Good quality DC/AC inverter?

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trevskoda said:
You have missed the point,you do not require a inverter as all can now be run of 12v or 5v usb.
I just bought myself a usb shaver/trimmer and its the bogs dollocks.View attachment 75409
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@trevskoda .. Like to see him clean his teeth with one of the above. You could of course save even more power with a wet shave.

SWMBO uses an electric tooth brush and doesn't like the battery ones. I even took one of her old ones to bits and converted it to run on 5v. They have a little electric motor inside them that runs on 3v so I used a 5v to 3v DC - DC converter and presented her with the tooth brush. It's not the same was the reply. The bit I had missed was the real one vibrates when you have done your 2 minute on the bottom and again when you have done the top. So I gave up and I just switch the inverter on. Somethings are just not worth arguing about.
 
As said, you need a pure sine inverter to charge a toothbrush. Or a Canon camera battery charger. Modified sine blows them up instantly. (not literally, they just die). Very tedious.

I do have a universal 12V to 19V thing for my laptop (actually it's adjustable for voltage and has plugs for every type of laptop socket.) from Aldi but it kicks out so much EMC that you can't use the radio or the telly when it's on.

Having had bad experiences with 12V-USB plugs, the sort that plug into a cigarette lighter socket, or built into a panel, I now only use the mains charger supplied with the device. My devices have the latest high speed charging which basic USB outlets don't support.

Which is why I use a 300W pure sine inverter for everything. It will even power the slow cooker as I drive along, about 125 W. It sits in the sink with a bungee over the lid. Hot meal ready at the end of the day. It came with a cigarette lighter plug as well as a cable to hardwire. Don't even think of using the lighter socket cable, that would only be suitable for very light duty. My ducato has an (I think) 18A outlet but it blew the fuse for that straight away.

I'd say 300W is about right for light duty, I wouldn't want to run it continuously at 300W despite supposedly being rated for it. Yes obviously they take a lot of current if run at full rating, but if you are not doing that they take much less. You do have to remember to turn them off when not in use, they take a steady drain of maybe 0.5A even with no load. The bigger the inverter the bigger this drain. Bigger is not always better.
 
I tried a variety of USB cigar lighter socket power supplies.

All of them were inferior in ability, or dangerous by tending to overheat.

Eventually I found a quality product:

RAVPower Car Charger 4-Port Quick Charge 3.0 54W Car: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy RAVPower Car Charger 4-Port Quick Charge 3.0 54W Car Adapter for Galaxy S9/ S8/S7/S6 Edge and iSmart for iPhone XS/XR/XS Max/8/8 Plus and More at Amazon UK.
www.amazon.co.uk

It's very well made and with a metal casing. It feels like a quality product, and it is.

I now have two of these, one in the habitation area and one in the cab.

It has four outlets, one of which is for fast charge.

Excellent product and highly recommended.
 
We have a pure sine wave and I use it a lot for kitchen gadgets: such as hand blender, Remoska, slow cooker, whisk etc.
As well as dog shears, laptop, tooth brush and running the twin tub.
Wouldn't be without one.

Use it so much, that would love to know if there is a way to connect it to the 220v circuit for all the van’s 3 pin sockets? ... I’ll post a sep thread on this.
 
trevskoda said:
I have a 12v hair dryer and its ok,not brill but works.
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Do you have a link or any info on which one?
We will eventualy get a decent inverter but as we've just invested in lithium batteries and a few other high cost upgrades (solar panels, MPPT controller etc.) we are having to wait and save up a bit for one. Will probably get a Victron Multiplus with the built in charger and the abilty to be connected to the existing 240v sockets, it then switches seemlessly from EHU to inverter.

Regadrs,
Del
 
I have a 300W inverter son in law gave to charge the laptops if I want to use them. Could get a cheap 12v charger for the Surface Pro if needed but the one for my model MacBook was £80 so didn’t bother.

This time of year genny keeps battery’s topped up
 
Thanks very much for all the informative replies. My leaning towards an inverter was pretty much because I already have things like hair clippers, toothbrush charger etc, and I'd rather just plug em in and not need new USB cables/adapters and so on. And having read a bit about pure sine wave vs the alternatives, it seems the most efficient and cost effective in the long run.
 
alwaysared said:
Do you have a link or any info on which one?
We will eventualy get a decent inverter but as we've just invested in lithium batteries and a few other high cost upgrades (solar panels, MPPT controller etc.) we are having to wait and save up a bit for one. Will probably get a Victron Multiplus with the built in charger and the abilty to be connected to the existing 240v sockets, it then switches seemlessly from EHU to inverter.

Regadrs,
Del
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If you want a hair dryer and you have blown air heating in your van just add an extension pipe to one of the outlets close the remaining outlets and set the heating going and that should do the trick.
 
Clunegapyears said:
We have a pure sine wave and I use it a lot for kitchen gadgets: such as hand blender, Remoska, slow cooker, whisk etc.
As well as dog shears, laptop, tooth brush and running the twin tub.
Wouldn't be without one.

Use it so much, that would love to know if there is a way to connect it to the 220v circuit for all the van’s 3 pin sockets? ... I’ll post a sep thread on this.
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Thats not a campervan its a apartment penthouse. 😂
 
in h said:
Get a usb charger for your toothbrush. Less than a fiver on eBay.
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A usb charger will not help. It is a sealed unit and charges from it’s own sealed mains powered base. I think the base charges via a mains powered induction coil.
 
Okta said:
I have not found an alternative to an inverter for charging my tooth brush. Pure sine wave.
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My oral b toothbrush is charging from a usb charger at present.
I have been using this method for 9 months with no adverse effects to the toothbrush. So I'm curious as to why you have to use an inverter ?
 
Obanboy666 said:
My oral b toothbrush is charging from a usb charger at present.
I have been using this method for 9 months with no adverse effects to the toothbrush. So I'm curious as to why you have to use an inverter ?
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Because his is a inductive unit and must site in a base unit where no wires are attached,done by inductance .
 
You can get inductance changers that plug into usb socket for "standard" oral b toothbrush
 
trevskoda said:
Because his is a inductive unit and must site in a base unit where no wires are attached,done by inductance .
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Here is mine charging in my motorhome usb socket, is this an inductive unit ?
 

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