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Better DC to AC inverter: Tripplite or Xantrex?

My situation:

I'm driving across the country and want to get a power inverter for my laptop and cell phone so I can use them with my car (I'll be camping, not staying in hotels, so need someway to keep them charged). I don't want get DC adaptors for each because:

-it would be more expensive

-the power inverter could be useful in the future for other applications/appliances/components

-the efficiency loss of DC to AC to DC doesn't bother me - I can just turn the car on and recharge the battery

I don't think I need a pure sine wave inverter because the AC adaptors should regulate the PWM = modified sine wave = modified square wave (or whatever you want to call it) output well enough. They are also way more expensive.

So I've done some research and narrowed my choices down to power inverters by tripplite and xantrex. Specifically, the

xantrex prowatt 150

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and tripplite 175

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So I'm trying to figure out if there is any difference between the different manufacturers for these. Does one have a reputation for using better components? Anything in the technical specifications I should look for? They seem like they are basically the same. Any experience with either of these?

Thanks for any help!

Paul

Reply to
detroitstylz
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I have been real happy with my Vector 175. Since you need at least two outlets you might opt for the Vector 400.

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Brohms was a good company to deal with too.

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Reply to
the Moderator

Running a typical laptop or cell phone adapter should work well with nearly all modified sinewave inverters. Running a TV is a different story due to picking up noise on the broadcast channels. You might consider one of the smaller inverters that has the DC plug built right into the body of the inverter. They have those and many other type inverters on eBay for next to nothing. I bought one of them for 10 bucks including shipping and it works great. Look here for example:

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Ben

Reply to
Ben Hogland

Husky brand. 500w, 650 surge. Sam's Club/Cosco $28. Comes with battery clips for higher amp needs. Use mine for exact same purpose. Beat to hell & back, still ticking.

Reply to
Dave

I've used a TrippLite 300 for about 6 years or so now - no problems whatsoever. And while I hesitated to use it with computers, I got in a bind and had to one time, worked fine and have used it with a laptop on a regular basis since then.

Reply to
TheAlligator

Tripp-Lite has been around for a very long time as a manufacturer of power equipment and their stuff is generally pretty good. That said, the only piece of computer-room equipment that I have ever personally seen catch fire was from Tripp-Lite, but there's so much of it around that I'd be surprised if it was any other brand.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)
Reply to
J. Clarke

I agree with Alli. I use the TrippLite 300 and I like. The only time I had a problem was at at party once when I tried to power a stereo DC amp with it. It didn't work and I think it was the output wave configuration of the inverter vs. the DC amp. Works great with everything else. Just my .02 FWTW.

Reply to
Ron Tock

We've had a Tripplite 300 watt unit for over 4 years. It works fine for everything we use it for (19" TV, computer, cellphone, charging AA batteries, charging family radios, running electric drill, jig saw and soldering gun). It did require a short direct connection to the house batteries to run the TV, and then requires several attempts to start the TV before it holds and runs it for many hours. The weak point on this unit is the cooling fan, similar to an old computer CPU cooling fan but smaller in size. It has needed lubrication twice to prevent noisy operation and failure to start...accomplished by removing the cover screws, sliding the fan out (and vacuuming the dust out of the unit at the same time). The fan has a circular label on the center of the rotor that covers a bushing. Slicing the label center with an X, pulling it back exposes the bushing allowing a drop of oil to be inserted. Cover the slice with a circle of plastic electrical tape. It lasts a year.

We'd buy another Tripplite product. Barrie B

Reply to
b b

Personally, I would get a 300 to 500 watt unit, you should be able to get one for under $50, and not worry too much about the brand. You can't draw more than about 300 watts (absolute tops) from the cigarette lighter (even 300 watts may blow the fuse), anything more will require direct connection to the car battery with heavy wires. But I like the idea of having the extra capacity. The membership stores (Sams, BJ's, Price Club, Costco) have these at very good prices.

One other option, for $30 or less you can get an APC 350VA UPS. Take out the battery, make up a cable from the UPS battery connectors to a cigarette lighter plug, and you have your 110vac source. Later you can revert it back to a UPS. Before you leave, however, be sure to connect the UPS to a computer that has the APC management software installed, and configure the UPS to be silent, otherwise it will "beep" every few seconds and drive you nuts. Also be sure that it's one of the later APC models that will start with no AC line power present. Some of their early models could not be used as emergency power sources unless they were plugged into a live wall outlet first. Fortunately they fixed that a couple of years ago, and all of the current models can do a cold startup.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
Barry Watzman

do the xantrex have replaceable fuses or are they soldered in?

Reply to
detroitstylz

So it turns out both the xantrex and the vector inverters don't have replaceable fuses. (well they ar replaceable but you have to take the cover off and all that soldering nonsense..). I ended up getting a cheap vector 400 from tweeter. I tried it out in my car the other day, and my multimeter was giving me readings of 90V in one car and 105V in another car. I am wondering if this is bad ( I was expecting 120V..) and whether this is the fault of the cars (both of them?) or the inverter? Should I not try and run devices on such low power? Should I return this cheap thing and get a better one?

Reply to
detroitstylz

First, try to find a "true RMS" meter. Your inverter probably has a square or modified square wave output, and your meter is possibly reading "average" instead of RMS; AFAIK the "average" to "RMS" ratio is different for a square wave than a sine wave.

For a quick test, plug in an ordinary lamp. If the output is really that low, the lamp will be way dim.

Good Luck! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

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