Club 80-90 Forums

Hi , do any of you use an inverter in your vw's,
how do you find them for general use
if so can you recommend one to me please

C22 wrote:Hi , do any of you use an inverter in your vw's,
how do you find them for general use
if so can you recommend one to me please

Hi
I fitted a 800watt one in my van great little item, Tv , phone etc ect.

We used one the other weekend when Mrs Pep wanted to use the computer to do some work. No problems worked great! Ours is just a 150w one I think that clips on to the leisure battery.

I carry around one of those little can-shaped ones that fit in a cup holder for emergency use, but I prefer to run everything off 12V when not on hook-up - it just seems simpler.

if it will run off 12v then let it run off 12 v, you waste a lot of energy coverting twixt 220 ac back to 12v DC.
They are useful to have for "emergencies" - charging phones, laptops etc but you can't really rely on them for too long without a lot a lot of forward planning - working out your amperage etc.

if it will run off 12v then let it run off 12 v, you waste a lot of energy coverting twixt 220 ac back to 12v DC.
They are useful to have for "emergencies" - charging phones, laptops etc but you can't really rely on them for too long without a lot a lot of forward planning - working out your amperage / wattage useage etc.

I'm thinking of the laptop mainly do these have any safety features so they wont blow a laptop to bits

Just get a 12v adaptor for your laptop. Much easier and less wasteful.

My Bro in law burned out his laptop using it through an inverter.

I'm not sayin everyone will, but please use a regulated supply for laptops, computers, tvs etc. He had no idea what he was doing and regularly started his van (not a VW!) with it plugged in to the inverter and it melted the power supply socket on the mainbard.

Be careful out there folk

i have a 300w hard wired in and bolted under the drivers seat, which i can use if there is no other option, but as was said above, its a very inefficient power hungry way of getting 240v.
like the main said, you are using 12vdc to make 240vac to drop it back down to 12vdc (or 18-21vdc for a laptop psu, or 5vdc for a phone charger) makes more sense to just go from 12v up to 18v (or whatever voltage yours is) and uses a lot less power to do it........

another VERY important note: Invertors are notorious for causing vehicle fires, especially croc lead and cig socket connecting ones. Please make sure you have the input supply fused as close to the battery as possible ideally fused on the NEG (black) lead as well. and never ever leave a working invertor unaccompanied

Bought one and sold it without ever using it.

I bought one to run my telly but the bloody thing's that loud I can't hear the telly with it on.

Then I realized that when I'm camping I don't want to watch the telly anyway and I haven't used it since.

horns wrote:Just get a 12v adaptor for your laptop. Much easier and less wasteful.

Agreed. I carry an inverter but have only found it necessary to use it once, otherwise I have 12v adaptors/ chargers for all appliances, camera, laptop, lights etc. Much easier

I was going to hard wire one into the van, Then i bought one of the 150w can style ones for £20, seems to work well for charging my little ones Ds via the usb output. I did run my laptop of it aswell, and It may be coincidence but shortly after my battery on the laptop has given up the ghost and doesnt hold a charge.

i would think that is indeed a coincidence.