On 3/8/2012 2:59 AM, harry wrote:
On Mar 7, 8:12 pm, wrote:
On 3/7/2012 2:53 PM, harry wrote:





On Mar 7, 2:12 am, wrote:
On 3/6/2012 8:22 PM, Ron wrote:

On Mar 6, 7:35 pm,
wrote:
On Mar 6, 6:48 pm, wrote:

On Mar 6, 6:31 pm,
wrote:

On Mar 6, 6:15 pm, wrote:

On Mar 6, 5:45 pm, "Stormin Mormon"

wrote:
Most inverters have a dual rating, run watts and startup surge.

I have a Redi-Line that has 1600 continuous output watts and 2400
surge output watts. I bought it back in the late '90's and it was
around $2,000. I would suggest that the OP buy a gas powered chainsaw.

Say what? You can get a 1600 watt today for under $200. And even 15
years ago they were not that
expensive.

Yeah, an el-chepo. NOT a Redi-Line 1600 watt electric generator.

When people use the term inverter today for this
kind of application I think few people would equate
that with a motor-generator set that was common 50
years ago. Solidstate inverter technology has been
around a long time and clearly is what is suited to the
application in question. Call it cheap if you like, but
it works, is proven and reliable. I sure wouldn't buy a heavy, bulky
genset to run a chainsaw when I could buy a small light solidstate
inverter. When I pulled up a pic
of one of these Redi-Line things I had a good laugh.

I had a solid-state inverter made for "professional use" before I
bought the Redi-Line and it was far from reliable. This was for WORK
and I needed something that wasn't going to crap out every 2-3 months.
So I went to my supplier and ask what was the best inverter made. That
is how I ended up with the Redi-Line. Used it almost everyday for 5
years and never had ONE problem. It's a beast! It's sitting in my
garage and still works fine. I just used it a few months ago when my
power went out.

I wasn't suggesting that the OP go out and buy a Redi-Line, I was
mainly replying to the surge comment(s). Those are the only 2
inverters that I've ever used. If those inverters that look like car
amps work like you say they do, then good. I'd still put my Redi-Line
up against any of them AFA, performance, reliability, and longevity.

The Redi-line is a high quality, expensive beast, and for your purposes
was probably the best choice. That type of quality and expense isn't
always necessary. I've had an "el cheapo", 1200/2400 inverter in my work
van since 2006. I use it every day to charge cordless batteries, and to
power all the small power tools I use albeit for short periods of time.
These include angle grinder, sawzall, circular saw, 1/2" angle drill and
pistol drill. For $100 the Op certainly could get something adequate to
power his small chain saw.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

So you use an inverter to charge batteries?
Very interesting.
How does that work?

The inverter changes 12 VDC from a deep cycle marine battery to 120 VAC.
The 120 VAC feeds 2 GFCI outlets in the van. One of the outlets has a
Makita lithium battery charger plugged into it- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Now that is an expensive/inefficient route to charge batteries.

The setup wasn't done specifically to charge batteries. It was installed
to provide quick short term power for hand tools. As an added bonus, at
no extra cost, it conveniently charges the battery powered tools as well.