inverters and the lies

[Dodgy Diver]

so I want a inverter to be able to boil a kettle a couple of times a day
so being niave I went to ebay and got a 4000w sine inverter
now I am a electrician so understand well that 4000w will happily power a 1800w kettle ... eeerrrr NO it won't
cheap crap from china tells lies , in fact it won't power anything above 450w
so with out having to sell a kidney what can I buy that will boil a kettle and power my laptop and the such please

 

[paulajayne]

Buy cheap buy twice.
The 4000 watts will be a momentary peak - need to look at continuous power.
Have you got the link to the eBay one?

 

[Dodgy Diver]

not to hand but I threw it in the bin to be honest
they refunded me but on the front it says 3000w/4000w so I assumes 4000 was the peak

 

[Zing]

My Mastervolt inverter output seems to be spec.

 

[Laysula]

Buy a 12v kettle.

 

[Dodgy Diver]

Buy a 12v kettle.

id still like to have 240v on board

 

[paulajayne]

Buy 1 kw caravan kettle.

Victron inverters are recommended.

 

[oldgit]

just bought one of these.
Petrol Generator Inverter Portable Suitcase Silent 2200W 2.2kw 2.8kVa HYUNDAI 600231974288 | eBay

They were doing deal at around £400.00.
Needed something to run the immersion heater in the calorifier. Seems to do the job.

 

[jrudge]

Sure it is not voltage drop on the 24v side

 

[Norman_E]

Buy 1 kw caravan kettle.

Victron inverters are recommended.

Caravan kettle is the way to go if you want to use an inverter. I had Sterling Power 1500 watt inverter (not pure sine wave) to power a mains voltage fridge compressor and I am pretty sure it would have coped with a 1000 watt kettle. There are even lower wattage kettles available. I have seen them as low as 650 watts.

 

[Mistroma]

not to hand but I threw it in the bin to be honest
they refunded me but on the front it says 3000w/4000w so I assumes 4000 was the peak

This one says 4000W Peak Car Power Inverter DC 12V to AC 220V Converter Modified Sine Wave UK

It's a modified sine wave (i.e square wave ). The specification says "Rated Power: 300W"

It's a super cheap £23 300W inverter.
4000W Peak Car Power Inverter DC 12V to AC 220V Converter Modified Sine Wave UK | eBay

It might be similar to the one you bought unless yours was a lot more expensive. You said "sine inverter" as if you meant pure-sine wave, perhaps not.

I think most people would expect a 4000W pure-sine wave inverter to be pretty expensive.

 

[Mistroma]

id still like to have 240v on board

I imagine you'd also want to boil more than 250-300 mls and prefer it to happen in less than 15-20 minutes.

I think most 12V kettles are pretty limited. Perhaps someone makes a 3000W 12V model but you'd need to site it almost on top of the battery.

 

[Dodgy Diver]

This one says 4000W Peak Car Power Inverter DC 12V to AC 220V Converter Modified Sine Wave UK

It's a modified sine wave (i.e square wave ). The specification says "Rated Power: 300W"

It's a super cheap £23 300W inverter.
4000W Peak Car Power Inverter DC 12V to AC 220V Converter Modified Sine Wave UK | eBay

It might be similar to the one you bought unless yours was a lot more expensive. You said "sine inverter" as if you meant pure-sine wave, perhaps not.

I think most people would expect a 4000W pure-sine wave inverter to be pretty expensive.

the unit was £245

 

[Dodgy Diver]

I imagine you'd also want to boil more than 250-300 mls and prefer it to happen in less than 15-20 minutes.

I think most 12V kettles are pretty limited. Perhaps someone makes a 3000W 12V model but you'd need to site it almost on top of the battery.

it was mounted right next to the battery bank , its easier to move current when the voltage is higher thus smaller cable sizes

 

[Mistroma]

it was mounted right next to the battery bank , its easier to move current when the voltage is higher thus smaller cable sizes

Yes, exactly my point. I was responding to the comment about getting a 12V kettle.

A 3000w 12V kettle would need to be right next to the battery (in the same place you'd fit a 3000W inverter. They'd both need approx. the same current and that's why I can't see anyone making a 3000W 12V kettle.

12V kettles will be wimpy 100W devices with moderately sized cables. Only able to boil a small volume of water and also take quite a long time to complete the task.

 

[Mistroma]

the unit was £245

Makes more sense than the £23 one. I doubt anyone would expect that to work at that price.

I didn't see any 4000W ones at that price, certainly cheap for a model with that output. I'd expect it to be 2-3 times the amount you paid.

 

[Bigplumbs]

My Chinese inverter boils a small kettle fine. But it is a smaller wattage kettle on a 110 am battery. Sorry about the wind noise

 

[vas]

victron, mastervolt is what you need. There are a few CN ones that are good, problem is sourcing them! go by size and weight

My 3000VA victron pure sine inverter/charger (24V system) will happily run a measured 1800W watermaker as long as the batteries can.
Price north of 1k though, weight in the 15-20kg range, bulkhead mounted next to the batteries.

 

[Norman_E]

OK A bit of theory: It takes 1000 calories to raise 1 liter of water one degree C. Assume you need to get i litre from room temperature of 20C to 100C. That needs 80,000 calories. I watt equals 0.24 calories per second, which means that you need to apply 1000 watts of power for about five and a half minutes, plus extra time to actually boil any of the water, which need the application of 212 calories for every gram boiled. Really its not a job for an inverter and mains kettle, and explains why most of us use gas to heat or boil water on board. I would only consider an electric kettle for brewing a hot drink whilst sailing solo when I did not want to go below and light gas. In that case I would consider a 12 volt travel kettle designed to fit into a car cup holder, and therefor capable of fitting into the cockpit table.

 

[BartW]

victron, or mastervolt is what you need.

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