I feel like a real idiot because I cant get my inverter to work

gilly101 · 01-08-2001, 12:09 AM

I feel like a real idiot because I cant get my inverter to work. Heres the deal, I attached the clips to my battery and then I attached the ring terminals to my inverter.(this was temporary of course) I turned it on for the first time and evrything was good the fan was spinning and just the green light was on. With an extension cord I plugged the power supply into the inverter. As soon as I did the red light on the inverter came on (Low battery/overload). When the red light is on nothing works. I thought maybe my battery was low so I tried it on my dads truck and the same thing happened. Do you think this is a bad inverter?

Heres some info
250watt PSU
400Watt Vector Inverter bought it at Target today $44.00
Thanks dudes

Arby · 01-08-2001, 12:25 AM

Mine overloads sometimes when I turn on the car... I just flip if off then on and it works fine. Does your make a whiny/squeaky sound when it overloads?

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http://mp3box.2y.net

gizmomkr · 01-09-2001, 10:22 AM

I had problems with inverters as well - I boutght a DC - DC supply ,and I highly recomend them ... but anyway

2 things to check:
1. when the inverter is initialy turned on, it pulls a burst of curent that can exceed 400 wats, I cant say exactly how much, but I can put my o-scope to it if you really want / need to know. the solution is - a smaller PSU, or a larger inverter. I bought my inverter at target for about 75.00, its a 750Watt unit, and it had no problem with my 250 watt PSU, it worked well.

2. The other posibility is - batery voltage, some people ( and it varys by car, inverter, alternator etc..) have a verry low voltage on there car electrical system. the car with ignition off usualy shows 11.5 volts ( or close) but I have seen some as low as 10, and others as high as 14. when you start the car, the alternator starts to charge the batery and power the car ( and your inverter ) some cars take a couple of minutes untill the system can build up enough charge to run the inverter - try driving your car for about 15 minutes down the highway, and then ( with the car still running) start the inverter. if this does not work go back to step 1, get a larger inverter.

brandondere · 01-09-2001, 01:41 PM

If you dont mind try plugging it into the ciggarette lighter, that should work fine. When you hook it up to the battery there are more precautions and risks.

peace

Arby · 01-09-2001, 06:14 PM

I have a 150W inverter and a 250W power supply -- mine works fine.

An old 200-300 Mhz and a hard drive don't use anywhere near 250W, more like 60-80. I think that 750W inverter is a bit of overkill.

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http://mp3box.2y.net

mp31500 · 01-09-2001, 06:25 PM

You may want to try it this way.
Have the inverter off.
Plug the computer into the inverter.
Turn on the PSU in the computer
Turn on the inverter.

I had some problems having the inverter on and then turning the psu on but when I had the psu on and then turned on the inverter all worked well.

gilly101 · 01-09-2001, 10:31 PM

Thanks everyone for the replies.
Heres what I have tried

1)Tried to plug it into the cigarette lighter and the same thing happens. Right when I plug in my PSU the red light goes on. No the inverter does not make a squeak noise although it does have that feature because when I was installing the computer it started to squeak. Then I started the car and drove it around to recharge.

Heres another thing that happens that doesn't seem normal. Although maybe its suppose to I dont know you be the judge. I plug the inverter into the cig. lighter and turn it on I get just a green light. I turn the inverter off. I turn the inverter back on and the red light comes on. If I turn it off and then on again the red light is still on. I only get the green light the very first time!!

I am thinking of getting a bigger inverter do you think this will solve the problem?
I don't want to get another power supply because chances are it will not fit into the custom enclosure. And I cant find an ATX DC DC.

gizmomkr · 01-10-2001, 10:46 AM

It sounds like you might just have a bad inverter. ( or a verry low car batery )

check the for sale section - I made a post about 12V ATX DC-DC

gilly101 · 01-22-2001, 06:30 PM

***UPDATE***
I got my hands on a new motherboard that has both an AT and ATX power connecter. My original plan was to buy an AT DC-DC but since I had a AT 230watt PSU I decided to try it in the car. I did and everything works good now my inverter runs like a champ!! I was just hoping to get some kind of explanation. Are some PSU not compatible with an inverter?

hornet · 01-22-2001, 07:18 PM

Maybe your atx psu was just less efficient thatn the AT one, requireing a greater load, that the inverter just couldn't supply.

Bj · 01-24-2001, 05:09 AM

you need the secret inverter mod...

do it here...

http://home.primus.com.au/bravo/BjBl...wer_supply.htm

This will increase your inverter efficiency no end

Bj

dmincin · 01-30-2001, 06:02 PM

I think it's a problem with the Vector inverter. I also bought one from Target. Couldn't get it to power even a 140Watt PS.
Returned it and picked up a Koss 300 Watt inverter from Walmart and my 250Watt PS runs just fine.

Callahan · 01-30-2001, 07:33 PM

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">you need the secret inverter mod...
do it here...

http://home.primus.com.au/bravo/BjBl...wer_supply.htm

This will increase your inverter efficiency no end</font>

Bj, Im interested in doing this if it will reduce the load the inverter requires. But, what effect will this have on powering the system from mains again inside the house.

Bj · 01-31-2001, 04:44 AM

SFA. You can still run your machine from the mains, it just won't be as "tuff" and surge proof. Just use a surge protector in line with your PSU when powering off the mains, and it will work like a bought one