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Do any of you have any stories on successes and or failures using power inverters.

I have a 1500 watt inverter that I keep in my truck that I have used many times in the last 7 or 8 years. I have run an electric chainsaw, electric hedge trimmers, an air compressor, an electric impact wrench, and numerous other things with it.

One time the power was off and I used it to keep the fans running and the curing light working in my windshield crack repair shop.

jekjr said:

Do any of you have any stories on successes and or failures using power inverters. I have a 1500 watt inverter that I keep in my truck that I have used many times in the last 7 or 8 years. I have run an electric chainsaw, electric hedge trimmers, an air compressor, an electric impact wrench, and numerous other things with it. One time the power was off and I used it to keep the fans running and the curing light working in my windshield crack repair shop.

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We have a 3500 watt that runs the microwave! Haha!

I think they are very handy to have. Only thing is you have to always be mindful of the amperage draw on your battery.

The 1500 watt was a bust as far as running the air compressor. Might have been the battery was not big enough. I tried it on the battery in my camper.

The battery is only a few months old. Anyway I scrapped the idea.

I have a 1500 in my truck I use it in the felid works ok for what it is

briggs said:

I have a 1500 in my truck I use it in the felid works ok for what it is

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I use mine pretty often as well from the batteries on my truck. I have a Dodge 2500 with a Cummins. It has 2 Battteries. I was trying to use it on a trailer with a deep cycle to operate an air compressor.

Did it run the compressor for a short time, or did it not run it at all? If it only ran for a short time, then your battery capacity is too small. If it didn't run at all, then either get a larger inverter or a smaller compressor. I have a 3,000 watt inverter than ran a small compressor long enough for me to build a workbench and lots of shelving in my outbuilding. That compressor is great for airing tires and such, but it was barely able to keep up with a framing nail gun if I didn't get in too big of a rush.

mullins87 said:

Did it run the compressor for a short time, or did it not run it at all? If it only ran for a short time, then your battery capacity is too small. If it didn't run at all, then either get a larger inverter or a smaller compressor. I have a 3,000 watt inverter than ran a small compressor long enough for me to build a workbench and lots of shelving in my outbuilding. That compressor is great for airing tires and such, but it was barely able to keep up with a framing nail gun if I didn't get in too big of a rush.

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It would not start it. The compressor would try to start but would not run on it. I use the inverter at times with my small compressor hooked to my Dodge pickup. It has two batteries.

jekjr said:

I use mine pretty often as well from the batteries on my truck. I have a Dodge 2500 with a Cummins. It has 2 Battteries. I was trying to use it on a trailer with a deep cycle to operate an air compressor.

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Mine is on my blazer I use it to run my grinder ,electric impact,chagre my drill,Saws all and a lot more ,,,If I want to use my compressor I take my small one and my champion generator but I don't use it much makes to much noise lol .....I hate using my compressor in the shop to it drives me nuts lol

I have been looking at several options lately including solar panel systems.

by the way... divide 1500 watts by 120 volts... and that is the amps(12.5) you can draw. which I am pretty sure is not enough for a typical household air compressor that is expected to run off a 15 amp outlet. Ohm's Law is your friend...

txzrider said:

by the way... divide 1500 watts by 120 volts... and that is the amps(12.5) you can draw. which I am pretty sure is not enough for a typical household air compressor that is expected to run off a 15 amp outlet. Ohm's Law is your friend...

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I have a small one I think its a 2.5 gal with an electric motor got it for the truck It starts mine up its very small but works for what I need and if that don't work I have my generator

jekjr said:

It would not start it. The compressor would try to start but would not run on it. I use the inverter at times with my small compressor hooked to my Dodge pickup. It has two batteries.

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The initial amperage requirement for an air compressor would most likely surprise you. I have a 240v compressor that requires a 15 amp circuit, according to the motor label. I have a generator with a 35 amp surge capacity and it will not run the compressor if there is any pressure in the tank. The amperage needed to start your compressor may be three times or more than the running amperage. You need to either run the smaller compressor, or get a larger inverter if you need that particular compressor.

Someone above posted the amperage required to run a device, I'm sorry I don't remember who. No inverter is 100% efficient. Take the wattage requirement for any given device and divide that by 10, that number will give you an approximate amperage draw on your battery/batteries per hour. If you have a 100Ah battery and your load is 10 amps, you would think you could get close to 10 hours running time........no. Batteries are not 100% efficient either, and the higher the load, the lower the battery efficiency. That 100Ah battery in good condition might run that 10 amp load 8 hours, if you're lucky. If that load were to be increased to 25 amps, you might get 3 hours run time. If that load were to be increased to 100 amps, which is only 1000 watts, I doubt you would get much more than 30 minutes.

Being able to run 120v equipment remotely with an inverter, rather than a noisy generator, is an expensive proposition. You need a tremendous battery bank and the ability to recharge it in a fairly short period of time, if you use it most every day. You could try to include that bank in the charging circuit of your tow vehicle, but I doubt any single alternator setup would be able to do much in the time it takes to drive from one job site to the next.

mine a electric (120 volts) 2.5hp motor it plugs into any house plug and my invertor runs it but yes if it has air in it it wont start it