I am a bit baffled why you guys are having problems running such small
loads using such high wattage inverters! I have been running my laptop,
cell phone charger, and camera battery charger (one at a time) without
any trouble using a small 140 watt inverter plugged into the 12v outlet
in the dash.

Keith O
84 Westy
90 Westy Syncro

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christopher Gronski [mailto:gronski@gmail.com]
> Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2005 7:05 AM
> To: Dennis Haynes
> Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
> Subject: Re: Inverter at Radio Shack
>
> Canadian Tire has inverters at 10% off right now. They had one that
> was 3000W for around $450 Canadian. What kind of gauge wire would you
> need to sun something like that? And how long would it take to deplete
> an Optima or typical strater battery at any kind of load?
>
> Chris
>
> On 12/3/05, Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@optonline.net> wrote:
>> The real problem with most inverters is not how they are rated, but
> the
>> way they are feed power. A 300 watt inverter needs 30 amps minimum. If
>> you need to reach a 400 watt peak, than you need well over 40 amps.
> The
>> hard part to understand is how a 300 watt inverter can be expected to
>> work with a cigarette lighter plug. In the VW, things are really bad
> as
>> the lighter socket is connected with a 20 gauge more suitable for 8
> amps
>> at best. The Radio Shack 300 watt inverter has no problem running a
>> laptop and charging it's battery as long as the wiring and the
> cigarette
>> lighter socket has been upgraded or the unit is wired directly. Larger
>> inverters will work even worse if the wiring is not adequate.
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf
>> Of Greg Potts
>> Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 12:38 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Inverter at Radio Shack
>>
>> Hi Joy,
>>
>> Have you looked at high-end laptops recently?  Extra-bright 17"
>> monitors are common. DVD-burners are standard equipmment, and
>> powerful speakers to go with them. They throw off a ton of heat, and
>> to do that they draw a lot of watts. That means that they're built
>> with large-capacity batteries, and if you want to RUN the laptop and
>> charge it at the same time you're drawing twice as much power.
>>
>> And as I mentioned in an earlier post, the ratings on inverters
>> recently has little or nothing to do with what they actually produce.
>> True output is more like a third of rated output.
>>
>> If someone wants to try to run and charge an "executive class" laptop
>> I wouldn't recommend purchassing anything less than a 300W  rated
>> inverter.
>>
>> Happy trails,
>>
>> Greg Potts
>> Toronto, Ontario, Canada
>>
>> 1973/74/79 Westfakia Conversion **Bob the Tomato**  LY3H
>> 1977 Sunroof Automatic L63H/L90D
>> http://www.pottsfamily.ca/westfakia
>> http://www.busesofthecorn.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2-Dec-05, at 9:31 PM, Joy Hecht wrote:
>>
>>> I'm baffled as to why folks need these huge inverters for laptops!