Need help on getting a more powerful inverter.

[Danny_86 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Danny_86]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at getting a more powerful inverter for my 150 series Prado, I'm looking at powering a Fridge/Freezer plus a laptop. Does anyone know what Watt & Volt you need to power these items. Also I was told I need to get a sine wave power inverter, can anyone help or send links to which inverter to go for & how it mounts into the vehicle, photos would help if you have one.

Cheers

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

Hey buddy. It's always best to try and run your fridge/freezer from 12V directly. Nearly all of them have them is ability. Simple reason being, if a fridge needs 300W (number from thin air) then at 30ow using 12V we only use 300W. But, if we power it from an inverter first, the problem is that the inverter is NOT 100% efficient. So, to get 300w from the inverter, it may use 400W...use the 12Volt side and back down to 300W.

As for the laptop, yes. It would need a pure sine wave inverter IF you use an inverter to run it. Again, back to the 12V side of things. I use a laptop car charger personally. It uses much less than power an inverter, it takes the 12V shoves it up to 19V and can supply upto 90W all day long. Totaly cost was $70 from Jaycar.

Many camping trips, I don't use our 12-240 inverter AT ALL.

Simple story is. Always try for the 12V option first.

But in regards to the question you have asked.....
90W is the standard laptop charger. It will need to be pure sinewave (the more expensive option)
Fridge at 240V is entirely dependant upon the fridge. But again, in the car, our fridge is on 12V. Only time it's running on 240V is inside the house before we leave for our trip to cool it in the first place while packing.

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Agree with RanJ. Use 12V appliances wherever possible. There are a multitude of 12V laptop charger and fridge options.

Leachy

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

Thought I'd throw a quick list of the laptop chargers from Jaycar for you...

150W - The BIG laptops
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3472

90W - Standard laptop, I use one of these in the Prado for EVERYONES laptop
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3324

50W - For the little netbooks... I have one of these in the Ford Ka for my invoicing netbook.
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3479

You can probably buy these online for less... I just like Jaycar for the option of someone to throw it at when it all goes haywire.

[Danny_86 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Danny_86]

Cheers guys,

This has been a massive help for me

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Some say you should run your laptop off the internal battery and recharge with the laptop turned off or asleep that way it draws less current. I can watch 2 blueray DVDs on my laptop running on the internal battery only. Then I switch it off and charge it from a 300w inverter. It's the only thing that I use the inverter for so I don't have a need for a bigger one.

[slimf Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close slimf]

I put an inverter into my camper expecting it to be useful... Waste of money. I got a 12v laptop charger from Jaycar and everything else is 12v... The only time I used it was to power a drill while I was working on the camper. Saved me getting an extension cord out! Hehe. I would really recommend spending the money on better 12v systems - dcdc charger, heaven duty cable to rear of car etc. money well spent.

[Danny_86 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Danny_86]

I do own a 250A celestron power tank 17, would this be ideal to charge a laptop?

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

No, it doesn't have the required output and furthrmore... what happens when that go flat? lol