Inverted strength?

[dquirk29]

I have a 30ft Signature but no inverted to make a plug hot when not plugged in shore power. I was considering buying an inverter that can plug in to the cigarette lighter and also has 2 gator clamps to hook directly to the battery. I see Target sells one made by duracell. Claims to be 400W. I would like to use my 300W rice cooker and coffee machine (not at the same time of course)

Does anyone have experience with one these inverters? Seems to be a much easier and cheaper solution for the occasional boondocking.

Cheers
DQ

[n2916s]

Plug in inverters generally provide a chopped 120v waveform which will work fine for a coffee maker or rice cooker but, generally speaking, to get 400 watts, you are pulling over 30 amps of 12vdc through the little cigarette lighter style socket.

The socket may, but probably won't provide that power.

My rice cooker takes 20 to 30 minutes so you will be pulling somewhere between 15 to 25 amps out of your battery.

Just keep those things in mind.

Me, I have my Honda generator for things like that.

Mike

[idroba]

As pointed out above, the load on a cigarette lighter type outlet will be too high with a 300 watt 120 volt load through the inverter.

The coffee maker will take far more than 300 watts, if it is typical, and will not run at all on that kind of inverter setup.

A hard wired inverter is what you need, and I don't recommend using a 120 volt coffee maker in any event.

[Rich W]

I have a Cobra 400 watt plug in/battery cable version. It barely runs the laptop with the car engine running. If we turn off the engine it will go maybe 5 minutes then the low battery alarm triggers and the inverter shuts down. Our coffee pot is 1,025 watts, too much for even our AS inverter.

When we're not on shore power we have a 10 cup percolator pot we use on the gas stove. We have a 600 watt inverter in the AS but pretty much just use it for the televisions and media player so we can watch movies. There's enough drain on the batteries as it is so we try to be as thrifty with power as we can.

Look on the bottom of your rice cooker and check the wattage. Our Oster is 500 watts. If yours is 300 it must be pretty small. In any event, I think you should consider a professional installation of a 600 watt or more inverter and a percolator for coffee.

[lewster]

Speaking of inverters, I have a new (2 week old) Magnum MMS-1012 1000 watt sine wave inverter/charger that I just removed from a new Interstate.

PM me if interested. Great price!!!


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
ABYC Certified Master Marine Electrician
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center*AMS Lithium Batteries
Lifeline AGM Batteries**Magnum Inverters
541-490-6357

[Lumatic]

The cigarette light spoken of in the original post is probably not a cigarette lighter but a12v outlet. If so, using it as a cigarette lighter could overheat the trailer wiring and blow the circuit breaker or fuse as will drawing anything over 20 amps, 15 would be safer.

[Foiled Again]

You mentioned "occasional boondocking" Which sounds like a whole different set of questions. If all you need is to keep your cell phone working and maybe a laptop... well you can plug those directly into your cigarette lighter or use a the type of inverter you describe.

I got the factory inverter in my new-to-me 2012 Eddie Bauer. I've used it 3-4 times in 3 years. It only lights up 2 or 3 outlets, and I've only needed it during power outages or when being out in the woods - and then only to charge my cell phone and Kindle.

I simply don't understand why anyone with a trailer would want to use 12 volt appliances. Interstate owners, different situation - Protagonist can arrive at a campground with a cooked meal - using a 12 volt crock pot.

I've got propane burners on my stove top and I've got a volcano cooker which will use propane, charcoal or wood. If I'm without electricity - I can use something else. Need coffee and all you've got is a Mr. Coffee with a paper filter system? Put the filter in the basket, put that over the top of a mug, then heat water in a pan or teakettle and pour it over. Do 2 to 4 mugs at a time. Use the stupid little pods - pour one into a clean sock and dip it into boiling water (well use a paper towel if you're that fussy).

[GoWhereTowed]

Stanley makes a great french coffee press in a small thermos, just pour hot water over the grounds, let sit a minute or two and then insert french press. Makes great coffee.

[Rich W]

[QUOTE=Foiled Again;1769156]

Need coffee and all you've got is a Mr. Coffee with a paper filter system? Put the filter in the basket, put that over the top of a mug, then heat water in a pan or teakettle and pour it over. Do 2 to 4 mugs at a time. QUOTE]

I've removed the filter holder from a Braun and also a Cuisinart, set it on top of the carafe with the filter and coffee, then poured boiling water slowly into it. Makes an entire pot, then you carefully set the pot on a back burner with the heat on low. Using a small 10 cup percolator is better, but then you have to store that somewhere too.

Then there's cowboy coffee, boil the water in a pot, throw in the right amount of grounds and just let it boil for a while. Reduce to just heating, let the grounds settle for a while, then pour. It's a little crunchy, but good.

[Foiled Again]

I used to have a French Press but the plunger thingy broke and then I just went to a pour over for one cup...

http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-64008-...ot_top?ie=UTF8

I think it's fine but there were a few negativ reviews. If you want really strong coffee or coffee so hot it'll burn your tongue there are several different products that submerge the grounds IN the cup. I'm not a fan of gritty coffee myself so I like the paper filters. And I got a 2 for 1 special so some day at a rally I'll give one away. Very minimal storage space and weight certainly isn't a problem with this.

Paula

[Foiled Again]

http://www.amazon.com/Diguo-Quality-...8J5P3F32J8B2C8

Amazon is both a blessing and a curse. There are some really weird and pretentious ways to make coffee out there. Even for a "snobby" Airstreamer this is ridiculous! And my mother had a vacuum pot but it sat on a stove burner. HOLY CRAP.