Need advice on 120V power inverter for car

[scottmandue]

Wife wants to plug her laptop into the car, what I am seeing are gadgets that plug into the cigarette lighter and run around 150-300W.
Should I be concerned that she will kill the car battery?
Amazon has listings in the $20-$30 range, are those adequate?
Thanks in advance.

[red-beard]

Why not get the specific car charger for the laptop?

Most laptop chargers are about 80W. For a laptop, Modified Sine Wave should be fine. 150W unit should do it.

Buy a Samlex, as they are tested to UL specs by ETL. The super cheap Chinese ones are not tested for safety.

100W = http://smile.amazon.com/Samlex-America-SAM10012-Modified-Inverter/dp/B004RCWXUM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1422644886&sr=8-8&keywords=samlex+sam

250W = http://smile.amazon.com/Samlex-SAM-250-12-12-Volt-250-watt-Inverter/dp/B004RCWXW0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422645030&sr=8-1&keywords=samlex+sam+250&pebp=1422645016084&peasin=B004RCWXW0

[9dreizig]

I use them all the time,, they are fine,,
Kill the battery ? Do you mean permanently ? It will run the battery down,, but only after a few hours..

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by 9dreizig

I use them all the time,, they are fine,,
Kill the battery ? Do you mean permanently ? It will run the battery down,, but only after a few hours..

I'm not sure but I think she wants to sit in the car and surf on her laptop... we plug our cell phones into the car but nothing as large as a laptop, just don't want her to get stranded with a car that won't start if she runs the car battery down.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Why not get the specific car charger for the laptop?

Old HP laptop, not sure I could find a specific charger, thanks for the inverter recommendation James.

Her car has a USB plug but I'm presuming her cellphone isn't cutting it... maybe a cheap tablet would do the job but don't want to start throwing money at this (perceived) problem.

[Rick V]

I have a power inverter in my truck that I run a coffee pot off of when I am camping, I am not patient enough in the morning to make a fire to perk coffee, anywho. I think it was like $80 at Tractor supply and doesn't take up too much space although it is not something to run from a cig lighter, it is hard wired into the truck, I have found that I use it a lot more than I ever thought I would, Cameras laptops flash light charger, they really are useful.
Not the same as mine but you get the idea
Traveller® 1,000W Digital Power Inverter - Tractor Supply Co.

[Outback Porsche]

This ^

I use both my 150W inverters all the time. For one trip across the country I had an xbox running off one to keep the yard apes quiet.

But for coffee in the morning while camping, this it what gets used



espresso in seconds

[scottmandue]

Sent links for the inverter to wife, figure it could be handy for other things in the future.

Thanks for the help!

[notfarnow]

Our power was out for 5 days over Christmas last year. I have a 1200 watt inverter that allowed me to run the fridge for almost 2 hours off my truck battery before it dropped below 10.5v.

Was actually pretty well set up with a wood stove, a bbq and a few lights.

[cabmandone]

One thing I'll tell you from making a mistake, don't buy the inverters that have a cooling fan. Nothing is more annoying on a 700 mile trip than hearing that little fan running. My brother bought a few without the fans from Sams Club. Don't recall price. I don't run my inverter unless the truck is running so I can't help on battery drain question.

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

Our power was out for 5 days over Christmas last year. I have a 1200 watt inverter that allowed me to run the fridge for almost 2 hours off my truck battery before it dropped below 10.5v.

Was actually pretty well set up with a wood stove, a bbq and a few lights.

I forgot about that use. We lost our power last winter and had the grandkids here, and when the house got cold I ran the boiler off of mine, it is a 10 amp circuit so no biggie. The house was warm and we had hot water to boot. (municipal water and a domestic exchanger in the boiler)

[red-beard]

One thing to remember, if you are powering lights, heating elements or electronics through a power adapter, MSW (Modified Sine Wave) is fine. If you are powering a motor, you need Pure Sine Wave.

[URY914]

I use one all the time in my truck. Run my laptop from it. It's a little one with at fan. Got it a NAPA for about $20.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

Our power was out for 5 days over Christmas last year. I have a 1200 watt inverter that allowed me to run the fridge for almost 2 hours off my truck battery before it dropped below 10.5v.

Was actually pretty well set up with a wood stove, a bbq and a few lights.

Whaaat? What kind of refrigerator, some sort of micro-mini? (Also, couldn't you leave food in ice coolers outside?)

______________
To power a laptop, I use a 250watt with a COOLING fan. They do get hot under load and you WANT the fan.

For the truck, I use a 2,000 watt. Fused and directly wired to the battery. Sometimes using cordless powertools at a remote site are not up to the task and I don't always carry a large gas powered gen, so I'll run corded higher amp usage tools powered off the inverter. Gets the job done but marginal. I'd like to get a 3,000 watt.

FYI: I've used the Vector brand for years. No issues.