From Harbor Freight.....200, 400 and 750watts for 20, 30 and 40 dollars.
John
John, I did some research and found that most problems with the inverters seemed to stem from insufficient capacity. The low power units seemed to draw nearly as much idle current and none of them had a search function, so I would probably go for the highest capacity.
Good luck.
Tom Caffrey
Tom,
You are right. I used these things for special applications and I never leave them "on line" and idle. I paid $90 for that 140 watt item I bought back in the day and I know for a fact it does not have a surge capacity of 100%. I am not pushing them and they are what they are. I should have raised the reservations you did at the outset but for what they are they are cheap if they work even. Right?
Thanks for the post. Everybody considering one need you advice. I still take notes when you talk Tom. Hi to the family.
John
Many are starting to use them for "point of use" applications, to run a tv or a specific item for a limited period of time and for that I think they would work great if a person got the right one, I used to have a 750 watt one that I plugged into my truck for running a drill or circular saw at times in areas that had no power, but since the advent and improvements on battery tools I put it to the side and just carry a couple of extra charged batteries, also your starting to see more and more of the small 1000 watt honda gemnerators chugging away behind a stump in the remote areas while the little ones are planted in front of a tv set at night lol, we used to have a campfire with only one channel on it, I'm old lol.
I have a 800 Peak (400 RMS) from Schucks Auto that I purchased several years ago for 35 bucks and have it hardwired in my toad just for the laptop. It works great for this purpose when I go in search of WiFi hotspots. I can run it all day without effecting the start battery in the toad. I turn it off when I'm not using it, so I have no idea what idle draw is on it, FWIW, Will
PP, it's a lot like leaving a dome light on in your car.
Tom Caffrey