Sounds to me like a small inverter... say 50-60 watts would take care of
your needs.  I would caution you to ensure that your battery charger will
run properly on the "pseudo" sine wave voltage generated by low cost
inverters.  Probably you won't have a problem, but if you feel it start to
overheat, you'll know it doesn't like the wave form.

As far as your 30 watt work light is concerned, I'd recommend you go with a
12 v fluorescent light of some kind.  Inverters are not 100% efficient, so
if you can run your light directly off the battery, you'll save some
amp-hours for when you might really need them.

If you are in a situation where you may draw your main battery down
substantially, go with a deep cycle marine type.  If you're only drawing it
down by 20-30%, any old run of the mill 12 v should do.

Dave in KC
85 Westy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Marshall" <earthboy@ROGERS.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 7:53 PM
Subject: Inverter Question

> Hey Folks,
>
> I'm thinking of doing the second battery and inverter project this
> summer.
>
> I'm into 24 hour mountain bike races, and would like to have the ability
> to recharge NiCad and NiMH batteries using an inverter.  It would also
> be nice to plug in a small 30 watt work light to shine on my workstand,
> but my primary need is for charging batteries.