Homemade Power inverter

88hondapreludes · 06-06-2004, 05:20 PM

Hey has anyone here made any homemade power Inverter DC-AC I want to make my own since im on a limited budget and I am pretty proficient in electronics I would like to try my hand at making my own im thinkin maybe like a 500 watt or so. a list of parts or anything would help

vcbb5 · 06-06-2004, 05:26 PM

Could you show me how to ad a 20 sec delay to the shutoff of my inverter?

And idk if i've heard of anyone makeing there own power inverter.

raptoreb · 06-06-2004, 05:35 PM

ok i have a very limited EE background, but.. essentially what you'd need are some big capacitators..... for those of you who don't know, they are temporary batterys such as the flash of a camera, the current builds up in them until there is enough for the flash to go off. I can't give you more specific detail cause I'm not that knowledgable such as what specfic parts to buy etc.
You'd have to figure out the right capacitator/s and then figure out using math how long it would take for those capacitators to cease giving you a voltage that is required to keep the inverter and everything else running.

toadster123 · 06-06-2004, 05:44 PM

go to lowes or some electronics/ auto parts/ home improvement store and buy a 400watt inverter for like $30....

why make your own??? cost is probably less to buy one...and it will be better and safer im assuming...

vcbb5 · 06-06-2004, 05:48 PM

raptoreb- tried that without much success

Izik · 06-06-2004, 05:50 PM

How cheap do you need it to be?
300W, $20: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/hypaudio/jp30.html
500W, $45: http://aloratech.com/showoneitem.cfm?ItemID=6578

Quote: Originally Posted by 88hondapreludes

Hey has anyone here made any homemade power Inverter DC-AC I want to make my own since im on a limited budget and I am pretty proficient in electronics I would like to try my hand at making my own im thinkin maybe like a 500 watt or so. a list of parts or anything would help

88hondapreludes · 06-06-2004, 07:11 PM

Right now I have a Jensen 175 watt that I paid $40 there not that cheap around here which is why I was askign the 175 watt I dont think will have enough power for a carputer I want to hook up for now a PIII 500 with a DVD drive a CD burner and a external HD for a boot drive also prolly about a 6" screen. Im pretty sure ill prolly have to put a farad cap in my car because of all the electric drain im going to be running neon undercarriage lights if I get my stolen stereo stuff back 1200 watts worth of amps my deck and at night my headlights. what do you guys think will the 175 watt be able to handle it or not?

dodgetimes2 · 06-06-2004, 10:07 PM

I would recommend just buying one. You'd spend way more money in R&D and time and materials. Most inverters are slightly more complex than you might think. The conversion is done in multiple stages where your 12V DC input gets converted to anywhere from 145-180V DC then that higher Voltage DC gets converted to 110V AC. Not to mention there's noise filters, regulators, and other electrical components in there. Just goto Walmart or BestBuy.

starfox · 06-06-2004, 10:21 PM

Yeah, just buy an inverter. Building your own is quite dangerous and if you screw something up you might damage some components in your PC's psu.

If you want an idea of the cost of components, here in Australia there's a company called Oatley Electronics that has a DIY inverter kit (price in $A):
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/kits/k127.html

The price of that's comparable to some of the posts above.