bought an electronic inverter from radioshack about 6 or 7 years ago. I've never had problems with running anything I want off of it as long as it doesn't exceed the 140watt limit. I have it in my truck now powering a computer that I use for my music. The computer is just a regular desktop computer out of the box. I have the motherboard and other parts screwed to the back wall and haven't had any problems out of it for over two years(knock on wood ). For a monitor I use an little 5 inch flip down lcd screen. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate one second about using mine to run almost anything, however, inverters do vary. Mine cost me $100.00 about 7 years ago so it's a good one. Just read the owners manual of what you're powering to make sure it can take it. Good Luck! <br /><br />James

 

[Scoop]

Re: Electrical inverter?

This is an interesting issue. I did work with some battery chargers for a company that made rechargeable batteries. With most rechargeable NiCd batteries, they used chargers that did not modify the wave too much for charging. You will see this with most chargers that are just AC adapters. They use a transformer to get the correct voltage, then flip the lower part of the sine wave using a rectifier. They then use some filters to get your DC and make it cleaner. The result is something very noisy, but NiCds charge just fine this way. Any inverter should be just fine for these.<br /><br />Other chargers that are larger than just an AC adapters usually have other circuitry built in to do better filtering and monitoring of the batteries for maximum fast charging without causing heating or other problems that would reduce the life of the battery. These would need more precise power depending on their internal design. A good example of this is the Dewalt chargers. The one for my drill is a smart charger and would need more precise power.<br /><br />Computer AC Adapters usually have a lot of filtering in them to clean up their own power because they absolutely need clean power. These should work with an inverter, but I would read your manual and maybe call the company that made your computer to make sure they have no warnings against using an inverter. Most companies also offer adapters to run their laptops on DC from your car battery.<br /><br />Unfortunately I have not worked with inverters, but what Snapperbait said makes a lot sense since the inverter is creating it's own sine wave using oscillator circuitry. If your camera has a basic AC adapter, then it should work fine. I would still read your manual and maybe call the camera companies tech support to make sure they do not have warnings about using it with an inverter.