Married2Allis

Well-known Member
Want to get a ~1500-2000 watt inverter to keep the wife happy during power outages. Probably won't use more than 1000 watts most of time to burn a few lights and run TV, router, laptop computer, etc. Have a backup generator to handle the bigger stuff but don't want to run it constantly.

Can I connect a 1500 watt inverter to my truck battery and just let the truck idle during the period I am using it? I think the alternator is rated at 160 amps.
 
How about getting a small inverter generator and run it when you don't need a lot of power. A 2000 watt would even run a gas furnace for over night. It would just idle when no power is being used.

Dusty
 
I agree with Dusty. An inverter will certainly do the job but the real question is "Do you really want to do it?".

What size is your generator?

Why are you willing to leave the truck running but not the generator? I would rather have my generator running than leave my vehicle running. Where would you park the truck while it is running? How would you get AC power from the inverter into the house?

Maybe what you need is an inverter generator. I use a Honda EU6500i to power my whole house. Since it is inverter-based it has something called EconoThrottle which allows the generator to slow way down during periods of low power consumption but then speed up if the demand increases. Running on low speed I can get 12+ hours from 5 gallons of fuel. Plus it is so quiet you can't hear it running unless you are next to it. They have smaller 1000, 2000 and 3000 watt units also. They are the quietest generators on the market and will idle way down when the power demand is low.
 
At rural king Honda's 3000w inverter is $2K.

I have two 3500w champion RV generators, not an inverter. It puts 30 amps in one 120v plug. The pull start ones go for around $300. 6 champions go for less than one Honda inverter. One champion is 6 years old. Newest one is 3 and it's electric start. They weigh 100#, very easy on gas. I put mine in the back of truck to use power tools away from house. Both are on wheels and I can pull them around in yard with UTV or mower.



A 12v inverter will zap a battery real fast. A solution may be run his generator to power up a
large battery charger to keep battery up. Then a 1500w 12v inverter may work.

A lap top computer will work on a generator. A small 12v TV may be cheaper than an inverter. Or buy
wife a book to read.
 
(quoted from post at 09:34:01 11/29/15) I agree with Dusty. An inverter will certainly do the job but the real question is "Do you really want to do it?".

What size is your generator?

Why are you willing to leave the truck running but not the generator? I would rather have my generator running than leave my vehicle running. Where would you park the truck while it is running? How would you get AC power from the inverter into the house?

Maybe what you need is an inverter generator. I use a Honda EU6500i to power my whole house. Since it is inverter-based it has something called EconoThrottle which allows the generator to slow way down during periods of low power consumption but then speed up if the demand increases. Running on low speed I can get 12+ hours from 5 gallons of fuel. Plus it is so quiet you can't hear it running unless you are next to it. They have smaller 1000, 2000 and 3000 watt units also. They are the quietest generators on the market and will idle way down when the power demand is low.
ay, may be a company truck with company fuel ????
 
(quoted from post at 09:34:01 11/29/15) I agree with Dusty. An inverter will certainly do the job but the real question is "Do you really want to do it?".

What size is your generator?

Why are you willing to leave the truck running but not the generator? I would rather have my generator running than leave my vehicle running. Where would you park the truck while it is running? How would you get AC power from the inverter into the house?

Maybe what you need is an inverter generator. I use a Honda EU6500i to power my whole house. Since it is inverter-based it has something called EconoThrottle which allows the generator to slow way down during periods of low power consumption but then speed up if the demand increases. Running on low speed I can get 12+ hours from 5 gallons of fuel. Plus it is so quiet you can't hear it running unless you are next to it. They have smaller 1000, 2000 and 3000 watt units also. They are the quietest generators on the market and will idle way down when the power demand is low.
ay, may be a company truck with company fuel
 
I have read that inverters are not very efficient at a low percentage of capacity. We have a 400 watt and have run the TV, antenna
amplifier, and a couple of lamps at our cabin just off a deep cycle battery not being charged by anything. Sometimes it would be nice
to have a bigger one but I have a couple of generators for bigger loads. Inverters are quiet!
 
(quoted from post at 08:11:35 11/29/15) I have read that inverters are not very efficient at a low percentage of capacity. We have a 400 watt and have run the TV, antenna
amplifier, and a couple of lamps at our cabin just off a deep cycle battery not being charged by anything. Sometimes it would be nice
to have a bigger one but I have a couple of generators for bigger loads. Inverters are quiet!

Russ this is just what I want to do, maybe a smaller one like yours would work to power lights and TV/laptop without zapping the 12v battery like George says. I have a 13kw 50amp PTO generator to power my HVAC, wellpump, etc. My plan is when I wake up without power to run the 13kw gen to heat up the house for a couple of hours, then go on inverter power (and tell the wife to put on a sweater and read).
 
During power outages I don't worry about TV or computer but more interested in frig. freezer. heat, and well. I have an 8,000 watt generator with transfer switch that takes care of everything we need and that includes tv and computer. I have switched most of the lighting in the house that is run by generator to LED.
 
QUESTION "Can I connect a 1500 watt inverter to my truck battery and just let the truck idle during the period I am using it? I think the alternator is rated at 160 amps.

SHORT ANSWER YES Its NOT the rating of the Inverter so much as what ACTUAL LOAD you can power up using the trucks 160 amp alternator (at what RPM) and truck battery !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or what load can you supply using a battery alone?????

Lets take an engineering and math approach.

1) If you were actually intending to have the capacity and a FULL CONTINUOUS 1500 watt LOAD (that's full max remember, may NOT be your actual use) that means you require MORE then 1500 watts input due to inefficiency and inverter heat losses.

2) Lets say for "example" (NOT accurate Billy Bob, don't have a calf, it depends on Inverter efficiency) to power a 1500 watt load you need to supply 1600 watts to your inverter INPUT. If you have an alternator that will supply 160 amps (BUT at what RPM????) 160 amps at a typical charging voltage into the truck battery of say 14 volts is equal to 2240 watts SO IN THEORY IF THE ALTERNATOR CAN SUPPLY 2240 WATTS AT 14 VOLTS INTO YOUR TRUCK BATTERY AND YOU ARE DRAWING ONLY 1600 WATTS OUT YES THAT WILL WORK as long as the alternator can handle it at idle and not overheat.

3) Next what if you had a battery alone supplying a 1500 watt Inverter (at full load which you prob wont be using) how will that work out ??????????? 1500 watts (if at full load) OUT OF the Inverter means lets use as an inaccurate "example" 1600 watts IN. 1600 watts at lets use an inaccurate but PURPOSELY CONSERVATIVE average of 12 volts (starts at 12.6+ then declines with use if not being full charged, BUT SUBJECT TO WHAT VOLTAGE THE ALTERNATOR MAINTAINS THE BATTERY) means 133 amps is drawn from your truck battery. IFFFFFFFF the alternator keeps the battery at 14 volts, that computes to a lesser or 114 amps.

4) NEXT if you had a battery rated at "for example only, not accurate" 100 Amp Hours and you don't want to draw it down over 50% of its rated energy storage capacity, that means you have 50 amp hours of available energy use. If you're drawing 133 amps (less if alternator holds battery voltage higher, but prefer an inaccurate but purposely conservative approximation) from the battery but can only use 50 amp hours (before its 50% depleted) that's 50/133 or 0.37 hours of use before battery is reduced to 50% of its rated capacity.

BOTTOM LINE EVEN IF CONSERVATIVE FIGURES ARE USED you cant draw 1600 watts very long from an uncharged batetry BUTTTTTTT if your alternator can supply a constant 2240 watts at idle into your truck battery and your actual load is only 1600 watts YOURE GOOD TO GO

NOW REMEMBER if your load is only 1000 watts as you suggested, you have to do the math again!!!!!!!!!!!!

Although I answered your question and you didn't ask more questions, I will still offer a few tidbits of information.

I suggest use of a Pure Sine Wave (PSW) versus a cheaper Modified Sine Wave (MSW) Inverter
Id consider as an alternative a Genset versus powering an Inverter off your idling truck and its battery
While they cost more, Id suggest a quality Inverter Generator like Yamaha or Honda or Hyundai etc versus a big box store
Champion

John T long retired Electrical Engineer and rusty on all this so NO WARRANTY and again the above is ONLY a rough PURPOSELY CONSERVATIVE APPROXIMATION NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT ANY ACCURATE EXACT ANSWER.
 
Your pickup will use as much if not more fuel than your generator. Also you using a HIGH value piece of equipment(pickup) verses a cheaper one(generator). If your main backup generator is too large then just get one of those little Honda 2000W generators. They are kind of suitcase size and supper quiet.
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The alternator "might" produce 150 amps, but it would be at high RPM, your should be able to pickup small generator for about the price of an inverter.
 
Just because the alternator in the truck can produce 160 amps doesn't mean it can do it for extended periods of time. Then you have to remember that the truck needs about half of that to satisfy all of the electronics.
If you intend on running the furnace too, 2000 watts is way too small for a high efficiency unit. The surges caused by the starting and stopping of electric motors tend to kill the control boards.
 

A good idea but not practical . We do keep an inverter in each vehicle for 120AC for brief enmergency use of to charge batteries for electronics etc . The last vehicle does have a 120VAC receptacle but I sill have to read through the rest of the manual to find the capacity .
The church groups tried to use an inverter generator last night to operate lights and sound in the park for a Christmas display . Carb was all gummed up from sitting , had to operate the unit with the choke 1/2 on.
Another reason to close the fuel tank valve and run the carb dry.
 
(quoted from post at 12:31:31 11/29/15)
Carb was all gummed up from sitting , had to operate the unit with the choke 1/2 on.
Another reason to close the fuel tank valve and run the carb dry.

Ah yes, the 'ol curse of the generator with a motor. Not ready when you are!
 

I went to shed and dragged out my old spare generator instead of either of the good ones . It's an ancient Homelite 4000 that has not ran for three years . Bought it at a Menonite fund raiser auction as junk after they wore it out and beat it up. Installed a new carb and rewired the mess in the receptacle box.
Turned the gas on at the tank, choked the carb and pulled the rope thinking how slow it was cranking with straight 60wt synthetic . Otherwise it smokes like a freight train on 10W-30. Fired and ran on 6th pull.
Ran the whole set of displays the rest of the night on three year old fuel.
 
Today with the fuel stabilizers that we have and running it several times a year you should not have trouble with it. Most generator have problems because don't take care of them.
 
Those are excellent units. I used one this whole year building a dam to run my office trailer while the bigger gennys were in use at the work areas farther away.
 
Keep in mind that the alternator cooling fan does not cool much at idle, so a 50+ amp inverter load will run the alternator pretty hot at idle speed.
 
(quoted from post at 15:50:21 11/29/15)
(quoted from post at 12:31:31 11/29/15)
Carb was all gummed up from sitting , had to operate the unit with the choke 1/2 on.
Another reason to close the fuel tank valve and run the carb dry.

Ah yes, the 'ol curse of the generator with a motor. Not ready when you are!
ust a good reason to run the darn thing!.....and not the inverter.
 
I run a 2500 wat inverter in my truck and it will run anything you can plug into 2 outlets including a window airconditioner. With 4 large truck batteries you get about 2 hours at full use. Running the truck is not even close to charging enough at heavy loads. What it works good for is light loads like running a fan all night or short heavy loads like running a microwave or electric grill like my george forman. For heavy loads like cooking you have to turn off the truck or it will set a low charge code on the computer. Doing what you want would quickly run the batteries down on the truck.
 
Alternator output varies with speed, and at idle, typically, the output is so low overheating ain't gonna be a problem. (YAMMV)
 
We all know BD that you never have any fuel problems and the gas can set for centuries an your stuff still runs on it fine.
 
You must have good gas up there . Gas around here if left untreated will smell old just setting over winter. I have been using a stabilizer product that in the ethanol gas it will be good up to three years and has an additive to combat the corrosive effect of ethanol gas. See around here its hard to find gasoline without ethanol.
 

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