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L110CDL



Member Since: 31 Oct 2015
Location: Devon
Posts: 10728

England 
Inverter
Hi all

I hope this is in the right thread. I have looked through the search threads and i can't find an up to date outcome, so . . .

I'm looking at getting an inverter to power my cordless battery chargers as my store electric supply has been turned off for a while, as there is going to be some " long term " work being done Rolling Eyes

I'm looking at a 500w - 1000w inverter but the problem is picking the right one, so is there any to avoid and what would be the ones to go for ?

TIA. 1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up.

Keeper.

Clayton.


Last edited by L110CDL on 4th Apr 2024 9:21pm. Edited 1 time in total
Post #1030542 4th Apr 2024 8:29pm
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Dinnu



Member Since: 24 Dec 2019
Location: Lija
Posts: 3396

Malta 2012 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 CSW Santorini Black
Hi Clayton, I hope you are saying 500W - 1000W, or 0.5kW - 1kW Smile

Ideally spend the money on a pure sine wave one... but I had a quasi sine wave, and did the job well. I used to run a laptop power supply on it, and never had a problem. Quasi sine wave are a fraction of the price of a pure sine wave.

What is good to check is the 'continuous' power. Most will state the peak power which will be close to double the continuous power that they can handle. 1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black
Post #1030555 4th Apr 2024 9:13pm
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L110CDL



Member Since: 31 Oct 2015
Location: Devon
Posts: 10728

England 
Thank you for the reply, the letters have been sorted Rolling Eyes

I have looked at the continuous power and 500w is ok but the 1000w would be a safer way to go Very Happy 1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up.

Keeper.

Clayton.
Post #1030560 4th Apr 2024 9:25pm
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Dinnu



Member Since: 24 Dec 2019
Location: Lija
Posts: 3396

Malta 2012 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 CSW Santorini Black
Btw, assuming you are powering everything off a 12V battery, just keep in mind that at 1000W (assuming 100% efficiency - which is never), you will be drawing over 80A from the battery. 1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black
Post #1030565 4th Apr 2024 9:48pm
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MarkBrown



Member Since: 03 Oct 2022
Location: Mid Wales
Posts: 442

Wales 1983 Defender 110 Other HT Auto Keswick Green
Hello Clayton this is what I use for 18v batteries, been in two years, off eBay. It’s run off a second battery.


Click image to enlarge
Post #1030603 5th Apr 2024 9:27am
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TexasRover



Member Since: 24 Nov 2022
Location: Paris
Posts: 1005

France 2002 Defender 110 Td5 DCPU Chawton White
Don't want to make this overly complicated for you, but managing your car's battery is probably more important. Apart from potentially getting stranded you could shorten the life of your battery, since really the starter battery in your car is not designed to be drawn down.

Ideally you either charge while driving or you have another dedicated battery you either charge at home or somehow connect to the car's charging system (various solution for that).

For this application (relatively low amps) you want a use a leisure battery or deep cycle battery where you can use most of the available capacity.
Post #1030606 5th Apr 2024 10:04am
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MarkBrown



Member Since: 03 Oct 2022
Location: Mid Wales
Posts: 442

Wales 1983 Defender 110 Other HT Auto Keswick Green
My main battery is connected to the second battery via a voltage sensitive relay, this ensures that I can’t run flat the starter battery whilst using power from the second battery. Hope this helps.
Post #1030612 5th Apr 2024 10:52am
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custom90



Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20265

United Kingdom 
Durite do some nice ones, pure sine wave are the best quality but more expensive.
For your purposes modified sine wave would be okay, which is more basic.

Only some items are best powered only by pure sine wave inverters.

A soar panel and MPPT controller maybe helpful, but is more complex to deal with and set up.
(With a separate battery).

As always fusing close to the power source is most impacting for safety sake, but other than that you are good to go.
Best to stick to continuous use wattage or current draw figures to be safe, peak figures are usually only intermittent and heat and excess load is not a good idea.

I’d imagine most 18v battery chargers pull about 300w max at 240v, most are quite efficient chargers.

For simplicity perhaps something like this might work:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166198612170?ch...gJVfvD_BwE
But depends on the time behind the wheel and how long it takes, so long as battery voltage doesn’t drop too low you’ll be okay.
Post #1030660 5th Apr 2024 2:35pm
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L110CDL



Member Since: 31 Oct 2015
Location: Devon
Posts: 10728

England 
Thank you for all your reply's Very Happy

I was hoping that i would not have to go the way with a second battery. I was hoping that running the engine on tick over while charging the battery's would be enough to keep the battery charged enough not to run it down so i would not be able to start her, would this be ok or i do need another battery ?

TIA 1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up.

Keeper.

Clayton.
Post #1030993 8th Apr 2024 8:03pm
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custom90



Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20265

United Kingdom 
Yes, you can do that, but would have to be off the highway.

Do you know what your Alternator produces? At idle the current produced is usually a bit lower than specified Amperage but should be fine for what you want for sure.
Thumbs Up
Post #1031016 8th Apr 2024 9:53pm
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db950



Member Since: 01 Feb 2012
Location: Lincoln
Posts: 560

United Kingdom 1997 Defender 110 300 Tdi HT Nato Green
No need to over complicate things if not necessary!
We have a 300w pure sine wave Bestek from Amazon in 6 of our work vans solely for charging our dewalt batteries.
We don’t run the fast charger on them just the standard one. It only runs off the standard van battery and I don’t have the van running when in use on site. I’ll often leave it switched on overnight after forgetting to turn it off and it’s never drained the battery enough to not start the van.


Click image to enlarge



Click image to enlarge
 1997 Ex-MOD 110, Pop Top Camper, build thread https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic72352.html
2014 Discovery 4 SE Tech
Instagram @the110camper
Post #1031046 9th Apr 2024 8:33am
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17310

United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
If you do go down the route of leaving the engine running to keep the vehicle battery charged then I suggest also fitting a run-lock system so that you can remove the keys and lock the vehicle, they are not particularly expensive.

Contrary to popular belief it is legal to leave a vehicle engine running indefinitely when stationary if it is necessary to power systems on the vehicle (electrical or hydraulic), although the vehicle should not be unattended if so left (that doesn't mean that you have to be in the vehicle, but you have to be in the vicinity of the vehicle). This is how the emergency services are able to do this - many police vehicles are left running to power the communications and datalogging systems (which in turn led to the notorious problem of BMW engine failures killing police officers, the failures being attributed to lubrication problems arising from long periods of running at idle). It is however unlikely that charging power tool batteries for use away from the vehicle would be considered a necessary purpose since the batteries are not part of the vehicle or its immediate systems.

You might for this application be better off investing in a stand-alone petrol, diesel, or LPG generator, or simply investing in more tool batteries and charging them overnight at home.
Post #1031047 9th Apr 2024 8:34am
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Dinnu



Member Since: 24 Dec 2019
Location: Lija
Posts: 3396

Malta 2012 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 CSW Santorini Black
Or park downhill so you can bump start it Rolling with laughter
The battery will not thank you, but you get to sleep at home.

I think some inverters even have a low battery cut off. 1988 90 Hard Top, 19J Diesel Turbo, Shire Blue - Restoration ongoing
2012 90 CSW, 2.2TDCI, Santorini Black
Post #1031050 9th Apr 2024 9:14am
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db950



Member Since: 01 Feb 2012
Location: Lincoln
Posts: 560

United Kingdom 1997 Defender 110 300 Tdi HT Nato Green
We do also have a full system on board comprising; run lock system, 12 to 24v split charge with 2 on board batteries, 24v to 110v 3000w inverter (24v to work on commercial vehicles/trailers and run a 24v suit case mig welder) so least I can self jump start if needed Thumbs Up
But the little set up for battery charging works fine, unless of course you are needing to run multiple chargers all day then a second battery will be needed. 1997 Ex-MOD 110, Pop Top Camper, build thread https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic72352.html
2014 Discovery 4 SE Tech
Instagram @the110camper
Post #1031051 9th Apr 2024 9:34am
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L110CDL



Member Since: 31 Oct 2015
Location: Devon
Posts: 10728

England 
Thank you all for your replys Thumbs Up

@ custom90 off the highway and i think it's just the standard alternator that came with her Thumbs Up

@ db950 thanks for the pics as well Thumbs Up

@ blackwolf our store is in a old farm yard and Millie would be running just outside our store, this is private land and only the farmers come into the yard Very Happy

@ Dinnu Laughing i will look into the low battery cut off Thumbs Up 1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up.

Keeper.

Clayton.
Post #1031220 10th Apr 2024 8:38pm
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