A - optima definitely lasts long enough.

B - Coleman 800 is VERY LOUD with that fan.  That's the main reason
I've not installed it in place of my 175 W.

C- Got mine mounted there with no problems.

On Wednesday, August 18, 2004, at 01:09 PM, Chris Paquette wrote:

> Considering adding an inverter to the dual battery setup in my '88
> Westy. I have my eye on the Coleman Powermate 800. I have a couple of
> general questions:
>
> 1.) Is an inverter on all the time if connected to my second battery,
> or do they generally have an on/off switch? The concern here is that
> if it's on all the time, the inverter's cooling fan (if any) might
> come on intermittently during the night when I'm trying to sleep.
>
> 2.) Power consumption is dictated solely by what is connected to the
> inverter, and not the wattage of the inverter itself, correct? IOW, a
> Powermate 1200 won't drain my battery any faster than a Powermate 800
> if they each had the same items attached to them, correct?
>
> 3.) Any problems/issues with permanently mounting an inverter to
> either side of the stove? Seems like that would be an ideal place to
> plug in the laptop, cell phone, etc.
>
> 4.) Finally, would the secondary battery (Optima deep-cycle marine)
> last long enough, assuming fully charged, to watch a long-ish (say, 3
> hour) DVD?
>
> Thanks for any help,
> Chris
> '88 Westy, "Rocinante"
>
------------------------------
Eric Spletzer
Crafted Earth Design
1577C Pershing Drive
San Francisco, CA 94129
415.221.3742 - land
415.699.9662 - mobile

"Ad astra per alia porci" - John Steinbeck