> > For what you are doing I'd say you would need about 150 Ah of battery
> > capacity
> I =may= just drive my car close enough to draw from that; it has an
> 850CCA battery from Ford. It wouldn't kill my car! :-)
> I can run a 100 ft extension cord into the woods and it will run the
saw
> from the car, while the engine idles.
> I have a catalog w/a 1500W inverter for like $100 or something. Might
> have to try it out..... I'll bet it'll get nice and warm and keep my hands
> toasty in the snow!
I should warn ya if it's a Heartland catalag (and probably many others too)
it may be a "factory refurbished" unit or worse, a cheap piece of crap. I
got my Vector Marine 1500 watt inverter on eBay a couple of years ago for
about $110 including shipping and it came with a full warranty and I've not
had any problems with it. I even got it in just a couple of days.
Xantrex's lower priced inverters seem to have a good reputation too. Harbor
Freight used to sell some pretty good cheap inverters but now they all say
Chicago Electric on them so I can't speak for them, but if it fails within
30 days you can probably return it. I bought a 400 watt that said Coleman
on it (probably a dozen different names on the same units) and it had less
power than a Harbor Freight 300 watt unit I had. Don't buy anything that
says Galaxy on it. I also have two 800 watt Vectors and they are fine
except the cooling fan failed on one (got it easily replaced) but shop
around because I've seen the same 1500 watt unit going for over $300. One
of the 800 watters was running continuously for several months (no wonder
the fan failed).
Meanwhile, I have four golf cart batteries just sitting there so I'm gonna
put them on a tote cart that I have along with the 1500 watt Vector and I'll
have a nice little portable power station. It would be a bit much to haul
out into the woods but might be handy around the house. One thing leads to
another...
> which figures right in with the 1/10 wattage formula. You probably
> > need the extra battery capacity to handle the startup surge. If your
> > mower
> > battery is what I think it is it's probably only about 20 Ah.
> >
> > I tried this with less than optimum conditions because in the real world
> > things are usually not optimum. I think I'll stick to using a small
> > generator for now. For one thing I can use an old 50 foot 14ga
extension
> > cord and not have any problems with loss of power. Plus the generator
is
> > easier to tote around than a huge battery and inverter.
> >
> >>
> >> Have you actually tried connecting the inverter and running the saw?
My
> >> expectation is that the inverter will immediately shut down because you
> >> do
> >> not have enough battery power to supply the load. And, if it does
start
> >> then you will be running down your battery very quickly because the
load
> > is
> >> much greater than the alternator can supply. I suspect the saw draws
> >> somewhere in the 800 watt range (if it's a small chain saw).
> >>
> >> Perhaps you could just get a 90-100 Ah deep cycle battery (or two golf
> > cart
> >> batteries), put it on a dolly/cart along with the inverter, charge it
up
> > and
> >> go cut your wood. It would make no noise and the inverter should shut
> > down
> >> when the battery gets low. You could probably cut a decent supply of
> >> wood
> >> with one charge. I usually just cut some logs into manageable lengths
> >> and
> >> cut to fireplace size by my house. Keep in mind that an inverter
> > generally
> >> needs about 1/10 of it's maximum rating in amp hours just to keep from
> >> shutting down. i.e. for 1000 watts you need 100 amp hours of battery.
> >>
> >> Personally I use a small (1500 watt) generator to do what you are
doing.
> > I
> >> have done it with my truck (Explorer) and an 800 watt inverter
connected
> > to
> >> the battery but only to cut a few branches and with the engine running.
> >> Meanwhile, I think I'll take a battery and an inverter down to my
little
> >> forest and try it out. It's about time to cut some wood anyway. I'll
> >> let
> >> you know how it works out.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>> Anybody have a round idea of what an inverter putting out 1500 watts
> AC
>> would draw from a 12VDC battery on a riding mower?
>> TIA,
>> Jim
>>
>>
> Have you actually tried connecting the inverter and running the saw? My
> expectation is that the inverter will immediately shut down because you do
> not have enough battery power to supply the load. And, if it does start
> then you will be running down your battery very quickly because the load
> is
> much greater than the alternator can supply. I suspect the saw draws
> somewhere in the 800 watt range (if it's a small chain saw).
> Perhaps you could just get a 90-100 Ah deep cycle battery (or two golf
> cart
> batteries), put it on a dolly/cart along with the inverter, charge it up
> and
> go cut your wood. It would make no noise and the inverter should shut
> down
> when the battery gets low. You could probably cut a decent supply of wood
> with one charge. I usually just cut some logs into manageable lengths and
> cut to fireplace size by my house. Keep in mind that an inverter
> generally
> needs about 1/10 of it's maximum rating in amp hours just to keep from
> shutting down. i.e. for 1000 watts you need 100 amp hours of battery.
> Personally I use a small (1500 watt) generator to do what you are doing.
> I
> have done it with my truck (Explorer) and an 800 watt inverter connected
> to
> the battery but only to cut a few branches and with the engine running.
> Meanwhile, I think I'll take a battery and an inverter down to my little
> forest and try it out. It's about time to cut some wood anyway. I'll let
> you know how it works out.
The saw is a monster; draws 11.5A @120V! I'm thinking of alternatives to
the mower; you guys have all been great!
>-> Anybody have a round idea of what an inverter putting out 1500 watts
>AC
> -> would draw from a 12VDC battery on a riding mower?
> -> TIA,
> -> Jim
> Obviously, if it was 100% efficient, it would draw 125 amps. A real one
> may draw 150.
> dow
I just need to find the reserve capacity of the thing. It'll put out
150A, but for how long? I need to be able to draw about 25 amp/hrs from it
each weekend.
>-> It's just an idea to power my electric saw out in the woods; cut up
>the
> -> saplings, load them in the cart and haul it all back to the house. I
> would
> -> probly draw the current for a total of 10 minutes once a week. I just
> didn't
> -> know how lossy it would be.
> -> Thanks!
> -> Jim
> I'm not sure that your little battery is going to be able to supply
> that current, even for a few seconds let alone for 10 minutes.
It has no specs on it, just a part number from the mfg.
Aaaaarrrrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! I =hate= that!!!!
> dow
XML site map
> > capacity
> I =may= just drive my car close enough to draw from that; it has an
> 850CCA battery from Ford. It wouldn't kill my car! :-)
> I can run a 100 ft extension cord into the woods and it will run the
saw
> from the car, while the engine idles.
> I have a catalog w/a 1500W inverter for like $100 or something. Might
> have to try it out..... I'll bet it'll get nice and warm and keep my hands
> toasty in the snow!