Which el cheapo inverter?

[Chewbacka]

8 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Correct, but I'm not spending £400 on one, just to avoid getting the genny out!

 

I've just found a 12v Maplins inverter lying about I bought about five years ago. From memory it's 1.5kw but the label has inexplicably been peeled off. I'll try using that first, wired to half of my 24v bank.

Don’t run off a ‘centre tapped’ battery bank for long otherwise you will damage your batteries when you recharge them

[MtB]

1 minute ago, Chewbacka said:

Don’t run off a ‘centre tapped’ battery bank for long otherwise you will damage your batteries when you recharge them

 

I'm sure a bit of vicious equalising will bring them all back up to their normal 20% of badge capacity!

[smileypete]

5 hours ago, WotEver said:

 

https://www.sunshinesolar.co.uk/prodshow/3000W___24V_Modified_Sine_Wave_Sunshine_Power_Inverter/VM300024.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwzIzWBRDnARIsAAkc8hFsjPTv5ywEHwQVwwEvIne0njfmCVFQ1cEFsLB13MgRXiU1MM_XytIaAt97EALw_wcB

Just noticed that's the MSW version, the PSW is about the same price after the easter discount.

Edited April 3, 2018 by smileypete

[MtB]

And I'm looking forward to seeing what the smartgauge makes of it  

[TheBiscuits]

15 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

And I'm looking forward to seeing what the smartgauge makes of it  

The bass smartgauge or the soprano?

 

[mrsmelly]

16 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

And I'm looking forward to seeing what the smartgauge makes of it  

If twer me Mike I would source a second hand quality inverter such as mastervolt or victron.  I have bought three mastervolt and at present have a victron 2kw brand new in the box that was a third of its retail price. The 1200 watt mastervolt cost me £120 quid in exellent used condition that I fitted on my last boat.

[TheBiscuits]

31 minutes ago, smileypete said:

Just noticed that's the MSW version, the PSW is about the same price after the easter discount.

Nasty lumpy electric!

14 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

All UK problems derive from Decimalisation and Brexit   

Summer is looking grim then?

[mrsmelly]

3 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Nasty lumpy electric!

Summer is looking grim then?

Dont be silly its only spring innitt. Summer will be fab 

[rusty69]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

Dont be silly its only spring innitt. Summer will be fab 

Whaaat all these weeks you tell us its summer, now you spring this! 

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, rusty69 said:

Whaaat all these weeks you tell us its summer, now you spring this! 

Maybe Summer 2018 started on April 1st not March 1st

 

[peterboat]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Correct, but I'm not spending £400 on one, just to avoid getting the genny out!

 

I've just found a 12v Maplins inverter lying about I bought about five years ago. From memory it's 1.5kw but the label has inexplicably been peeled off. I'll try using that first, wired to half of my 24v bank.

When you find one Mike let me know as I need a 24 volt one for the bathtub cheers

[luggsy]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Inverter-for-narrowboat/173251150079?hash=item285692c0ff:g:zhIAAOSwwlZaw1zf

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, luggsy said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Inverter-for-narrowboat/173251150079?hash=item285692c0ff:g:zhIAAOSwwlZaw1zf

Another lumpy 'lectric one - Quasi sine wave.

Would work fine for the vacuum cleaner, but will cause issues with the stereo.

@Mike the Boilerman have you thought about buying a new vacuum, preferably one of the cordless ones?  If that is mostly what you want to power, then any inverter that can power the charger is all you need if you are not CDO (That's like OCD but with the letters in the correct order!)

 

[Nut]

check whats left at maplin we have some pretty hefty discounts at the moment. we should be around for a couple more months and the discounts will be getting bigger, however you will have to visit the store as click and collect has stopped as of this morning.

[MtB]

9 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Another lumpy 'lectric one - Quasi sine wave.

Would work fine for the vacuum cleaner, but will cause issues with the stereo.

@Mike the Boilerman have you thought about buying a new vacuum, preferably one of the cordless ones?  If that is mostly what you want to power, then any inverter that can power the charger is all you need if you are not CDO (That's like OCD but with the letters in the correct order!)

 

 

Would be delighted to go cordless!

But can you nominate a cordless wet-vac? I've never seen one.

[WotEver]

2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Would be delighted to go cordless!

But can you nominate a cordless wet-vac? I've never seen one.

DeWalt & Bosch both make one but they’re not cheap. There’s a US one that’s only $99 (Rigid, I think) but carriage would be the killer. There may be others. 

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Nut said:

check whats left at maplin we have some pretty hefty discounts at the moment. we should be around for a couple more months and the discounts will be getting bigger, however you will have to visit the store as click and collect has stopped as of this morning.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I assumed Maplin shops had all closed down now!

Just checked the website and the biggest 24v inverter is 800W though. 

[WotEver]

3 minutes ago, WotEver said:

DeWalt & Bosch both make one but they’re not cheap. There’s a US one that’s only $99 (Rigid, I think) but carriage would be the killer. There may be others. 

Ridgid. Just Googled it. 

[MtB]

Well on reflection the cordless wet-vac is about the only thing I don't already have some sort of cordless version of, so a little Maplins 24v inverter for £30 and a decent Dewalt or whatever will still cost less than than a decent 2kW inverter. I'll investigate further. Thanks everyone!

Curiously the DeWalt on ebay seems to be about £160 but the photos show it with a cord. And it is described as 18v/54v. Something odd and new going on here I've not encountered before.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dewalt-DCV584L-18V-54V-Cordless-Corded-FLEXVOLT-XR-Wet-Dry-Vacuum-IN-STOCK-/232067273817?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10

 

[MtB]

Hmmm looking at a few listings they are very coy about saying if it comes with a battery and charger. I suspect not. 

[Neil Smith]

Could it be cordless and corded with built in transformer, the 18v/54v is stated on there adverts as cordless with the power of corded, I hear it on the radio most days.

Neil

[Dave_P]

12 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

If twer me Mike I would source a second hand quality inverter such as mastervolt or victron.  I have bought three mastervolt and at present have a victron 2kw brand new in the box that was a third of its retail price. The 1200 watt mastervolt cost me £120 quid in exellent used condition that I fitted on my last boat.

Like that Mastervolt one you sold me last year.  It's really excellent.  Only 500w but I don't need any more than that.  I've (after years of experiementing) decided that the way to go is small inverter / large genny.  So the genny comes out for the big appliances - vacuum cleaner, iron, washing machine which ensures my batteries don't get a caning.  The small but good inverter has a lovely small quiescent current which happily runs all the other stuff.

[mrsmelly]

56 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

Like that Mastervolt one you sold me last year.  It's really excellent.  Only 500w but I don't need any more than that.  I've (after years of experiementing) decided that the way to go is small inverter / large genny.  So the genny comes out for the big appliances - vacuum cleaner, iron, washing machine which ensures my batteries don't get a caning.  The small but good inverter has a lovely small quiescent current which happily runs all the other stuff.

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Hmmm looking at a few listings they are very coy about saying if it comes with a battery and charger. I suspect not. 

You would be correct. They do a few of these, 14/18V, 18/20V etc (meaning it can take batteries of either voltage). If you don’t already use DeWalt and have suitable batteries and charger that would probably make it uneconomical for you. Having said that, clone batteries and chargers are available on Ebay and elsewhere. 

[dccruiser]

15 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

If twer me Mike I would source a second hand quality inverter such as mastervolt or victron.  I have bought three mastervolt and at present have a victron 2kw brand new in the box that was a third of its retail price. The 1200 watt mastervolt cost me £120 quid in exellent used condition that I fitted on my last boat.

+1 for going down this route ... i bought my 3kw stirling for under 200 quid off fleabay and a stirling pure sine wave 1600/50 combo inverter charger for 140 quid boxed with remote for my motorhome  

Rick