Thread: portawattz 140 wont power up my computer....

Argh, my bad. It does power the computer, but not when the car is running.. Comp starts up when accessory is on, but if i turn the car on, the inverter with nothing at all connected to it, shuts down with the fault light on.. I think its because the battery isnt fully charged and the other things like the interior lights and buzzes take up all the amp's from the battery that the inverter would otherwise need. Chargin battery up fully then gonna try to start car and power up, if dont work, then ill probably buy a new battery (good excuse to go get a die-hard security battery

L8r

Tim

Err still cant get it to work- charged the battery for 3 hours, still only works when its on "accessory" and not when the car is running.. I thought since the plug is connected to all the other internal stuff id buy a new plug and run it directly to the battery, just got done doing that, and it still comes up with "fault" when the car's running. Im totally lost here. I dont think its the battery cause i bought it last year, a Les Schwab XHD battery. What happens is when i turn on the inverter, the power light comes on for about 6 seconds, then fault comes on. If i turn on the inverter and turn something else on real fast (rear defroster) then it faults faster.. This has me thinking the battery cant put out the power needed for everything. Anyone here running there car ok with an inverter? I dont wanna have no music at night cause i have to decide between headlights and mp3s (id chose mp3s, but for others safety headlights might be my choice ...
Any help is appreciated.. (most likely new battery?)

Thanks

Tim the long lost car freak.

Ok- i have multimeter, checked all voltages, all are where i was told they should be (12.68) and the alternator is only about 5 months old, and is the biggest thing under the hood next to the full size spare and the puny 1600 engine.
And cranking power, everything shuts off for that- nothing in car runs when its turning over cause that takes all the power. (as with most cars i believe.)

Well i think i figured out how to overcome it now. I ran direct 12gauge wire from battery to the trunk and mounted another socket back there near where the inverter/computer will be (heck if im having 110volts running through my car!). conected it all grounded it, ect.. then i bought a "jumbo glow rocker switch" (a switch that glowss... ooooo). and am putting that in the dash so i can turn the power to the socket off/on. (inverter will always be plugged in and on since i put shutoff switch for the power line in the dash).. and now my only problem is if the car is running, and inverter is running, it kicks off when i turn on A/C (the air conditioning needs alot of juice to start up, so inverter dont get what it needs).. think im gonna try to rev' up the engine most the way first and see if it still faults, and if it does, then just probably turn a/c on before the inverter since it will work that way.

Sound like im goin the right direction??
(and if its any concern to you, i have to go buy another rocker switch, just broke the 2nd one trying to put it in.. who knows you dont push real hard on the switch part until it fits in the dash?

Tim

ARGH. Now the inverter will only work when the car is not running. Ideas anyone? When i turn it on and the car is running, it faults. But it works fine when the car isnt running. Also, whats the best way to get rid of buzzing without buying a new power supply? (i was told by the dude at radio-shack that the buzzing is from whatever you have hooked up not able to filter the sine wave. (in this case, my power supply sucks and dont filter the sine wave) So, ground loop isolators work good?

Thx

Tim

Buzz fixed: i was using some cheap altec lansing computer speakers hooked up to the inverter, then switched to my home comp's cambridge pcworks speakers and buzzing is gone.. guess Statpower and radioshack are both right- buzzing IS caused by cheap electronics.. Still need to get it to work while car is running (works perfect when its using just battery)...
Suggestions welcome!

Thanks
Tim