inverter question

johnyeros · 08-05-2003, 04:05 PM

Ok.. opus is too expensive for my me and also i like extra AC plug for other stuff.. I'm thinking of getting

1) Vector 400 Watt (600 peak) inverter is this enough? I heard 200-300 is plenty if just for computer
2) Belkin 350VA UPS (auto-shutdown)

Ok.. so this is what i will do:

Car Battery/Cigarette Outlet ----->inverter--->UPS--->computer

setup a) I will set the ups so that when it detect no power to it -- it will shut down computer.. The problem i see is that if I connect it straight into my car battery -- inverter will always have power.. which mean the ups will be useless... so i need to connect it to a cigarette outlet (I got 2 in my mazda6, but it's in car not in trunk).

setup b) ditch the ups idea. just hook inverter to battery and computer to inverter.. this way i have to turn computer off manually, which i don't really care.. nice to have auto shut down..

setup c) use setup a yet somehow hook inverter to a relay or something so that car only supply power to it when it's on...

one final question is that how are inverter in car goes? does it produce a lot of static noise/physical noise or what?

Please help me out guys. I will be working on this project for the next month or so..
thanks ahead..

matqua · 01-12-2004, 08:51 AM

Ok, you definately want to run the inverter off the car battery and not the cig lighter as your inverter cant get all the power it wants from the lighter under heavy loads; i recall someone on the forums mentioning that about 120watts was the most juice you could suck from a standard cig lighter.

As for everything else you say, seems like your setup is similar to mine at the moment :-)

Hope it works out well for you!

Hcomplyr · 01-12-2004, 09:10 AM

if you have a good inverter you don't need the UPS, besides its more a draw on the inverter. I was able to run my PC and screen off the cigarette lighter but it was for a short amount of time so i'm not sure how long it would last, and its not recommended anyway

FAmonmouth · 01-12-2004, 10:28 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by matqua

Ok, you definately want to run the inverter off the car battery and not the cig lighter as your inverter cant get all the power it wants from the lighter under heavy loads; i recall someone on the forums mentioning that about 120watts was the most juice you could suck from a standard cig lighter.

This is true for the lighter socket but not the ones labeled powersupply or accessory. If i plug in my inverter to my lighter socket in will shutdown for no reason. if i use the power supply socket i have no problems.

As a general rule if you can connect to the battery, connect to the battery. I ran 8ga wire to the back of my truck and installed a socket back there not only for the inverter but for other things I use

fondoo · 05-21-2004, 02:42 PM

i'm glad i read this post. i was going to plug my inverter to the cigarette lighter socket. now it looks like i'm going to have to wire my inverter directly to the car battery.

Kermee · 05-21-2004, 03:21 PM

I highly don't recommend a UPS in a CarPC scenario. #1. UPS's don't like being fed mofidied/filtered sine-wave. #2. If you're going to do it anyway, you're going to need a more expensive pure/true sine-wave inverter.

Most cigarette lighter adapters in vehicles are fused between 10A and 20A. If you are anywhere over 200W, you'll be sure to burn out the fuse.