Inverter help needed

[Pudsey Bear]

I have had to buy a mobility scooter for me to use with the van and need to charge it when driving, I have a new 300w pure sine wave inverter that plugs into the dash socket, but I don't think this will do for this charger.

So I need to know what would be the quickest way to sort this problem out I only got the scooter yesterday and we go away on Thursday and will be off grid for 4 weeks so no EHU at all.

Also can I get away with a plug in dash type, as it'll only be charging while driving or do I have to struggle and fit a hard wired one?

This is the charger:-

 

[davep10000]

Your charger only provides 48W to the scooter, so will only draw, say 60W from a mains inverter, and the inverter will only draw around, say 70W from the 12V dash connection. (allowing for inefficiencies).
Your existing pure sine wave inverter will be fine plugged into the dash socket.
Most dash sockets are fused at 10 amps, so your inverter will be good for any 240v load up to around 100W.

PS Ignore the 1.5 A figure on the charger, this would be a maximum on 100V, and would never take anywhere near this on a 240V source.

 

[Derekoak]

If you have a 300w you could try it. The output of your charger is 24x x2 = 48 watt. The input is probably 100 x 1.5 = 150w, it might be 240 x 1.5= 360w but that is so terrible inefficiency an output of only 13% of input. I guess the 1.5amp input current is the current at 100 volts and the current is less at 240 v.
Your 300 watt inverter ought to have overload and over heat cut offs watch it as it charges. Up 150watt ought to be OK. If you have it in a cigarette socket you might blow the fuse. Then you should wire it in.
I do not think plug in is a good idea. My 360 watt inverter is on a 40 amp wired in fuse, way beyond plug in.

 

[trevskoda]

I have found many of the so called cigy plug inverters are useless and overheat the plug, I would always go hard wired after 150w max to be safe.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I know I'm being thick, but that confuses me.

 

[Nabsim]

I used to charge my gogo traveller from a 300W modified sine wave inverter okay. I did wire in a double 30amp cigar lighter socket/binnacle that Dave put together for me in case the normal sockets were overloaded though.

Was only when I got the escooter that has a 2 hour fast charge I had to change to a bigger inverter.

 

[barryd]

What might be key is how fast it charges Kev. If as some have said the 300w invertor is man enough if it takes eight hours to charge then unless you are on a long drive it's going to impact the cab or leisure battery a bit. How often do you think you will need to charge it? If it's just every few days could you not book into a CL with EHU or could you also carry a spare battery pack?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

It says 8-12 hours but it'll start off fully charged of course so only topping up, not bothered about the driving I can drive for hours and often do, I just don't want to damage anything, or spend money if I don't need to on a bigger inverter or if I do which one etc.

 

[campervanannie]

I can’t tell you how your set up works but I have solar panels that I can charge my scooter through a victron 1600w inverter either through the solar or by flicking a switch I can charge when driving works great for me I try not to let my scooter batteries drop too low so I charge little and often.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Ah if only I had your setup Annie I used to have a really good system but found once the TV went I just didn't need it and a couple of USB ports were more than enough.

So I am trying with limited funds to work with what I've got now.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I've got as far as I can now, I've established that the inverter has to be a pure since wave type, not modified or it would kill the charger.

 

[davep10000]

You will be fine with the dash socket connection for your existing inverter. absolutely no reason to wire it in for your application, although this would be best for bigger loads. Keep it simple.

 

[barryd]

It will depend how many watts the charger puts out / needs. If its like 65w or 100w it would be fine. But if it's drawing anything like that for 8-12 hours won't it drain your batteries? I think you need to establish over that time frame what wattage it has to put out. Might be quite low if it takes that long. Dunno.

We have a few fast chargers for laptops and smart phones and you can see they pull on the leisure battery at full chat but they are fully charged in an hour so the solar the. Replaces it all.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Phew just lifted it into the van.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

It will depend how many watts the charger puts out / needs. If its like 65w or 100w it would be fine. But if it's drawing anything like that for 8-12 hours won't it drain your batteries? I think you need to establish over that time frame what wattage it has to put out. Might be quite low if it takes that long. Dunno.

We have a few fast chargers for laptops and smart phones and you can see they pull on the leisure battery at full chat but they are fully charged in an hour so the solar the. Replaces it all.

It will only ever be on charge while driving Barry, I just need to remember to plug it in before driving off, a not on the dash should do.

I purposely did not fit a high amp socket in the van, so I can't do it any other way, if after trying this out for 4 weeks from this Thursday it isn't working then I'll look at a better method, maybe hard wire it in and get an extra LB.


I'm just going to look at the inverter as it is still in its box.

 

[barryd]

That's it Kev. Suck it and see! Might be fine. You will soon find out. If not just book in for EHU once in a while.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I just fired up the van and plugged it in, no noises all lights green cept the charger which id red.

This is the relevant page from the inverter manual just in case it makes a difference.

Just wondering about the best way to plug it all in and unplug it as that can make a difference.

 

[TJBi]

It says 8-12 hours but it'll start off fully charged of course so only topping up, not bothered about the driving I can drive for hours and often do, I just don't want to damage anything, or spend money if I don't need to on a bigger inverter or if I do which one etc.

At current fuel prices?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Yeah I'll have to get up early and drive that long to charge them every day.

 

[merl]

I just fired up the van and plugged it in, no noises all lights green cept the charger which id red.

This is the relevant page from the inverter manual just in case it makes a difference.

Just wondering about the best way to plug it all in and unplug it as that can make a difference.

Is it working correctly or not mate?
Merl