How To Make a Car Power Inverter - 800W

[diyfixman]

In the following video I will explain how to build a voltage converter that will provide you with a 230V electrical voltage inside your car. It's just a great thing! I've been working with this a lot now that I finally have the power to run electric tools in the car. This device knows how to make the existing electrical voltage in your car (12V) just like the one in your home. The power converter built here in the video can easily replace the big noisy generator you probably know and provide you with the same electrical power you need in a quiet, clean and environmentally friendly way.

[DIYer]

Thanks diyfixman! We've added your Power Inverter to our Power Supplies category,
as well as to your builder page: diyfixman's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Power Inverter by diyfixman

tags: 12V, inverter

[jdurand]

The inverter may say 800W but you're not pulling that much from a car cigarette lighter. At least not for very long.

[Frank S]

The inverter may say 800W but you're not pulling that much from a car cigarette lighter. At least not for very long.

Not when it is going to consume well over 60 amps of the 12vdc current to produce less than 4 amps of the 230 VAC.
This past weekend I readied my buddy's truck for the mounting of a 3000w 120VAC inverter with 6000w intermittent capacity I had him buy 0000 welding cables to run from the batteries to the inverter which will only be a 10 ft run 50 Amp output means over 230 amp input with up to 468 for 15 seconds smaller cables could have been used but the larger wire will have lower resistance higher energy transference ability and will last longer.
Cigarette lighters and power ports in cars are usually wired with no heavier than 14 possibly 12 AWG wires the 800 watt inverter will probably more realistically max out at 400 watts for long life and then only if it is wired to 6 AWG wire or larger.
A lot of truck stops sell little 100 to 400 watt inverters that will plug into a 12v power port, all come with a warning that continuous use at or near max capacity can result in damage to the vehicle's wiring

[DIYSwede]

The inverter may say 800W but you're not pulling that much from a car cigarette lighter. At least not for very long.

I guess most lighter outlets are fused at 20 A, giving max 280W out at 14V battery voltage.

But if you hook the inverter up the proper way - with starter jump cables straight to the battery poles,
the battery will provide just as much as it states: Voltage X Capacity. 12V times (say) 75 Amp-hours, equals 900 Watt-hours.

-Your all with me this far? So the 800W gadget will run comfortably at max for 1hr 7 minutes and 30 secs, you think??
WRONG: Batterys age slowly (starting even before leaving their factory) -
losing capacity, and then if you wanna have some lifetime out of it -
perhaps reaching some 300 charge-discharge cycles? - you shouldn't tap out more than 60% before charging.
I.e. 540W-hours total - giving only max 40 minutes run time as of above.

Then starter batteries are (as they're called) built for high amp outtakes for short bursts,
not for constant loads and deep cycles.
For those, they'll inevitably suffer - offering less capacity for each cycle and a shorted life spans in return.
For fork lifts, RVs, boats and the like there are Deep-Cycle batteries around (at a Premium price of course),
designed for long constant outtakes and deep cycle discharges.

So - what might look like a really good idea in theory, on paper and in ads, is unfortunately simply not possible in the physical world.
-Leibniz was simply wrong - we're NOT living in the best of all possible worlds!
(Off-topic Detour: He also stated that Monads didn't have any windows, but not why they're lacking them.)

2 cents
Johan
"-This might seem simple - but just wait 'til I've explained"


Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93acid_battery
https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/...n_modern_times
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monadology)