Inverter

maingate

maingate

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Maplins are selling a 150 Watt Inverter for £19.99, reduced from £39.99.

I have just bought one from Roadpro for £39.99 and I am gutted.:(:(:(
 
An I got a 500W one from Argos for £19.99 in sale -now back up to £59.99 :D
 
and i've just bought a brandnew arc welder with all accessories worth at least £40 for the grand total of £35 and found there was no bids on ebay anyway so could have got for £20!!!! still a bargain:)
 
Roadpro are known for being expensive, their stuff is aimed mainly at truckers. :rolleyes:
 
,

got a maplin 600w inverter.:mad:. don't give a bugger how much it costs.:mad::mad:..too expensive and a waste of time... :mad::mad::mad:
won't power the microwave and drains the battery in 5 mins flat.. :eek:
bastid things... hate eletrikery me..:mad::mad:


regards:rolleyes:
aj
 
n8rbos said:
and i've just bought a brandnew arc welder with all accessories worth at least £40 for the grand total of £35 and found there was no bids on ebay anyway so could have got for £20!!!! still a bargain:)
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Have i not already told you about that stupid photo,get rid of it;)
 
ajs said:
,

got a maplin 600w inverter.:mad:. don't give a bugger how much it costs.:mad::mad:..too expensive and a waste of time... :mad::mad::mad:
won't power the microwave and drains the battery in 5 mins flat.. :eek:
bastid things... hate eletrikery me..:mad::mad:


regards:rolleyes:
aj
Click to expand...

What size is the battery bank and what cooking power is the Microwave?
I have a 600W cooking power microwave, but it uses 1240w when in operation. This may be the reason your 600W inverter will not work.

Set-up in my van is as follows (and touch wood, seems to work);

1600W Inverter
220ah Leisure Battery
50A B2B charger (just in case I get heavy handed with the inverter and need to recover power quickly).
Compact Battery Monitor (gives all the usual volts/amos, but also tme to charge/dischage figures and true battery percentage capacity).

This set-up seems to deal with the use of the following equipment;
700w Kettle
500w Remoska cooker
750w hair dryer (M&S Travel unit)
600w Cooking power Microwave (actual wattage 1240w)
28W Ipod docking station/speaker system.

Hope this helps
 
I would imagine the microwave does cook at 600 watts its just the initial charge when starting up any power unit hence the 1200 watt drain,which is just the starting power.Most of the microwaves seem to be 600 watt in motorhomes,which is really as good as it gets i would have thought.
 
coolasluck said:
I would imagine the microwave does cook at 600 watts its just the initial charge when starting up any power unit hence the 1200 watt drain,which is just the starting power.Most of the microwaves seem to be 600 watt in motorhomes,which is really as good as it gets i would have thought.
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Swift/Bessacarr seem to be fitting a Deawoo unit, which is 700w cooking power as standard (can get these from ASDA for approx £35.00). When measuring the amps on the battery monitor on mine, the average was around 68/73A roughly meaning that is was approx 900W when in use, but as you have quite rightly pointed out, start up would be higher (looking at the microwave book and on the thing, it does state 1240W on consumption).

Problem is that 600w ratings on inverters are not always their constant wattage outputs (certainly on the ring stuff we have tested here - normally take 15% off the figure). We decided to stick to Waeco and Sterling as their ratings are 99% on the money.
 
ajs said:
, got a maplin 600w inverter.:mad:. don't give a bugger how much it costs.:mad::mad:..too expensive and a waste of time... :mad::mad::mad:
won't power the microwave and drains the battery in 5 mins flat.. :eek:
bastid things... hate eletrikery me..:mad::mad:
regards:rolleyes:
aj
Click to expand...

You'd need a very high power and ££ inverter to power a mains microwave. You could try a 12v microwave instead. The Wavebox is very good....
 
kangooroo said:
You'd need a very high power and ££ inverter to power a mains microwave. You could try a 12v microwave instead. The Wavebox is very good....
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Did go down this route, problem is that you still use approx same amount of power, as the 12v micro's take long to do the job.
Had a look at the Wavebox, but stats would only give the cooking power wattage, not the true consumption. At a guess I would say 300w, but again this would take long to cook some items at it is pointed out on their WS.
Benimar Motorhomes did give a 12v microwave option, but gave it up after about 12 months (this was back in 03), due to complaints of time the thing took to cook food.
 
nickjvanbitz said:
Did go down this route, problem is that you still use approx same amount of power, as the 12v micro's take long to do the job.
Had a look at the Wavebox, but stats would only give the cooking power wattage, not the true consumption. At a guess I would say 300w, but again this would take long to cook some items at it is pointed out on their WS.
Benimar Motorhomes did give a 12v microwave option, but gave it up after about 12 months (this was back in 03), due to complaints of time the thing took to cook food.
Click to expand...

I think (from memory) that the Wavbox input is about 600w and output about 400w. It isn't fast but it does overcome the need for a hefty and expensive inverter.

I'm currently in touch with the Wavebox's designer and company founder - the good news is that it's being redeveloped with a few modifications and version II could overcome some of the teething niggles with the prototype product.
 
kangooroo said:
I think (from memory) that the Wavbox input is about 600w and output about 400w. It isn't fast but it does overcome the need for a hefty and expensive inverter.

I'm currently in touch with the Wavebox's designer and company founder - the good news is that it's being redeveloped with a few modifications and version II could overcome some of the teething niggles with the prototype product.
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Do you currently have one?
If my math is correct based on info you have given and the time it took to do say a jacket on the last 12v unit I owned, it would have used 16.5ah of power and taken approx 30 mins. Current set up uses 13.5ah and spud is ready in 10 mins. There is the other issues that I am as "LPG Free" as possible, so the inverter is used for more than just the microwave.
Everyone picks their own poision at the end of the day. Doing it the way I am doing means that LPG use is mearly for fridge and very occational use of BBQ and cooker. Been away in the van several times and not even dented the 13kg bottle on board.:cool:
 
Yes I have a Wavebox (2 actually!). My motorhome is a converted car, Renault Kangoo Roo, so I don't have the space for a gas bottle hence anything I carry has to be small, practical and multi-purpose - and without any dependency on campsites.

I won't attempt the maths but... I use my Wavebox in 2 x 28 minutes bursts, morning and night with some daily driving and thus recharging of my 85 amp leisure battery (also used for charging phone, camera batteries, powering netbook etc). I carry a volt meter and the battery voltage has never fallen below 12.5v (yet!). You're right - the Wavebox wouldn't win awards for its speed but it is a practical and robust little unit which fills a niche especially when space is at a premium.
 
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