Genpower Inverter

Bruce Mc · Veteran Member

Genpower Inverter

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Better and more efficient to run your PC on DC if you can.
In any case, a much smaller capacity inverter would be more appropriate. What is the input requirement of the charger?
I would buy a good quality one.

Cheers,
Peter

Bruce Mc · Veteran Member

The PC will draw 720 watts so I thought I should aim for 1000 watt in case we run other items at the same time. We have plenty of battery and solar power to cope with the draw.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

720W?????????????
I doubt that very much........what are the numbers on the charger?
Mine is 1.7A charger input, that is 408W at 240V.
The output of the charger that goes to the computer is 3.34A at 19.5V which is 66W (which is why a DC power supply is much better power use wise).

Cheers,
Peter

Meredith · Senior Member

Are you sure about the 720 watts? Our laptop draws 90 watts, even a large desktop shouldn't need anything like 720 watts.

Bruce Mc · Veteran Member

The attached photo is the spec label off the unit. I read it at 3 amps and 240 volts results in 720 watt.

Bruce Mc · Veteran Member

Ive googled the spec on the PC and it looks to draw 220watts so the requirement is much lower. So at the lower watts is there anyone out there using a Genpower Inverter?

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

A 250W inverter would do that comfortably, but a DC supply would be much cheaper and use much less power, as I said previously.

Cheers,
Peter

IAN zzz · Veteran Member

Totally agree with the info given by Peter

Bruce Mc · Veteran Member

When you refer to a DC supply do you mean normal mains power (or Pure Sine Generator) or is there some other type of unit?

We are using a desktop and it doesnt have a power adaptor like you would with a laptop so its 240 volts in and no conversion to lower volts as you would with a laptop.

-- Edited by Bruce Mc on Monday 28th of May 2018 07:15:03 AM

Jaahn · Guru

Hi smile

You can get an inverter which converts 12V DC from the batteries to 240V AC for use by normal electrical items like your computer. Buy a pure sine wave unit rated at say several hundred watts. Do not go too big as there are disadvantage to that. Look on ebay or camping stores or electronic suppliers for one. Then ask for more advice setting it up for efficient use.

Jaahn

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Bruce Mc wrote:
When you refer to a DC supply do you mean normal mains power (or Pure Sine Generator) or is there some other type of unit?
We are using a desktop and it doesnt have a power adaptor like you would with a laptop so its 240 volts in and no conversion to lower volts as you would with a laptop.

OK, new information smile

Firstly, be carful about the ability of your desk top to travel. It may not handle the vibrations like a lap top which "parks" the hard drive when turned off.

Yes, you will probably need an inverter, but I would buy something as small and as efficient as possible, certainly not a cheap 1000W one.

When choosing, check the standby power requirement of the inverter and its efficiency.

Cheers,

Peter

Barboots · Senior Member

I used desktop hardware including hard drive in a 4WD for numerous years. The usual "box" computer power supply was directly powered by 12V. Little attention to vibration management and the car was used off road every second day. No issues with accumulation of drive errors and definitely no head crashes. FWIW, "parking" a hard drive is irrelevant on hardware made this decade... it's automatic. Cheers, Steve

Mike Harding · Guru

A google indicates the X3900 uses 220W, the monitor will use around
another 30W and the inverter will have an efficiency of about 80%
so your total power consumption will be around 300W.

300W at 12V = 25A

Four hours of computer use will consume 100Ah of 12V energy!

You will need, at least, two and preferably three 100Ah batteries and
a method of replacing that energy. If you are in good solar country
(which excludes Vic and Tas) and the sun is kind then 400W or more of
solar and excellent sunshine will be required for each hour you run
the machine.

What I'm saying is that it's not really practical. If you *really*
want to use the X3900 then you will be better off buying a generator
and powering it directly from that.

----

Oddly enough I have just done a power budget for my computer for when
I go nomad later this year: I have a high end 15.6" notebook with an
Intel 8250 micro.

With its display off this machine consumes 2.5A at 12V when running
through a 240V inverter. Modern 23" monitors consume around 1.7A so
the system will consume around 4.2A plus the inverter overhead - say
5.0A in total. Therefore four hours of use will be 20Ah or one fifth of
your setup but it does mean buying a new computer.

If you can live with just the notebook 15.6" display it consumes 3.0A
at 12V and you could reduce that a bit by using a dedicated 12V
switch mode computer supply. And if you don't need a high-end
notebook then that current will probably come down to 2.5A.

Bruce Mc · Veteran Member

Thanks Mike. The points you raise are what we have been discussing. By the time we buy a good inverter our cost will be similar to that of a basic laptop. Our we are now in debate mode as to ho often we will use th computor to justify the spend.

T1 Terry · Guru

Look at the Victron 275w inverter, quite energy efficient and reliable. The Genpower is just a relabelled Mishto inverter and the 1000w is a tad exaggerated, truly a max 800w continuous output at best and rather inefficient as the claimed 1 amp at an assumed 12v is really a little over 1 amp @ 15v or 15w and that is continuous so needs to be added to the load across the range, a 5 amp draw @ 12.4v becomes around 80w rather than the 60w you'd expect. Not a big issue if only used for short term use, but it all adds up if switched on for long periods.

T1 Terry