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Inverter

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I’m after some guidance on a suitable inverter for my work van.

I’ve set up a charging station in the back with 2 twin 18v Makita battery chargers (4 batteries in total) and one 7.2v Paslode charger.

When I come home at night the van goes in the garage. I plug the 4 gang extension lead into the mains and I start the next day with 5 fully charged batteries.

I’m wondering if there’s an inverter available that can plug into the 12v outlet so I can basically charge as I drive. When I get to each job and turn ignition off the inverter wouldn’t drain the battery because the 12v power outlet goes off.

I know nothing of auto electrics so I’m somewhat in the dark (pun intended) about what will work.
TIA.

Ant.
 
You need to find out what the total watts are drawn by the charging stations then double that figure for the initial draw.

So if the total watts is 300 then get a 600w inverter preferably with soft start.
 
I had one of these in the 90s to charge my laptop on the go, they used to melt.

I'm sure that the modern ones are better.
 
The simple way is to pick up from the ciggy lighter socket.
The front dash socket will be live with ignition on, any rear sockets are often live continually.
The issue you may have is 14 volts x 15 amps only provides 210 watts of power. You should aim for an invertor of at least twice that to maintain the output voltage, although better chargers can compensate for a lower 'mains' voltage.

Your alternative is to pick up the feed from the battery below the passenger seat, and run heavy a duty cable to where ever (you only need consider the +ve). To have that switching auto is a bit more involved, but you could install a manual switch.
 
You’ll struggle with the inrush current at 600w from the fag lighter - thats 50 amps.
Even running at 300w is 25 amps and that’s not accounting for losses/inefficiency.
As has been said, I’d take the feed (fused) straight from the battery and use the 600w inverter. Make sure you use cable that is rated at a continuous 30 amps minimum.
if you can find/create a good earth point at the inverter, you won’t need to run an earth cable back to the battery, and the overall voltage drop to power the inverter will be less.
 
You’ll struggle with the inrush current at 600w from the fag lighter - thats 50 amps.
Even running at 300w is 25 amps and that’s not accounting for losses/inefficiency.
As has been said, I’d take the feed (fused) straight from the battery and use the 600w inverter. Make sure you use cable that is rated at a continuous 30 amps minimum.
if you can find/create a good earth point at the inverter, you won’t need to run an earth cable back to the battery, and the overall voltage drop to power the inverter will be less.
 
Some electronics do not like modified sine wave. Check that your chargers will be ok. Pure sine wave are a bit more expensive but IMO a better buy. I'd be surprised if you could charge the packs on a short drive (how long do they take to charge from mains) . The other thing to look out for is if your power socket in the car can handle the current that the inverter pulls I hade one in my offroad vehicle and it was wired directly to my auxillary battery.
 
Is this being looked at from the wrong side? You are charging DC batteries so why not charge from the DC supply in the van? You will need a transformer to lift the voltage to 18v or whatever your batteries need so no need for a dc to ac inverter.
 
I’m after some guidance on a suitable inverter for my work van.

I’ve set up a charging station in the back with 2 twin 18v Makita battery chargers (4 batteries in total) and one 7.2v Paslode charger.

When I come home at night the van goes in the garage. I plug the 4 gang extension lead into the mains and I start the next day with 5 fully charged batteries.

I’m wondering if there’s an inverter available that can plug into the 12v outlet so I can basically charge as I drive. When I get to each job and turn ignition off the inverter wouldn’t drain the battery because the 12v power outlet goes off.

I know nothing of auto electrics so I’m somewhat in the dark (pun intended) about what will work.
TIA.

Ant.

Makita make DC chargers that plug straight into a 12V socket - that's probably going to be the easiest option.

As already mentioned fast charging 5 batteries simultaneously via an inverter and 240V chargers would need dedicated wiring due to the amount of current involved.
 
Is this being looked at from the wrong side? You are charging DC batteries so why not charge from the DC supply in the van?

Because charging batteries (presumably Li Ion here) isn't just a question of applying DC voltage to them. The charger will vary the voltage & current depending on the state of charge.

As mentioned though you can get car chargers that will do this safely from a 12-18V supply.
 
You can't use a transformer on DC, it's a job for electronics so becomes a specific charger from the manufacturer. I looked into this for the boat and concluded an invertor was the cheaper way to go as I already have mains charger's'. The invertor can be multipurpose.
The heaviest load for me would be one 18v Ryobi battery so not the same concern.

As a thought what possibility of the op working out the AC load of 1 charger and seeing how many could charge from a 200 watt invertor.
There would need to be a swapping over of batteries during the day and some calculation of how it would run down the vans battery is intelligent. But taking the Ryobi as an example charging 4 Ahr batteries from the vans 100 Ahr battery would mean 10 full charges should leave the vans battery still with 60% capacity.
Monitoring the vans battery voltage isn't difficult.
 
There would need to be a swapping over of batteries during the day and some calculation of how it would run down the vans battery is intelligent. But taking the Ryobi as an example charging 4 Ahr batteries from the vans 100 Ahr battery would mean 10 full charges should leave the vans battery still with 60% capacity.

Not quite - you need to work in watt/hours as the voltages are different. A 4Ah 18V battery is 72 Wh, so 10 charges would need 720 Wh (actually a bit more, due to charging losses ...). 720 Wh from a 12V battery is 60 Ah (again not really as a '12V' battery isn't 12V ...), so you'd actually have 40% left, rather than 60%.
 
Thanks for all the replies folks. My mind is well and truly blown. I was indeed right to be wary. I think I'll keep is just as it is and charge in the garage from the house mains. Silly idea anyway. :doh:

:)
 
Not quite - you need to work in watt/hours as the voltages are different. A 4Ah 18V battery is 72 Wh, so 10 charges would need 720 Wh (actually a bit more, due to charging losses ...). 720 Wh from a 12V battery is 60 Ah (again not really as a '12V' battery isn't 12V ...), so you'd actually have 40% left, rather than 60%.
And car batteries do not like a "deep discharge" although AGM batteries handle deep discharge better than flooded lead plate.
 
Thanks for all the replies folks. My mind is well and truly blown. I was indeed right to be wary. I think I'll keep is just as it is and charge in the garage from the house mains. Silly idea anyway. :doh:

:)

Not really a silly idea. I did years of bush camping and needed a 220v supply for different items including cameras, laptops etc (and my Nespresso machine ;-) ) . You just need the right gear and to have it properly wired.
 
Yeah. I no doubt can be done but given it’s well out of my comfort zone and the fact it’s in the garage every evening (where mains power is on tap) the inverter is not essential. It was just a thought.

If it was a case or ordering an inverter that ticks all boxes I’d probably go for it.

I think I’ll concentrate on installing some super bright LED interior lighting instead.
 
Hey Ant

Having an inverter in the van is the best thing since sliced bread. This is my set up

The red and white inverter you see is what I run the extension leads from, yes I ignore what it says on the large sticker :devil:

The white extension lead you can see with x4 plugs (soon to be a x6 plug to charge more stuff) is tucked behind the storage racking and always has things plugged in and charging. When I’m working from the desk, I shall unplug that white extension lead from the black extension pack you see taped to the desk, and just use that black one to power things

I power all sorts from multiple drill type chargers, kettles, microwaves, television and even an Xbox.

For when you want to use someone else’s power, there’s also a consumer unit fitted and I have a long extension lead which goes from the inverter to a yellow transformer box... this then powers the larger lighting, and all the white plug sockets you see attached to the bulkhead :thumb:

The only time I did have a funny experience, was at the RC track when I ran an air compressor off the converter (engine off) and the compressor started smoking. Have had no problems since, and powered much more powerful devices than the compressor with no issues

When the engine is off, power is drawn from a secondary battery beneath my seat (Transit Custom) when the engine is on/driving, this secondary battery is charged

This particular battery below my seat, as Ford have pointed out, is particularly dodgy and has left me in the lurch a number of times where I’ve used the inverter most of the day and have needed to jump the van to go home... completely my own fault. New battery since and all is well

Happy to email or WhatsApp further info tomorrow if needed. Just nipped out to take these for you and got utterly drenched :D

- This is the inverter Sterling 'Pro Power Q' Quasi Sine Wave Inverter - 12V 800W

F7752977-34A8-4B31-81A2-3C90E074FF1D.jpeg E7E33A31-9C53-413D-B2BE-0AA05DBA7ED1.jpeg 87A9DE53-5A99-401E-B610-1DA0BFE330D9.jpeg 04515965-D571-4854-87AC-CF10EFD8700E.jpeg B16A09C0-0847-4D41-B9C4-D731AFBCA49F.jpeg 909716D3-D735-48F3-860B-6EF61A97615B.jpeg
 
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Cheers for that Ash. Give me a phone/text sometime tomorrow when you have a mo. :thumb:
 

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