Power Inverter on a 9N

[DrLarryE]

I have a very rare need for AC power. What would be the largest inverter that would be reasonable for a 12V converted 9N. The use would be uncommon, but up to 12 hours would be needed.

 

[HCooke]

You don't mention how much power you need, but it must not be much if you want to run it off the 9N alternator! Why not consider a small generator? They are economical and easy to move around and quite. I see they for sale in stores in the $200 range.

 

[oldtanker]

Don't know about inverters. But for any of em that put out enough power to run much more than a drill it seems to me a guy would be better off just buying a small gas powered gen set. Can find them on CL pretty reasonable.

Rick

 

[souNdguy]

inverters are inherently power hungry an inefficient. even the new ones.

even a small one will suck down a 12v bat past 10v and make the inverter cut out long before 12 hours on a car battery.

I think I'd go get one of those lil 1000-2000w gas powered gennies tht make 12v and 12vac.. most the super small ones are 100 bucks or so and run 1kw rated 2000 surge.. but do use mixed gas. move up to about 250$ and you can get a 2000w rated one. check harbor freight and similar stores.

you will pay a good bit for a decent inverter.. could spend half that on the lil genny and be miles ahead...

soundguy

 

[Paul in MN]

Dr. Larry,

The power needs are a more involved issue than the responders below have indicated. Of course they are on the right track with the needed information about "electrical power" in terms of watts. But the item to be powered needs to be considered. Is it a very simple item like a little motor on a fan or pump? Or is it a much more complex item having Integrated Chip (IC) circuitry? Many of the complex IC circuits need "clean" electrical AC power having a nearly pure sine wave. This may be a necessity on computer type electrical items.

Some generators and inverters put out a square wave or a very poor sine wave AC and can be destructive to sensitive circuits. The Honda inverter generator is probably one of the best for providing "clean" wave form. And that is what I bought for my RV. It is definitely not a cheap machine.

In order to answer your own question of how "clean" a wave form you need to protect the electrical device, I think you need to contact the tech dept of that item's manufacturer. They may reply that square wave AC is OK, and then you can get safely into the cheap generators.

This is just info to help you understand that there are reasons for some generators having a much higher price.

Paul in MN

 

[Jubilee85 (VA)]

Paul brings up some good points.
Let me give you an example, we used to get two fully charged 12v batteries, approx 650 cca's. We had a $75 inverter and we would run a sat rec, a lcd 20" TV and a small sound system at a college football game tailgate. It worked well, the 3 hours before the game we would run on the first bat, then switch after the game was over. I once pulled the battery out of my car to complete the day.....but the moral of the story was that the amp draw was not very much so it would last a while - the wave formation was not a problem but IT COULD be....all the devices were being powered via a transformer and rectifier that "cleaned" the voltage a bit for the electrical devices being used. What is IT that you want to power?

 

[dlplost]

Simple answer...
The generator/alternator on your tractor puts out how many amps?

Any inverter that has a maximum full load amp draw that is less that that will work.

IE: alternator puts out 35 amps.
any inverter that requires less than that will work.
Inverter data should be printed on the box.

 

[jdchet]

I purchased one of those little economy 1000w gensets a few years back for about $120. Wanted it to run an electric polesaw that we already had to clear tree branches and such far from the house. It was adequate for this task, but you do get what you pay for! The unit is not dependable for constant use(it will stall after a while). It is cranky to start after sitting long term. Forget about using it for anything that needs "clean power"! Won't even run a small TV properly! When run near capacity the RPM's fluctuate so even running a couple a big lights makes them get bright and dim as the RPM's go. It does what I need it to do but when the polesaw dies I will get a gas powered one next time!

JD 8)

 

[old]

Well with out going into it like Paul did but he is correct first off what would you be doing with it?? If you want to say run a grinder or drill and that type of thing then it would be just fine. Now if you want to run a computer or fridge etc no way and you need a true back up/portable generator set up. Most inverters are made to run mall hand tools and that is about it unless you want to spend a $1000 plus and then your better off getting a generator

 

[jackinok]

like the others say it depends.there are, I should point out pure sine wave inverters available,but the cost is several times the price of a typical one .Most of them in my experience are not as rugged as say a genset would be either, which could be a limiting factor for far off road or back country use and such.like the others say,it would behoove you if this was going to be operating something critical to contact manufacturers directly with specific requirements.There are also i should mention a surprising array of 12v equipment and appliances available that could be more reliable for farm
or back country use,simply because you would eliminate a lot of failure prone electronics.just a thought of course.