car power inverter "generator?"

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osagebow

Minister of Fire
Jan 29, 2012
1,685
Shenandoah Valley, VA
Had no hiccups from Sandy, but got me thinking -

I have a small 600W power inverter for camping use in my car - would running a 10' extension cord to it help me buy some time with a chest freezer in a blackout? Have a basement window next to it close to where I can get a car. Thinking running it an hour or so might buy the chest freezer several more hours?

just a thought...Anybody else ever do this to run lights or a small AC for a bit?
 
I have a pure sine wave inverter for use with my pellet stove. Check your electrical data plate on the freezer to determine watts needed. You may have to times volts x amps to find the wattage requirement. Mine is 2,000 watts, which I plan to run until everything is warm then shut it off til everything gets cold.
 
I doubt 600W is enough to run a freezer and you will burn out your freezer if the inverter can't handle the load.
 
Agreed, not enough juice. I bet when the compressor kicks on, its in the 1500w range.
 
You might be suprizedd how little power the freezer uses actually if its relatively recent. I had my small basement chest freezer running on the generator transfer panel and the watt meeter was < 300 or so. The full size fridge pulled ~ 400.

I'd be concerned about the car battery. Starting batteries are not designed for deep discharge use and you could kill it in under an hour. You would need to start and run the car periodically.

If you want to keep a setup like this for backup you might want a dedicated deep cycle battery.
 
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Agreed, not enough juice. I bet when the compressor kicks on, its in the 1500w range.
+1

The compressor has a starting wattage that more than likely would be over 600 watts. I'm sure the base load would be enough (they don't use much) but starting the compressor is the dangerous part. You could burn out your compressor and/or your inverter. See if your inverter has a surge rating.
 
I doubt 600W is enough to run a freezer and you will burn out your freezer if the inverter can't handle the load.

ok - Thanks all !
I knew wouldn't run it "full bore", but I did NOT know running less juice into it would screw it up.:eek:
That's why I ask before doing something that could be....stupid
 
I used a modified sine wave inverter on a small table top refrigerator, run wattage was well under the rating on the inverter. While it started the compressor OK, after a short while the thermal breaker on the refrig tripped. I also have done the same to power a circulator under backup on power failure. The circ ran, but it really got hot and it buzzed audibly. I think the modified sine wave is the culprit. I would be wary of using a msw inverter with motors and the like, as well as some electronics, especially those without voltage regulation and line filtering or conditioning.
 
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