Cheap Inverters from Maplin

[Guest]

Dear All,

Just a quick post to say that Maplin have got 12 volt to 240 volt 150Watt inverters on special for £19.99 (reduced from £40ish) at www.maplin.co.uk. I'm not associated with maplin in any way, just thought it was a good bargain buy for fellow boaters -I'll be able to use my laptop on board now ! They come with a cigar lighter type plug, then a 240volt socket on the inverter unit itself, looks like quite a tidy unit.

Nick B.

 

[Whiskey2]

That's great news....... now that i have just paid £65 FOR ONE !

 

[AndrewB]

150W though.

Enough to keep the mobile phone charged but little else (a DC converter would be more efficient). My experience with small inverters is that they won't deliver a continuous supply at the stated output, so really it is less than this.

 

[mike_kolling]

Re: 150W though.

I bought one of these Maplin units a couple of months back, it keeps tripping out after about half an hour and you have to reset it, seems to be getting too hot.
I am only powering a small laptop. You gets what you pay for.

 

[Guest]

Though not Maplin's, my 150W inverter works fine with a laptop.

 

[Guest]

Actually most laptops will run from 12V direct but not charge batterys .......

But good to know - I paid 49.99 for mine and its a very useful little number !! Only problem was mine has a two pin output, not the UK 3 job !

 

[jfkal]

Re: 150W though.

Agree. There AC is not clean and poses difficulties for the charger. Efficiency is terrible (goes into heat and trips). I cut them all out and run stabilized DC from the main battery one of those 75XX type of voltage regulators. Charging seems to be a bit weak as noted in the earlier post. But it runs fine and charges with the laptop off nicely. Cost 50 pence. Energy saving 70 %. Need to run the heater now in winter (

 

[jfkal]

Re: 150W though.

Agree. Their AC is not clean and poses difficulties for the charger. Efficiency is terrible (goes into heat and trips). I cut them all out and run stabilized DC from the main battery one of those 75XX type of voltage regulators. Charging seems to be a bit weak as noted in the earlier post. But it runs fine and charges with the laptop off nicely. Cost 50 pence. Energy saving 70 %. Need to run the heater now in winter (

 

[Guest]

Re: 150W though.

Beg to differ mate ... I've had my 150W job for about a year and it peaks at 200, but settles at 150 no problem ... runs my Notebook, charges the mobile as well .... but thats it !

I have run a small CD / Cassette / Radio stereo on it .... 39.99 yellow Argos job ..... ran fine

So whats the problem ????

I even carry it in the car when travelling to run the Video charger etc.

At 19.99 - I may even invest in another one, especially if it has the UK plug socket fitted, unlike my Euro 2 pin job.

I always planned to fit it 'blind' feeding the ring-main via a change-over switch, so that when away from the shore-power I could still have some power at my sockets ..... but maybe not !!

 

[oldharry]

Re: 150W though.

I snapped up one of these Maplin £20 jobs 6 weeks ago, and find it runs my laptop perfectly well, charged up everything that needed charging up, and so far has done everything its supposed to without any problems, particularly during a fortnight aboard when it was in daily use.

Excellent value for money in my opinion.