inverters? what do they do? and are they necessary.

[tjderby]

I've got a mooring for my new boat but it doesn't come with power. Would an inverter be of benefit to me. The only thing that I need 240v for is my tv and games console. I'm getting a generator for it to.

[Nightwatch]

I've got a mooring for my new boat but it doesn't come with power. Would an inverter be of benefit to me. The only thing that I need 240v for is my tv and games console. I'm getting a generator for it to.

A generator is fine but has restricted hours of operation.

An inverter converts 12v from the boats batteries to 240v. You will need the correct wiring and fuses and sockets if not already there.

 

You could get a 12v telly.

[OldGoat]

Not if you want to run the genny all the time that you watch tv or play games but that would:-

• Annoy the neighbours between 20:00 and 08:00
• Be quite expensive as the genny would not be running efficiently

SO the sensible thing to do would be to use the genny to charge the batteries (somehow) during social hours

AND use the inverter to run the equipment in the evenings.

But then you'd need a battery charger as well......

 

 

[Chalky]

Also an inverter is not 100% efficient - some of the power that you put in will be lost as heat and in other parts of the electronics. The voltage and the shape of the voltage won't necessarily be the same as the mains. The mains is nominally 230 to 240 V - an inverter could be less (and probably is for a cheap one). The mains waveform is a sine wave, cheap inverters can look more like a square wave. This can effect different things in different ways - some televisions don't like it at all.

[blackrose]

But then you'd need a battery charger as well......

 

 

 

As well as a method of monitoring your batteries so you know when to charge and stop charging.

[tjderby]

Lol seams so complicated lol especially for a newbee. And as for operating hours for generators. I have it from the marina manager that as long as it'd not an old dorsal lump and I'm not moored near the residential park homes then there isn't a cut off time. Obviously I wouldn't run it after 2300hrs. I might just buy a laptop instead to watch all my DVDs and stuff.

[Southern Star]

A TV or laptop etc would run from a very small inverter, say 300w, which would be about £30 from Maplin and would either plug into a cigarette lighter socket if you have one, or could be crocodile clipped to a 12v battery.

 

Only connect it to a power source when you are using it as they drain power even when not being used to power an appliance.

 

I imagine it would cost little more to use the boat's engine to keep the batteries recharged than it would to use a petrol generator, as well as being safer.

[Guest]

Lol seams so complicated lol especially for a newbee. And as for operating hours for generators. I have it from the marina manager that as long as it'd not an old dorsal lump and I'm not moored near the residential park homes then there isn't a cut off time. Obviously I wouldn't run it after 2300hrs. I might just buy a laptop instead to watch all my DVDs and stuff.

Any generator on a quiet evening will make a noise likely to annoy adjacent boaters, I'm not sure why the manager at Beeston would be only be concerned about the residential park. Seems grossly unfair to me.

 

He may be right but I wasn't aware he was able to exempt boaters from CRT's 8 to 8 only requirements.

 

Certainly not a marina I would interested in mooring at though.

Edited January 15, 2014 by The Dog House

[blackrose]

Lol seams so complicated lol especially for a newbee.

 

Marine electrics is the most complicated thing on a boat. You should watch your batteries though - if you run them down much below about 50% capacity (12.2v with no load) you start to damage them.

Edited January 15, 2014 by blackrose

[cereal tiller]

Lol seams so complicated lol especially for a newbee. And as for operating hours for generators. I have it from the marina manager that as long as it'd not an old dorsal lump and I'm not moored near the residential park homes then there isn't a cut off time. Obviously I wouldn't run it after 2300hrs. I might just buy a laptop instead to watch all my DVDs and stuff.

What is "an old Dorsal lump"is it a machine that is running on ParafFIN ?

[Ange]

For those that don't know the area Beeston Marina is on the River Trent which I don't believe is governed by CRT and consists of one long pontoon running along the side of the river. The boats that moor there are mostly unoccupied.

[Guest]

For those that don't know the area Beeston Marina is on the River Trent which I don't believe is governed by CRT and consists of one long pontoon running along the side of the river. The boats that moor there are mostly unoccupied.

Mostly Unoccupied just mostly?

 

I do know the area having passed through it a couple of times though no not like you ever actually over wintered there.

 

(We once nearly came to grief on the wier opposite)

 

I still wouldn't want to moor at a marina that allows generators to be run till 23.00

[bassplayer]

If you run the engine often to charge your batteries up for other things like your lights, water pump, etc, then an inverter is the best bet.

 

It's all about power consumption. A modern flat screen TV and games console shouldn't draw much more than 100 watts together. Even a 150 watt inverter may work. Each appliance should have a label on it saying how much power (watts) is drawn. You can add the figures up to work out the wattage rating you need for the inverter.

 

Inverters are pretty efficient these days (around 90%).

[cereal tiller]

If you run the engine often to charge your batteries up for other things like your lights, water pump, etc, then an inverter is the best bet.

 

It's all about power consumption. A modern flat screen TV and games console shouldn't draw much more than 100 watts together. Even a 150 watt inverter may work. Each appliance should have a label on it saying how much power (watts) is drawn. You can add the figures up to work out the wattage rating you need for the inverter.

 

Inverters are pretty efficient these days (around 90%).

My son's x box 360 draws 15 amps at 12 volt,not sure about other consoles.

[nebulae]

We use our 3kw Sterling inverter to run the washing machine and the microwave.The inverter will not run the washing machine without the engine running .Nice to have but a lot of money to save going to the launderet. Definately get a 12volt tele. A large alternator on your engine will charge your batteries .A separate generator is bulky to store,expensive to buy,a target for thieves and is probably powered by petrol .A diesel genny is better than petrol but much more expensive.to buy.A small cheap inverter to charge laptop and mobiles sounds a better idea.

[Alan de Enfield]

A TV or laptop etc would run from a very small inverter, say 300w, which would be about £30 from Maplin and would either plug into a cigarette lighter socket if you have one.......

 

Thats a bit risky - a 300w inverter if being used to power 300 watts of equipment will draw 30 amps, a cigarette lighter socket is rated at 10 amps, molten socket and molten cable WILL result.

 

My background is 'electrical' so I should know better - I tried running a 12v fridge (185 watts) thru' a 300 watt inverter plugged into a cigarette lighter socket, the fridge worked fine so I went to unplug the fridge and unplug the inverter to find a solid mass of melted socket, plug and cables, inline (blade, car type) fuse had just melted but still maintained electrical integrity.

 

DONT DO IT

[Southern Star]

. Even a 150 watt inverter may work.

It almost certainly would, but when I was shopping for a low-power inverter, 300w inverters were actually cheaper than 150w inverters, presumably because they are produced in greater numbers.

[bassplayer]

My son's x box 360 draws 15 amps at 12 volt,not sure about other consoles.

Older TV's and games consoles are less efficient. Add the numbers up to work out what rating the inverter needs to be.

 

Thats a bit risky - a 300w inverter if being used to power 300 watts of equipment will draw 30 amps, a cigarette lighter socket is rated at 10 amps, molten socket and molten cable WILL result.

 

My background is 'electrical' so I should know better - I tried running a 12v fridge (185 watts) thru' a 300 watt inverter plugged into a cigarette lighter socket, the fridge worked fine so I went to unplug the fridge and unplug the inverter to find a solid mass of melted socket, plug and cables, inline (blade, car type) fuse had just melted but still maintained electrical integrity.

 

DONT DO IT

That is a good point you have raised. The 12v wiring does need to be rated high enough to handle the current drawn.

[Phil Ambrose]

You need a reasonable size battery bank to run your inverter from at least 4 x 110a/h some people manage with less BUT whatever you do pay the extra and get a pure sinewave model as many many things today will not run correctly from semi or quasi sinewave models. A lot of people use a genny to power a charger to charge batteries and then use the inverter powered by the batteries. The reason is battery chargers are not too fussy about waveform, if you do get a charger,get a proper 4 or 5 stage such as Electroquest

Phil

[OldGoat]

I don't know whether TJD is a troll or just unaware of real life without bricks, mortar, or services (no disrespec', mean, man)

 

• To run 'leccy equipment you need a supply of 'leccy.
• Beeston's not got any.
• So you have to make it.
• Fine -
• Got a genny,
• great,
• Genny probably generates 'leccy at socket-in-house levels. OK run pooter etc from that -
• ah, but folks (will complain) about noise of genny.,.
• SO plan B -
• Run genny in social hours to charge (at present undisclosed batteries).
• Great
• Except TJ needs some form of battery charger to charge batteries.
• Ah!
• Not over yet -
• to run 'pooter quietly needs an inverter. (taking its power from the battery bank)

 

Thus to answer the question an inverter converts battery power to mains electricity type power.

As an extension of that he needs some other equipment to make everything come together

 

Being helpful and generally nice folks on here we've (including me have jumped in to discuss all the pros and cons, thus confusing the hell out of everybody - including TJ

 

If I remember when TJ started his quest a lot of folks said a lot of things and some of them are coming home to roost.

 

Perhaps the next step is to put all that information into some order and decide what can and cannot be done on a limited budget. Perhaps going to sleep early might be a short term objective.

 

 

[Chop!]

I've got a mooring for my new boat but it doesn't come with power. Would an inverter be of benefit to me. The only thing that I need 240v for is my tv and games console. I'm getting a generator for it to.

Hi tjderby

 

Welcome to the forum, have you considered the eco-friendly route? Solar panels have increased in efficiency, and come down in price, and you won't pee anyone off with your generator

[bassplayer]

I don't know whether TJD is a troll or just unaware of real life without bricks, mortar, or services (no disrespec', mean, man)

 

• To run 'leccy equipment you need a supply of 'leccy.
• Beeston's not got any.
• So you have to make it.
• Fine -
• Got a genny,
• great,
• Genny probably generates 'leccy at socket-in-house levels. OK run pooter etc from that -
• ah, but folks (will complain) about noise of genny.,.
• SO plan B -
• Run genny in social hours to charge (at present undisclosed batteries).
• Great
• Except TJ needs some form of battery charger to charge batteries.
• Ah!
• Not over yet -
• to run 'pooter quietly needs an inverter. (taking its power from the battery bank)

Thus to answer the question an inverter converts battery power to mains electricity type power.

As an extension of that he needs some other equipment to make everything come together

 

Being helpful and generally nice folks on here we've (including me have jumped in to discuss all the pros and cons, thus confusing the hell out of everybody - including TJ

 

If I remember when TJ started his quest a lot of folks said a lot of things and some of them are coming home to roost.

 

Perhaps the next step is to put all that information into some order and decide what can and cannot be done on a limited budget. Perhaps going to sleep early might be a short term objective.

 

Yeah but...it is quite complicated.

 

You have to work out the power demand to work out what size generator or inverter you need. You also need to be sure the wiring can handle the demand.

 

If you get a generator you need to be aware if the cost if running it. If you get an inverter you need to be aware of how quickly your battery will drain.

Edited January 15, 2014 by bassplayer

[tjderby]

I have an led tv and an Xbox 360 so its pretty modern. I go to bed around midnight (after family guy lol) there's four residential boat near to where I'm mooring there. And no its not governed by CRT. It's an ideal location for Nottingham.

[Southern Star]

 

• SO plan B -
• Run genny in social hours to charge (at present undisclosed batteries).
• Great
• Except TJ needs some form of battery charger to charge batteries.

 

 

You wouldn't believe the trouble we had recently trying to explain to an apparently experienced boater that you need a battery charger to charge batteries, even if your generator has a 12v output, even if it is a Honda generator.

[tjderby]

With all do respect id:oldgoat I'm 28 years old and this is the first boat I've ever owned. So no I'm not a troll and I find the comment a little insulting.

 

Ok the boats running 3 batteries 1 for the engine and 2 for the electric onboard. I believe it previously had an inverter fitted but no longer as one. The boat is equipped for 240v landline so don't know if that makes any difference. As for solar panals I'm looking into the benefits to see if its worth the expense. And beeston DOES have limited moorings with landpower but non available at present.