Some of the cheap inverters have a wave form that is a really bad
version of a sine wave. This makes no difference to the average 120 volt
motor (synchronous or brushed) or lights but can play hob with computer
power supples.

Most of the small inverters can take some overload so if you size the
inverter for 50% to 75% of your continuous load, you should have no
problems. This assumes you are talking about a 3.3" form factor
(diameter) motor. If you were trying to start a bigger motor eg 1/3 hp,
you will need much more reserve capacity.

A single 1/8 hp motor will take a theoretical 93 watts, figure 120 watts
minimum for a real world motor. 10 amps out from your motor means 11 to
12 amps input to the inverter from your battery. This will kill a
standard car battery in the 4 to 6 hour range.

wrote:
People on this group seem to have a lot of experience with stuff like
this, so I though I'd ask...

I'm going to buy a DC-to-AC inverter to run a small blower off a 12
volt battery, along with one or two other small motors occasionally.
It's all light-duty stuff -- no more than a single ~1/8 horsepower
motor at a time (but they will go for up to 8 hours or so).

I really don't know much about these inverters. Is there a particular
brand any one would recommend? Are some are particularly inefficient,
or have other problems I should watch out for?

Thanks,

~Jeff Polaski