I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without). When
I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might have
one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start as
soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat and
only come on when needed?

So far I am really disappointed with this unit. I bought it to power a
microwave, toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my house
and I noticed first thing, in the owner's manual it says the inverter will
not power any "high wattage" equipment that produces heat, such as microwave
ovens. Yet, on the box, it says you can power a microwave oven. Looks to
me like false advertisement.

I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at the
1200 watt setting. It won't run. Monitoring the AC voltage out of the
inverter, I can see it go to zero when I turn on the heater.

Thanks for any help.

In article ,
"Mike" wrote:

I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).

Mike-

Did you look at your car battery voltage as well? It is possible that
the battery's current delivering capability and the voltage drop in the
connecting wires, does not provide sufficient voltage AT the inverter's
input for it to work, even with a small load.

What size wire would you use to drive a 3,000 watt inverter? Even if it
were 100% efficient, the input current would be about 250 Amperes at
full load from a 12 volt battery. I think you would need heavy bus-bars
connecting directly between the battery terminals and the inverter
terminals.

In other words, it may not be practical to use this inverter for the
applications you have in mind. High power inverters I've seen used,
were connected to banks of large, high capacity cells.

Fred

"Fred McKenzie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike" wrote:

I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).

Mike-

Did you look at your car battery voltage as well? It is possible that
the battery's current delivering capability and the voltage drop in the
connecting wires, does not provide sufficient voltage AT the inverter's
input for it to work, even with a small load.

What size wire would you use to drive a 3,000 watt inverter? Even if it
were 100% efficient, the input current would be about 250 Amperes at
full load from a 12 volt battery. I think you would need heavy bus-bars
connecting directly between the battery terminals and the inverter
terminals.

In other words, it may not be practical to use this inverter for the
applications you have in mind. High power inverters I've seen used,
were connected to banks of large, high capacity cells.

Fred

The owner's manual says the input cables are #4 AWG and they are 3 feet long
(there are two red and two black ones).

I think you've helped me a lot Fred. I hadn't thought about running this
battery off of a bank of batteries, but that may be what is necessary to
make it do what I thought it was supposed to do.

Since my first post I have hooked the inverter directly to the car battery
using the supplied cables (the first test I had merely used some 6 foot
jumper cables from the input wires of the inverter to the battery, so there
was probably a lot of loss there). With the inverter connected directly to
the battery, a 100 watt light bulb load looks good and I can turn the
electric heater on in either the 1200 or 1500 watt switch positions and it
will come on and produce heat. Fan speed seems about normal. I only let it
run for about a minute. I have a charger connected to the battery (plugged
into the household AC) and I can see the heater is really loading down the
battery. (Would be pulling around 150 amps I guess). I have also
discovered that the fans only come on after about 150 watt load is applied
to the inverter. That was one of my major concerns as I thought there was
something wrong with the (4) fans since none of them would come on when I
powered the inverter up. I am feeling a lot better about it now. I think I
just need more battery power. The inverter itself seems to be doing what it
should be doing.

Thanks.

"Mike" wrote in message
et...

"Fred McKenzie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike" wrote:

I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).

Mike-

Did you look at your car battery voltage as well? It is possible that
the battery's current delivering capability and the voltage drop in the
connecting wires, does not provide sufficient voltage AT the inverter's
input for it to work, even with a small load.

What size wire would you use to drive a 3,000 watt inverter? Even if it
were 100% efficient, the input current would be about 250 Amperes at
full load from a 12 volt battery. I think you would need heavy bus-bars
connecting directly between the battery terminals and the inverter
terminals.

In other words, it may not be practical to use this inverter for the
applications you have in mind. High power inverters I've seen used,
were connected to banks of large, high capacity cells.

Fred

The owner's manual says the input cables are #4 AWG and they are 3 feet
long
(there are two red and two black ones).

I think you've helped me a lot Fred. I hadn't thought about running this
battery off of a bank of batteries, but that may be what is necessary to
make it do what I thought it was supposed to do.

Since my first post I have hooked the inverter directly to the car battery
using the supplied cables (the first test I had merely used some 6 foot
jumper cables from the input wires of the inverter to the battery, so
there
was probably a lot of loss there). With the inverter connected directly
to
the battery, a 100 watt light bulb load looks good and I can turn the
electric heater on in either the 1200 or 1500 watt switch positions and it
will come on and produce heat. Fan speed seems about normal. I only let
it
run for about a minute. I have a charger connected to the battery
(plugged
into the household AC) and I can see the heater is really loading down the
battery. (Would be pulling around 150 amps I guess). I have also
discovered that the fans only come on after about 150 watt load is applied
to the inverter. That was one of my major concerns as I thought there was
something wrong with the (4) fans since none of them would come on when I
powered the inverter up. I am feeling a lot better about it now. I think
I
just need more battery power. The inverter itself seems to be doing what
it
should be doing.

Thanks.

Wowzer, that's a big inverter. Have a couple of small inverters and was
thinking of getting a 1200 watt to run the gas furnace blower motor.
Maintaining sufficient battery power for that wattage(several heating
cycles) made me rethink the situations cost/benefit ratio. Multiple
batteries won't last long with the kind of consumption you seem to be
contemplating. Look at the amp/hr rating of the batteries. Average
alternator output is ~55amp so it's not much help and has the same carbon
monoxide hazard as a generator. People have died from carbon monoxide using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.
Let us know how it works out and what kind of battery power you end up with
to get a reasonable run time.

T Shadow wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
et...
"Fred McKenzie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike" wrote:

I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).
Mike-

Did you look at your car battery voltage as well? It is possible that
the battery's current delivering capability and the voltage drop in the
connecting wires, does not provide sufficient voltage AT the inverter's
input for it to work, even with a small load.

What size wire would you use to drive a 3,000 watt inverter? Even if it
were 100% efficient, the input current would be about 250 Amperes at
full load from a 12 volt battery. I think you would need heavy bus-bars
connecting directly between the battery terminals and the inverter
terminals.

In other words, it may not be practical to use this inverter for the
applications you have in mind. High power inverters I've seen used,
were connected to banks of large, high capacity cells.

Fred
The owner's manual says the input cables are #4 AWG and they are 3 feet
long
(there are two red and two black ones).

I think you've helped me a lot Fred. I hadn't thought about running this
battery off of a bank of batteries, but that may be what is necessary to
make it do what I thought it was supposed to do.

Since my first post I have hooked the inverter directly to the car battery
using the supplied cables (the first test I had merely used some 6 foot
jumper cables from the input wires of the inverter to the battery, so
there
was probably a lot of loss there). With the inverter connected directly
to
the battery, a 100 watt light bulb load looks good and I can turn the
electric heater on in either the 1200 or 1500 watt switch positions and it
will come on and produce heat. Fan speed seems about normal. I only let
it
run for about a minute. I have a charger connected to the battery
(plugged
into the household AC) and I can see the heater is really loading down the
battery. (Would be pulling around 150 amps I guess). I have also
discovered that the fans only come on after about 150 watt load is applied
to the inverter. That was one of my major concerns as I thought there was
something wrong with the (4) fans since none of them would come on when I
powered the inverter up. I am feeling a lot better about it now. I think
I
just need more battery power. The inverter itself seems to be doing what
it
should be doing.

Thanks.

Wowzer, that's a big inverter. Have a couple of small inverters and was
thinking of getting a 1200 watt to run the gas furnace blower motor.
Maintaining sufficient battery power for that wattage(several heating
cycles) made me rethink the situations cost/benefit ratio. Multiple
batteries won't last long with the kind of consumption you seem to be
contemplating. Look at the amp/hr rating of the batteries. Average
alternator output is ~55amp so it's not much help and has the same carbon
monoxide hazard as a generator. People have died from carbon monoxide using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.
Let us know how it works out and what kind of battery power you end up with
to get a reasonable run time.

Hi..

But... your furnace blower is probably 1/4 horse, maybe 1/3.

Take care.

Ken

"Ken Weitzel" wrote in message
news:dTDkh.530124$5R2.38369@pd7urf3no...
T Shadow wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
et...
"Fred McKenzie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike" wrote:

I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as
without).
Mike-

Did you look at your car battery voltage as well? It is possible that
the battery's current delivering capability and the voltage drop in
the
connecting wires, does not provide sufficient voltage AT the
inverter's
input for it to work, even with a small load.

What size wire would you use to drive a 3,000 watt inverter? Even if
it
were 100% efficient, the input current would be about 250 Amperes at
full load from a 12 volt battery. I think you would need heavy
bus-bars
connecting directly between the battery terminals and the inverter
terminals.

In other words, it may not be practical to use this inverter for the
applications you have in mind. High power inverters I've seen used,
were connected to banks of large, high capacity cells.

Fred
The owner's manual says the input cables are #4 AWG and they are 3 feet
long
(there are two red and two black ones).

I think you've helped me a lot Fred. I hadn't thought about running
this
battery off of a bank of batteries, but that may be what is necessary
to
make it do what I thought it was supposed to do.

Since my first post I have hooked the inverter directly to the car
battery
using the supplied cables (the first test I had merely used some 6 foot
jumper cables from the input wires of the inverter to the battery, so
there
was probably a lot of loss there). With the inverter connected
directly
to
the battery, a 100 watt light bulb load looks good and I can turn the
electric heater on in either the 1200 or 1500 watt switch positions and
it
will come on and produce heat. Fan speed seems about normal. I only
let
it
run for about a minute. I have a charger connected to the battery
(plugged
into the household AC) and I can see the heater is really loading down
the
battery. (Would be pulling around 150 amps I guess). I have also
discovered that the fans only come on after about 150 watt load is
applied
to the inverter. That was one of my major concerns as I thought there
was
something wrong with the (4) fans since none of them would come on when
I
powered the inverter up. I am feeling a lot better about it now. I
think
I
just need more battery power. The inverter itself seems to be doing
what
it
should be doing.

Thanks.

Wowzer, that's a big inverter. Have a couple of small inverters and was
thinking of getting a 1200 watt to run the gas furnace blower motor.
Maintaining sufficient battery power for that wattage(several heating
cycles) made me rethink the situations cost/benefit ratio. Multiple
batteries won't last long with the kind of consumption you seem to be
contemplating. Look at the amp/hr rating of the batteries. Average
alternator output is ~55amp so it's not much help and has the same
carbon
monoxide hazard as a generator. People have died from carbon monoxide
using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.
Let us know how it works out and what kind of battery power you end up
with
to get a reasonable run time.

Hi..

But... your furnace blower is probably 1/4 horse, maybe 1/3.

Take care.

Ken

Motor options for the furnace also shows 1/2 & 3/4. From the info I got from
motor the way it was wired it may have ran on a 750 watt inverter. Did the
math at the time. The wild card was starting current. Has to have enough
current to start or its worthless.

Hi..

But... your furnace blower is probably 1/4 horse, maybe 1/3.

Take care.

Ken



Many are larger, mine is 1/2 HP. The run current is not too terrible,
but the inrush is phenomenal, you need a bigger inverter than would
first be obvious.

T Shadow wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
et...

"Fred McKenzie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike" wrote:

I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).

Mike-

Did you look at your car battery voltage as well? It is possible that
the battery's current delivering capability and the voltage drop in the
connecting wires, does not provide sufficient voltage AT the inverter's
input for it to work, even with a small load.

What size wire would you use to drive a 3,000 watt inverter? Even if it
were 100% efficient, the input current would be about 250 Amperes at
full load from a 12 volt battery. I think you would need heavy bus-bars
connecting directly between the battery terminals and the inverter
terminals.

In other words, it may not be practical to use this inverter for the
applications you have in mind. High power inverters I've seen used,
were connected to banks of large, high capacity cells.

Fred

The owner's manual says the input cables are #4 AWG and they are 3 feet
long
(there are two red and two black ones).

I think you've helped me a lot Fred. I hadn't thought about running this
battery off of a bank of batteries, but that may be what is necessary to
make it do what I thought it was supposed to do.

Since my first post I have hooked the inverter directly to the car battery
using the supplied cables (the first test I had merely used some 6 foot
jumper cables from the input wires of the inverter to the battery, so
there
was probably a lot of loss there). With the inverter connected directly
to
the battery, a 100 watt light bulb load looks good and I can turn the
electric heater on in either the 1200 or 1500 watt switch positions and it
will come on and produce heat. Fan speed seems about normal. I only let
it
run for about a minute. I have a charger connected to the battery
(plugged
into the household AC) and I can see the heater is really loading down the
battery. (Would be pulling around 150 amps I guess). I have also
discovered that the fans only come on after about 150 watt load is applied
to the inverter. That was one of my major concerns as I thought there was
something wrong with the (4) fans since none of them would come on when I
powered the inverter up. I am feeling a lot better about it now. I think
I
just need more battery power. The inverter itself seems to be doing what
it
should be doing.

Thanks.

Wowzer, that's a big inverter. Have a couple of small inverters and was
thinking of getting a 1200 watt to run the gas furnace blower motor.
Maintaining sufficient battery power for that wattage(several heating
cycles) made me rethink the situations cost/benefit ratio. Multiple
batteries won't last long with the kind of consumption you seem to be
contemplating. Look at the amp/hr rating of the batteries. Average
alternator output is ~55amp so it's not much help and has the same carbon
monoxide hazard as a generator. People have died from carbon monoxide using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.
Let us know how it works out and what kind of battery power you end up with
to get a reasonable run time.


It is highly likely that the literature packed with the device
(inverter) contained a pretty good description of how to get sufficient
DC current into it. The OP's description seems to indicate this
information was never read, never understood, never considered...which
is normal, I guess. I attempt to help:

For a 3 kw inverter to be really useful, you need a BIG (300 CCA
minimum, deep discharge) battery. It must be connected to the inverter
with 6 (4 is better) gauge cables no more than 1 foot long. 20 Foot
"Jumper Cables" WILL NOT WORK!!!!!! They are usually 6 to 12 gauge
(bigger is not better, here). Jumper cables can be useful to charge
the inverter's primary battery from a truck in between house-furnace
runs. But again...learn some physics (Ohm's law, etc.)...good is big
(small gauge numbers) wire between the source and the drain (truck
alternater and inverter battery).

"T Shadow" wrote in message
...

Wowzer, that's a big inverter. Have a couple of small inverters and was
thinking of getting a 1200 watt to run the gas furnace blower motor.

Run the blower at the lowest speed on inverter power. Let the burner cycle
on the hi limit - you'll still get enough heat. That will reduce the blower
motor power to maybe 200W.

"Homer J Simpson" wrote in message
news:vSEkh.100214$hn.78318@edtnps82...

"T Shadow" wrote in message
...

Wowzer, that's a big inverter. Have a couple of small inverters and was
thinking of getting a 1200 watt to run the gas furnace blower motor.

Run the blower at the lowest speed on inverter power. Let the burner cycle
on the hi limit - you'll still get enough heat. That will reduce the
blower
motor power to maybe 200W.

Thought of that to increase run time but don't think it changes starting
requirements

"T Shadow" wrote in news:459308f0$0$16732
:

People have died from carbon monoxide using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.


??? Because they ran them indoors? Or... ???

Jim Land wrote:
"T Shadow" wrote in news:459308f0$0$16732
:


People have died from carbon monoxide using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.



??? Because they ran them indoors? Or... ???


That happened around here in a recent storm that blew through. One guy
ran a generator in his livingroom(!?) and a few others had them in a
closed attached garage. Evolution at work.

"Jim Land" wrote in message
. 3.44...
"T Shadow" wrote in news:459308f0$0$16732
:

People have died from carbon monoxide using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.


??? Because they ran them indoors? Or... ???

The last one had it in an attached garage with the door open. IIRC the other
incident the generator was right outside the house. Take carbon monoxide
from a generator very seriously.

You don't have to run your generator inside you know.

T Shadow wrote:
Average
alternator output is ~55amp so it's not much help and has the same carbon
monoxide hazard as a generator. People have died from carbon monoxide using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.
Let us know how it works out and what kind of battery power you end up with
to get a reasonable run time.

"M Berger" wrote in message
...
You don't have to run your generator inside you know.

T Shadow wrote:
Average
alternator output is ~55amp so it's not much help and has the same
carbon
monoxide hazard as a generator. People have died from carbon monoxide
using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.

In his post he used a car battery. Cars are kept in garages. See my other
reply about carbon monoxide.

M Berger wrote:
You don't have to run your generator inside you know.

T Shadow wrote:
Average
alternator output is ~55amp so it's not much help and has the same carbon
monoxide hazard as a generator. People have died from carbon monoxide using
generators the last 2 seasons in our county alone.
Let us know how it works out and what kind of battery power you end up with
to get a reasonable run time.



It's much more convenient if you do so.

Mike wrote:
I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without). When
I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might have
one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start as
soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat and
only come on when needed?

So far I am really disappointed with this unit. I bought it to power a
microwave, toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my house
and I noticed first thing, in the owner's manual it says the inverter will
not power any "high wattage" equipment that produces heat, such as microwave
ovens. Yet, on the box, it says you can power a microwave oven. Looks to
me like false advertisement.

I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at the
1200 watt setting. It won't run. Monitoring the AC voltage out of the
inverter, I can see it go to zero when I turn on the heater.

Thanks for any help.



What size wire are you using to connect it to the battery? 3KW is gonna
pull about 250A from the battery so you'll need some BIG cable like
you'd use to connect to a starter motor. Also don't expect to pull even
half that much for more than a couple minutes without the engine
running, even with it, most cars have less than a 100A alternator so
your continuous load will be much lower, probably around 500W for an
average car.

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:aWGkh.6947$9H4.2464@trndny07...
Mike wrote:
I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).
When
I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might
have
one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start
as
soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat
and
only come on when needed?

So far I am really disappointed with this unit. I bought it to power a
microwave, toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my
house
and I noticed first thing, in the owner's manual it says the inverter
will
not power any "high wattage" equipment that produces heat, such as
microwave
ovens. Yet, on the box, it says you can power a microwave oven. Looks
to
me like false advertisement.

I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at
the
1200 watt setting. It won't run. Monitoring the AC voltage out of the
inverter, I can see it go to zero when I turn on the heater.

Thanks for any help.



What size wire are you using to connect it to the battery? 3KW is gonna
pull about 250A from the battery so you'll need some BIG cable like
you'd use to connect to a starter motor. Also don't expect to pull even
half that much for more than a couple minutes without the engine
running, even with it, most cars have less than a 100A alternator so
your continuous load will be much lower, probably around 500W for an
average car.

I am using the input cables that Vector provided with the inverter. I think
I read in the manual that they are #4 awg and there are two positive and two
negative cables. I didn't measure them but they are 3 feet in length or
less.

What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt
electric heater when our electricity goes off. (I thought a 1500 watt
heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter). I'd also
planned to use a microwave oven, a toaster oven, some 60-75 watt lights, but
I didn't intend to run more than one or two of these items at a time, and
obviously had planned to run the toaster by itself and the microwave and the
heater. I didn't realize I was going to have to have so much input current
available to power the inverter. Kind of foils my plan because I had hoped
to put a battery in a nice case, put that on the bottom of a two wheel
dolly, mount the inverter to a piece of plywood and mount that to the dolly,
wire it up and then have a set up I could wheel into the living room when
the power goes out and plug in the heat or some lights, the tv, or whatever
I needed. I was hoping someone who has such a set up would see my post and
offer some suggestions on what worked for them. It appears I should have
gone the route of the generator, but I opted not to do that because of the
carbon monoxide and also routing a power cable from outside my house to the
interior won't be easy (all brick home).

I like the idea of powering the furnace motor with a setup like this, but I
have a heat pump so unfortunately, that isn't an option for me.

Thanks for your input.

Where do you live? You need to be able to keep pipes from freezing,
but that does not take a 3000 watt unit unless you live north of the
mason-dixon line, and there aren't very many heat pumps that far north.

H. R. Hofmann

Mike wrote:
"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:aWGkh.6947$9H4.2464@trndny07...
Mike wrote:
I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).
When
I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might
have
one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start
as
soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat
and
only come on when needed?

So far I am really disappointed with this unit. I bought it to power a
microwave, toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my
house
and I noticed first thing, in the owner's manual it says the inverter
will
not power any "high wattage" equipment that produces heat, such as
microwave
ovens. Yet, on the box, it says you can power a microwave oven. Looks
to
me like false advertisement.

I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at
the
1200 watt setting. It won't run. Monitoring the AC voltage out of the
inverter, I can see it go to zero when I turn on the heater.

Thanks for any help.



What size wire are you using to connect it to the battery? 3KW is gonna
pull about 250A from the battery so you'll need some BIG cable like
you'd use to connect to a starter motor. Also don't expect to pull even
half that much for more than a couple minutes without the engine
running, even with it, most cars have less than a 100A alternator so
your continuous load will be much lower, probably around 500W for an
average car.

I am using the input cables that Vector provided with the inverter. I think
I read in the manual that they are #4 awg and there are two positive and two
negative cables. I didn't measure them but they are 3 feet in length or
less.

What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt
electric heater when our electricity goes off. (I thought a 1500 watt
heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter). I'd also
planned to use a microwave oven, a toaster oven, some 60-75 watt lights, but
I didn't intend to run more than one or two of these items at a time, and
obviously had planned to run the toaster by itself and the microwave and the
heater. I didn't realize I was going to have to have so much input current
available to power the inverter. Kind of foils my plan because I had hoped
to put a battery in a nice case, put that on the bottom of a two wheel
dolly, mount the inverter to a piece of plywood and mount that to the dolly,
wire it up and then have a set up I could wheel into the living room when
the power goes out and plug in the heat or some lights, the tv, or whatever
I needed. I was hoping someone who has such a set up would see my post and
offer some suggestions on what worked for them. It appears I should have
gone the route of the generator, but I opted not to do that because of the
carbon monoxide and also routing a power cable from outside my house to the
interior won't be easy (all brick home).

I like the idea of powering the furnace motor with a setup like this, but I
have a heat pump so unfortunately, that isn't an option for me.

Thanks for your input.

Mike wrote:
"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:aWGkh.6947$9H4.2464@trndny07...
Mike wrote:
I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up
today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).
When
I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might
have
one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start
as
soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat
and
only come on when needed?

So far I am really disappointed with this unit. I bought it to power a
microwave, toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my
house
and I noticed first thing, in the owner's manual it says the inverter
will
not power any "high wattage" equipment that produces heat, such as
microwave
ovens. Yet, on the box, it says you can power a microwave oven. Looks
to
me like false advertisement.

I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at
the
1200 watt setting. It won't run. Monitoring the AC voltage out of the
inverter, I can see it go to zero when I turn on the heater.

Thanks for any help.


What size wire are you using to connect it to the battery? 3KW is gonna
pull about 250A from the battery so you'll need some BIG cable like
you'd use to connect to a starter motor. Also don't expect to pull even
half that much for more than a couple minutes without the engine
running, even with it, most cars have less than a 100A alternator so
your continuous load will be much lower, probably around 500W for an
average car.

I am using the input cables that Vector provided with the inverter. I think
I read in the manual that they are #4 awg and there are two positive and two
negative cables. I didn't measure them but they are 3 feet in length or
less.

What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt
electric heater when our electricity goes off. (I thought a 1500 watt
heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter). I'd also
planned to use a microwave oven, a toaster oven, some 60-75 watt lights, but
I didn't intend to run more than one or two of these items at a time, and
obviously had planned to run the toaster by itself and the microwave and the
heater. I didn't realize I was going to have to have so much input current
available to power the inverter. Kind of foils my plan because I had hoped
to put a battery in a nice case, put that on the bottom of a two wheel
dolly, mount the inverter to a piece of plywood and mount that to the dolly,
wire it up and then have a set up I could wheel into the living room when
the power goes out and plug in the heat or some lights, the tv, or whatever
I needed. I was hoping someone who has such a set up would see my post and
offer some suggestions on what worked for them. It appears I should have
gone the route of the generator, but I opted not to do that because of the
carbon monoxide and also routing a power cable from outside my house to the
interior won't be easy (all brick home).

I like the idea of powering the furnace motor with a setup like this, but I
have a heat pump so unfortunately, that isn't an option for me.

Hi Mike...

Respectfully suggest that you might perhaps re-think your project...
if you're looking for heat, even a fully charged new(ish) car battery
is only going to deliver 1500 watts of heat for about a half hour, and
that assuming that the inverter is somehow 100% efficient.
Even then - don't know where in the world you are, but I'm in Winnipeg
(sometimes called Winterpeg), Canada, and 1500 watts of heat is just
teasing. I'm not sure, but I might also be concerned about off-gassing
from the battery at that kind of load.

There are alternatives available - propane catalytic heaters or kerosene
space heaters, with plenty of ventilation and safety barriers to protect
youngsters work quite well, and the energy concentration of the source
is much more dense than a lead acid battery. You might also consider
putting in a wood burning fireplace, if you also enjoy the aesthetics
and don't mind a little work.

You surely don't need the fridge; if it's cold enough to require much
heat, it's also cold enough on a porch or in a garage to store your
perishables. And you can do without the microwave, if the outage is
long enough, you can (again, do it safely) use a camp stove burning
propane or white gas. Another idea - if you have a baby or toddlers
who need quick and often access to milk or formula, you might
consider one of the peltier effect (Koolatron) 12 volt coolers.
Mine draws about 4 amps at 12 volts. A side benefit is you can
use it in your car for trips for soft drinks, sandwich makings, etc.

What you might like your idea for is a bit of lighting if you need it,
but a 9 watt florescent (equal to 40 watt regular bulb) will run
a long long time on a small inverter. Plug a small inverter into
your cigarette lighter, and run a temporary extension cord outside.

Take care.

Ken

snip

Hi Mike...

Respectfully suggest that you might perhaps re-think your project...
if you're looking for heat, even a fully charged new(ish) car battery
is only going to deliver 1500 watts of heat for about a half hour, and
that assuming that the inverter is somehow 100% efficient.
Even then - don't know where in the world you are, but I'm in Winnipeg
(sometimes called Winterpeg), Canada, and 1500 watts of heat is just
teasing. I'm not sure, but I might also be concerned about off-gassing
from the battery at that kind of load.

There are alternatives available - propane catalytic heaters or kerosene
space heaters, with plenty of ventilation and safety barriers to protect
youngsters work quite well, and the energy concentration of the source
is much more dense than a lead acid battery. You might also consider
putting in a wood burning fireplace, if you also enjoy the aesthetics
and don't mind a little work.

You surely don't need the fridge; if it's cold enough to require much
heat, it's also cold enough on a porch or in a garage to store your
perishables. And you can do without the microwave, if the outage is
long enough, you can (again, do it safely) use a camp stove burning
propane or white gas. Another idea - if you have a baby or toddlers
who need quick and often access to milk or formula, you might
consider one of the peltier effect (Koolatron) 12 volt coolers.
Mine draws about 4 amps at 12 volts. A side benefit is you can
use it in your car for trips for soft drinks, sandwich makings, etc.

What you might like your idea for is a bit of lighting if you need it,
but a 9 watt florescent (equal to 40 watt regular bulb) will run
a long long time on a small inverter. Plug a small inverter into
your cigarette lighter, and run a temporary extension cord outside.

Take care.

Ken

I wonder how many 9 watt fluorescent bulbs I can power up with a 3000 watt
generator? ha The place might be aglow when all of my neighbor's power is
off.

Thanks for the ideas. I will check into a 9 watt fluorescent light as I
don't have anything other than incandescent bulbs around here. Might be a
good plan to have some around.

I had considered some of the "ventless" propane heat options, but again,
getting a gas line through the brick doesn't sound like much fun.

We have a fireplace with an insert, but the instructions for that say not to
build a fire without the blower motor running. It has probably been about
15 years since we had a fire in the insert. Wasn't too impressed with the
way that works.

We are in Missouri and what prompted me to come up with this plan was a
recent power outage of about 26 hours as a result of an ice storm. I think
it was around 15-20 degrees over night. We put on some insulated coveralls
and some gloves and made it just fine, but it made me think, if we had to go
for a few days that way some home made electricity would sure be nice.

Thanks,
Mike

"Mike" wrote in message
et...

I had considered some of the "ventless" propane heat options, but again,
getting a gas line through the brick doesn't sound like much fun.

You can get units that run off bottled gas. I keep a small camping unit to
cook and heat food in a power outage.

Thanks for the ideas. I will check into a 9 watt fluorescent light as I
don't have anything other than incandescent bulbs around here. Might be a
good plan to have some around.



Good old incandescent bulb is obsolete. CFLs have matured and are
available in wattages from 5 to over 100W and are far more efficient
than incandescent. Pick some up at your local hardware store and try
them out.

I am using the input cables that Vector provided with the inverter. I think
I read in the manual that they are #4 awg and there are two positive and two
negative cables. I didn't measure them but they are 3 feet in length or
less.

What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt
electric heater when our electricity goes off. (I thought a 1500 watt
heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter). I'd also
planned to use a microwave oven, a toaster oven, some 60-75 watt lights, but
I didn't intend to run more than one or two of these items at a time, and
obviously had planned to run the toaster by itself and the microwave and the
heater. I didn't realize I was going to have to have so much input current
available to power the inverter. Kind of foils my plan because I had hoped
to put a battery in a nice case, put that on the bottom of a two wheel
dolly, mount the inverter to a piece of plywood and mount that to the dolly,
wire it up and then have a set up I could wheel into the living room when
the power goes out and plug in the heat or some lights, the tv, or whatever
I needed. I was hoping someone who has such a set up would see my post and
offer some suggestions on what worked for them. It appears I should have
gone the route of the generator, but I opted not to do that because of the
carbon monoxide and also routing a power cable from outside my house to the
interior won't be easy (all brick home).

I like the idea of powering the furnace motor with a setup like this, but I
have a heat pump so unfortunately, that isn't an option for me.

Thanks for your input.




Watts are watts, and to get 3KW out, you have to put a bit more than 3KW
in. 3KW at 12V is 10 times as many amps as it is at 120V so to estimate
the current required at the input you can multiply the current rating of
the 120V device by 10 and come out pretty close.

Heating with electric resistance running from an inverter is not very
feasible. You'd be better off to use one of those forced air kerosene
heaters and run that from the inverter. The combustion is a MUCH more
efficient way to heat, just make sure you have some ventilation.

What I did on the last power outage is use an inverter to run lamps and
small appliances at night, then during the day a generator to run the
heavier loads and charge a deep cycle marine battery I had the inverter
on. It worked well, but the generator is borrowed so I plan to hack
together one of my own using an old lawnmower engine I have and a car
alternator which will run the inverter and charge the battery. I tried
running the furnace off the battery and got about 40 minutes out of a
fully charged deep cycle so that isn't really practical. I could have
maybe run the heat pump from the generator but it would have been
pushing it so I just stuck with the backup furnace.

Can't you run an extension cord in under a door or through a window?
Also if you have an exterior receptacle you can backfeed through that,
just make absolutely sure you shut off the main first and don't try that
unless you know what you're doing or you can cause some real trouble.
You can also drill a hole through brick for a conduit and put a plug
outside that connects to a generator transfer switch by the panel.

"Mike" wrote in message
...

What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500
watt
electric heater when our electricity goes off. (I thought a 1500 watt
heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter).

Pointless. Build a 12 volt heater. But the batteries will be humungous.

If I bought one, I would run the fridges and the furnace motor only; and
maybe a CFL light or radio.

In article , Mike
wrote:
What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500
watt electric heater when our electricity goes off.

Why an electric heater? Far easier/better to use a Calor gas etc heater
designed for flueless indoor use.

(I thought a 1500
watt heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter).
I'd also planned to use a microwave oven, a toaster oven, some 60-75
watt lights, but I didn't intend to run more than one or two of these
items at a time, and obviously had planned to run the toaster by itself
and the microwave and the heater. I didn't realize I was going to have
to have so much input current available to power the inverter.

Do the sums. The average large car battery has a capacity of 70 amp/hours
and watts are volts x amps so that is approx 840 watt/hours. But you have
to reduce this considerably at high current drains.

Kind of foils my plan because I had hoped to put a battery in a nice
case, put that on the bottom of a two wheel dolly, mount the inverter to
a piece of plywood and mount that to the dolly, wire it up and then have
a set up I could wheel into the living room when the power goes out and
plug in the heat or some lights, the tv, or whatever I needed. I was
hoping someone who has such a set up would see my post and offer some
suggestions on what worked for them. It appears I should have gone the
route of the generator, but I opted not to do that because of the carbon
monoxide and also routing a power cable from outside my house to the
interior won't be easy (all brick home).

I can use a car battery via an 300 watt invertor to run my gas 'wet'
central heating system in the UK - its peak load requirement is only about
150 watts when a valve operates and about 50 with the pump running.

Best guide on emergency heating and cooking etc is to see how the motor
homes do it.

--
*The most wasted day of all is one in which we have not laughed.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

If you have anything more than a couple lamps to run, a genny is the way
to go. During the Big Blow in Seattle a couple weeks ago, my power was
down for 4 days. I have a 5500 watt 10HP genny, wired to a transfer
switch on the 240 main bus. I had enough power to start and run the
furnace blower (1 HP), several lights including outside, TV, fridge, 1
KW microwave and even 1500 watt deep fat fryer. Not ALL high draw items
at the same time. With an adequate genny, all you have to do is keep it
fueled. No messing with power cables, dangerously high currents,
extension cords, inability to start high draw induction loads or
hydrogen from charging the batteries, etc. With most consumers on, I
measured 114V in the house system. The TV didn't mind the dirty power at
all. We were snug and warm, while most of my neighbors were freezing in
the glare of battery powered florescent camping lanterns.
JR

Mike wrote:

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:aWGkh.6947$9H4.2464@trndny07...

Mike wrote:

I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up

today to

my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).

When

I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might

have

one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start

as

soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat

and

only come on when needed?

So far I am really disappointed with this unit. I bought it to power a
microwave, toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my

house

and I noticed first thing, in the owner's manual it says the inverter

will

not power any "high wattage" equipment that produces heat, such as

microwave

ovens. Yet, on the box, it says you can power a microwave oven. Looks

to

me like false advertisement.

I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at

the

1200 watt setting. It won't run. Monitoring the AC voltage out of the
inverter, I can see it go to zero when I turn on the heater.

Thanks for any help.



What size wire are you using to connect it to the battery? 3KW is gonna
pull about 250A from the battery so you'll need some BIG cable like
you'd use to connect to a starter motor. Also don't expect to pull even
half that much for more than a couple minutes without the engine
running, even with it, most cars have less than a 100A alternator so
your continuous load will be much lower, probably around 500W for an
average car.


I am using the input cables that Vector provided with the inverter. I think
I read in the manual that they are #4 awg and there are two positive and two
negative cables. I didn't measure them but they are 3 feet in length or
less.

What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt
electric heater when our electricity goes off. (I thought a 1500 watt
heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter). I'd also
planned to use a microwave oven, a toaster oven, some 60-75 watt lights, but
I didn't intend to run more than one or two of these items at a time, and
obviously had planned to run the toaster by itself and the microwave and the
heater. I didn't realize I was going to have to have so much input current
available to power the inverter. Kind of foils my plan because I had hoped
to put a battery in a nice case, put that on the bottom of a two wheel
dolly, mount the inverter to a piece of plywood and mount that to the dolly,
wire it up and then have a set up I could wheel into the living room when
the power goes out and plug in the heat or some lights, the tv, or whatever
I needed. I was hoping someone who has such a set up would see my post and
offer some suggestions on what worked for them. It appears I should have
gone the route of the generator, but I opted not to do that because of the
carbon monoxide and also routing a power cable from outside my house to the
interior won't be easy (all brick home).

I like the idea of powering the furnace motor with a setup like this, but I
have a heat pump so unfortunately, that isn't an option for me.

Thanks for your input.

JR North wrote:
If you have anything more than a couple lamps to run, a genny is the way
to go. During the Big Blow in Seattle a couple weeks ago, my power was
down for 4 days. I have a 5500 watt 10HP genny, wired to a transfer
switch on the 240 main bus. I had enough power to start and run the
furnace blower (1 HP), several lights including outside, TV, fridge, 1
KW microwave and even 1500 watt deep fat fryer. Not ALL high draw items
at the same time. With an adequate genny, all you have to do is keep it
fueled. No messing with power cables, dangerously high currents,
extension cords, inability to start high draw induction loads or
hydrogen from charging the batteries, etc. With most consumers on, I
measured 114V in the house system. The TV didn't mind the dirty power at
all. We were snug and warm, while most of my neighbors were freezing in
the glare of battery powered florescent camping lanterns.
JR



Agreed, though I used an inverter at night in that same storm. Some
A-hole down the street ran his generator 24 hours a day, I bet he'd love
it if I mowed my lawn at 3am this spring.

James Sweet wrote:
JR North wrote:
If you have anything more than a couple lamps to run, a genny is the way
to go. During the Big Blow in Seattle a couple weeks ago, my power was
down for 4 days. I have a 5500 watt 10HP genny, wired to a transfer
switch on the 240 main bus. I had enough power to start and run the
furnace blower (1 HP), several lights including outside, TV, fridge, 1
KW microwave and even 1500 watt deep fat fryer. Not ALL high draw items
at the same time. With an adequate genny, all you have to do is keep it
fueled. No messing with power cables, dangerously high currents,
extension cords, inability to start high draw induction loads or
hydrogen from charging the batteries, etc. With most consumers on, I
measured 114V in the house system. The TV didn't mind the dirty power at
all. We were snug and warm, while most of my neighbors were freezing in
the glare of battery powered florescent camping lanterns.
JR



Agreed, though I used an inverter at night in that same storm. Some
A-hole down the street ran his generator 24 hours a day, I bet he'd love
it if I mowed my lawn at 3am this spring.

You don't have to wait, just put in one of your gay porn dvds and turn
the volume all the way up and start jerking off on his lawn.

My neighbor did too, but he had a little put-put 1.5 job that was well
muffled and not objectionable. My genny is LOUD, but I had the common
decency to shut it down by 10:30pm.
JR

James Sweet wrote:

JR North wrote:

If you have anything more than a couple lamps to run, a genny is the
way to go. During the Big Blow in Seattle a couple weeks ago, my power
was down for 4 days. I have a 5500 watt 10HP genny, wired to a
transfer switch on the 240 main bus. I had enough power to start and
run the furnace blower (1 HP), several lights including outside, TV,
fridge, 1 KW microwave and even 1500 watt deep fat fryer. Not ALL high
draw items at the same time. With an adequate genny, all you have to
do is keep it fueled. No messing with power cables, dangerously high
currents, extension cords, inability to start high draw induction
loads or hydrogen from charging the batteries, etc. With most
consumers on, I measured 114V in the house system. The TV didn't mind
the dirty power at all. We were snug and warm, while most of my
neighbors were freezing in the glare of battery powered florescent
camping lanterns.
JR



Agreed, though I used an inverter at night in that same storm. Some
A-hole down the street ran his generator 24 hours a day, I bet he'd love
it if I mowed my lawn at 3am this spring.


--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

In addition to my other post, for cooking during a power failure I use this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43343
along with a 30# propane bottle and regulator. This will run an
amazingly long time on that. This unit is WAY better than the usual
Coleman camping stove setup. CO warnings apply.
JR


Mike wrote:

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:aWGkh.6947$9H4.2464@trndny07...

Mike wrote:

I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up

today to

my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without).

When

I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might

have

one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start

as

soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat

and

only come on when needed?

So far I am really disappointed with this unit. I bought it to power a
microwave, toaster oven and some lights when the power goes out at my

house

and I noticed first thing, in the owner's manual it says the inverter

will

not power any "high wattage" equipment that produces heat, such as

microwave

ovens. Yet, on the box, it says you can power a microwave oven. Looks

to

me like false advertisement.

I also tried plugging in a little "milk house" heater that was set at

the

1200 watt setting. It won't run. Monitoring the AC voltage out of the
inverter, I can see it go to zero when I turn on the heater.

Thanks for any help.



What size wire are you using to connect it to the battery? 3KW is gonna
pull about 250A from the battery so you'll need some BIG cable like
you'd use to connect to a starter motor. Also don't expect to pull even
half that much for more than a couple minutes without the engine
running, even with it, most cars have less than a 100A alternator so
your continuous load will be much lower, probably around 500W for an
average car.


I am using the input cables that Vector provided with the inverter. I think
I read in the manual that they are #4 awg and there are two positive and two
negative cables. I didn't measure them but they are 3 feet in length or
less.

What I was hoping to accomplish with this was to be able to run a 1500 watt
electric heater when our electricity goes off. (I thought a 1500 watt
heater would just sit there and coast on a 3000 watt inverter). I'd also
planned to use a microwave oven, a toaster oven, some 60-75 watt lights, but
I didn't intend to run more than one or two of these items at a time, and
obviously had planned to run the toaster by itself and the microwave and the
heater. I didn't realize I was going to have to have so much input current
available to power the inverter. Kind of foils my plan because I had hoped
to put a battery in a nice case, put that on the bottom of a two wheel
dolly, mount the inverter to a piece of plywood and mount that to the dolly,
wire it up and then have a set up I could wheel into the living room when
the power goes out and plug in the heat or some lights, the tv, or whatever
I needed. I was hoping someone who has such a set up would see my post and
offer some suggestions on what worked for them. It appears I should have
gone the route of the generator, but I opted not to do that because of the
carbon monoxide and also routing a power cable from outside my house to the
interior won't be easy (all brick home).

I like the idea of powering the furnace motor with a setup like this, but I
have a heat pump so unfortunately, that isn't an option for me.

Thanks for your input.

You need very hefty power leads to connect it to the battery.
What did you use?

I'll also bet that the Vector unit is good for a lot less than
3000 watts continuous.

Mike wrote:
I just bought a Vector Maxx SST 3,000 power inverter. Hooked it up today to
my car battery. (Tried it with the motor running as well as without). When
I powered up the inverter, with a 40 watt light lamp load, I noticed the
light is pretty dim and the fans did not start and run on the inverter.
Looking through the owner's manual, I don't see where they say anything
about how the fans operate. I am wondering if someone out there might have
one of these inverters and can tell me if the fans are supposed to start as
soon as you apply the 12 volts or are they controlled by a thermostat and
only come on when needed?