Advice On Power Inverters

Hello truckers,

does anybody out there have any advice on which power inverters are the best I would like to find one that plugs up to the cigarette lighter because the company will not allow you to hardwire it to the battery I would like to be able to plug up a small refrigerator, microwave, small TV, and may be a tailgating satellite system I'm thinking around 1500 W.

Thanks for any information and drive safely

You want an invert that produces good sine waves like the AC sockets in your house, if you are going to hook up a laptop or sensitive music equipement to it. Cheaper inverters us square waves and are just fine for running crock pots, coffee makers, and refrigerators. The other thing you should consider is wattage. Just read the article below and you'll know what to get. A lap top, for example, runs about 50 watts, while I coffee maker is 600.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/automotive/dc-ac-power-inverter.htm

We use a Cobra inverter that is bought at nearly any truck stop. Its the 400 watt one that is prefect for a lap top and goes in the cig outlet

GA Trucker, I don't know of any inverters that can be plugged into the D.C. power source that will handle 1500 watts. You will have to settle for around a max of possibly 550 or so. As far as the refrigerator goes you can get one that plugs into the D.C. power source which will free up your inverter for something else. When purchasing anything like a microwave or T.V. just read the packaging and make sure it is down within your maximum wattage range. When you have a bunch of the modern household conveniences with you in a truck you have to juggle them around and only use them one at a time so as not to overload your circuits.

As far as the sine wave converters go, I wouldn't concern myself with it unless maybe you have some expensive music equipment like Robert mentioned. Most things that you will need an inverter for in a truck will operate just fine on the regular inverters. To get a sine wave inverter you will be spending a lot more money. I was a licensed master electrician in my former life, and I too looked into the sine wave inverters, but realized that there was not sufficient reason to go with them in the truck.

A lap top, for example, runs about 50 watts, while I coffee maker is 600.

Not all laptops are ran the same. Each one has a different ac cable which is what draws the most. For example my wifes lenovo takes 65watts but my laptop takes 150-200.

The best thing to do is read under the applience at the label. Every electric appliance should have a label and little tell you what it draws.. Just bought a nutribullet, takes 900watts, my single cup coffee pot does 600.. My TV does about 200 and my Xbox does around 190..

I recommend not buying the cheap one, I have a cobra like Guy and I also have the other brand the Pilot/ flying j sell and I prefer my cobra. I use that to keep lappy charged.

Thanks for all the advice I would do some research and look into getting one of the cobra inverter

thanks again and drive safely