750 watt inverter

[adamant]

was thinking about picking up 2 golf cart batterys from sam's club for running a fan and radio. they also have an 750 watt inverter.

do you think that inverter will be large enough?

http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_shopping.jsp?n=0&oidPath=0%3a-23542%3a-32122%3a-32126%3a-32134%3a647705&coe=0&BV_SessionID=_SC_0343115010.1087177284_CS_&BV_EngineID=cccdadcljfiddijcfkfcfkjdgoodfkh.0

or i was going to pick up one that is made up (see link below)

http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=product%2Easp&catid=114&subid=858&hierid=1638&prdid=10037445&log

[hertig]

750 watts should be more than enough to run a fan and a radio. Look on your fan and your radio for the power consumption. It will either say the watts (add them up) or the current (multiply by 120 to get watts). Power (watts) = Voltage (volts) x Current (amps). I couldn't get to the Sams Club page, so don't know if its a good brand or not.

However, that second one looks pretty good. Xantrex is a known brand, and that's a conveniant looking package. It provides 60 amp-hours, which means you can use maybe X amps for Y hours, where X * Y < 30 (don't want to take a battery below 50% for the longest battery life). That is probably 20 hours of radio and fan (assuming they total 150 watts, that is 150/120 or 1.25 amps -> say 1.5 amps with losses in the converter, and 30/1.5 = 20 hours)

[adamant]

thanks for the info...i like to make one up with 2 golf cart batterys...
but i need to learn more about it...
anthony

[adamant]

http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_shopping.jsp?n0&oidPath=0%3a-23542%3a-32122%3a-32126%3a-32134&coe=0&BV_SessionID=_SC_1462537732.1087268546_CS_&BV_EngineID=ccdcadcljfififfcfkfcfkjdgoodflh.0

[hertig]

For portable usage, keep in mind that 'golf cart' batteries will likely be subject to spillage if they tip over, either have a high center of gravity (sometimes much taller than they are wide) or take up lots of floor space (need 2 @ 6volts each and if not tall tend to be quite wide), and generally need constant maintenance (fill with distilled water every month or 3) as they charge/discharge. The Glass Mat batteries in the premade solution claim not to have these annoyances, and I doubt you'll beat that price by much building it yourself.