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Can I leave my inverter on all the time


Porcupine

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Hi there - I am thinking of using my 240 router on my inverter all the time. Some people say this is ok, some say it’ll drain my batteries. Are inverters very efficient now so leaving it on is fine? Or is that very wasteful? Thanks, Matt. 

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It's wasteful.  But whether or not you can afford the waste is up to you.  How much power do the inverter and router take?  How are you going to replace that energy (plus upwards of 20% depending on the batteries)?  Would this drain in addition to your other usage come close to a tipping point where you're not able to replace the energy or recognise that you've reached that point?

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I reckon between 2 and 3 days before you wouldn't have enough power to operate say a small microwave, small low wattage TV etc. Your lights will be the last things to go, but your batteries will quickly get to a point whereby you need to charge them for longer than the usage rate via your inverter

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4 minutes ago, Porcupine said:

Thanks. It is an 1800 ProPower Q? 

 

The manual says it uses 0.6A in standby mode which x 24 is 14.4 Amp hours (Ah) per day.  That's about a third of the useable electric in one brand new 110Ah battery.

 

Most liveaboards reckon to use between 80 and 100 Ah for everything onboard.

 

Just now, magnetman said:

Just run the engine all night. That will sort out any problems with power consumption and is perfectly normal. 

 

Behave, you!

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I leave my Victron on 24/7 but it only draws 0.2amps in power save mode as it powers the fridge, a router or charger is not enough load to bring it out of power save hence thev12v and 5v supplies. ;)

 

Edited by Loddon
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Get a big diesel generator. Leave everything on all day and run the generator all night as far away from your boat as possible. By earplugs so you can sleep  and a machete to frighten off the complaining neighbours.

 

Give me one good reason why you need the internet all night when you are asleep. Why can't you turn it on, on demand?

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51 minutes ago, Porcupine said:

Hi there - I am thinking of using my 240 router on my inverter all the time. Some people say this is ok, some say it’ll drain my batteries. Are inverters very efficient now so leaving it on is fine? Or is that very wasteful? Thanks, Matt. 

 

If it genuinely only uses 0.6A acquiescent current, this is only about 15Ah per day, which is not very much. It obviously depends on the size of your battery bank, and your charging regime, but I would not be concerned about using 15Ah per day.

 

However, if it is merely to run a router, it does seem wasteful, and I would be looking for a way to run the router directly from the 12V system.

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I've got a small Victron invertor for my phone and router, and yes it's on 24/7,  I mean to check if it is one eco mode, one day.

The fridge, microwave, hair dryer and tumble dryer won't work unless I run the boat full blast up and down the moorings on a sunny Sunday, when I note the folks shout words of encouragement as they grasp their lager tops in one hand, and stop their nibbles falling in to the oggi with the other. Such is life on the inland waterways. 

  • Greenie 1
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5 minutes ago, Porcupine said:

Hi, I think so. I can buy a 3 pin 12 volt plug. But wouldn’t this still require my inverter?

 

 

What are we talking about here. Is this a wall wart that plugs in to a mains socket that produces 12V? If so, then yes, this still needs an inverter, but that is what you probably have on the router anyway.

Is it a plug that plugs in to a 12V socket? This needs to be a different design than a mains socket for obvious reasons, though there is no standard 12V socket. Several types are used, wired in a number of different ways. If so, then no inverter needed, but a 12V voltage stabiliser will be to prevent damage to the router from voltage spikes.

Jen

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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7 minutes ago, Porcupine said:

Hi, I think so. I can buy a 3 pin 12 volt plug. But wouldn’t this still require my inverter?

 

 

 

If it's got three pins then its almost certainly a mains plug with a 12V power supply built into it. A 12V "plug" would probably be a car cigarette lighter plug, also with sone kind of stabiliser built n.

 

I have no idea why you need a router powered up 24/7 unless you are on the internet 24/7 which is unlikely.

 

If you want to power the router directly at 12V DC from the boat batteries and if the router has a 12V input then you can do that but to be sure high charging voltages and voltage spikes do not damage it you would be best advised to make up a lead with a stabiliser in it.

 

I think all this has already been explained to you.

 

Edited to add: running it from 12v 24/7 will almost certainly discharge your batteries unnecessarily. On boats electricity from batteries is like gold dust and needs conserving if you can. It's easy to fit sufficient batteries to provide that electricity (for a while) but the more you use the more and more difficult it is to put it back in - recharge them unless you are happy to run your engine or a generator for long periods at least during the winter and also in summer unless you have fitted sufficient solar charging.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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We only have two 'house' batteries so if I am recharging anything - phone for instance - we recharge the lot,  laptop, cordless tools, kindle thingy, anything else that has a battery, this can easily coincide with running the engine for a tank of hot water and a bit of charge in the boat batteries. The clever people on here who understand electricity might suggest a way of running the router on a cordless drill battery.  I don't know what a really cheap inverter costs but the really basic ones were about £30 the last time I bought one and a couple of crocodile clips and a dedicated small car battery might work too.

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13 hours ago, Porcupine said:

Hi there - I am thinking of using my 240 router on my inverter all the time. Some people say this is ok, some say it’ll drain my batteries. Are inverters very efficient now so leaving it on is fine? Or is that very wasteful? Thanks, Matt. 

 

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