Running a 1300W coffee machine off a 1200w inverter?

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Oscarpop

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The title says it all i guess

What is the likely outcome of doing this?

A coffee machine doesnt work?

B:coffee machine works but doesnt heat up as fast?

C: Excess load damages inverter?

D: Excessive drain on batteries?

Many thanks in advance.

And apologies in advance to all the luddites that are choking on their organic, hemp tea, boiled on a peat fire at the thought of such modernity on a boat :)
 
Oscarpop said:
The title says it all i guess

What is the likely outcome of doing this?

A coffee machine doesnt work?

B:coffee machine works but doesnt heat up as fast?

C: Excess load damages inverter?

D: Excessive drain on batteries?

Many thanks in advance.

And apologies in advance to all the luddites that are choking on their organic, hemp tea, boiled on a peat fire at the thought of such modernity on a boat :)
Click to expand...


I have a MAB with a 1200watt pure sine wave inverter, it runs the thoroughly modern microwave
 
Beyondhelp said:
If the inverter is any good it will shut down and nothing will happen.
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+1 and even if the inverter is rubbish it will probably do the same.

Just because it says 1300w on the coffee machine, doesn't necessarily mean that's what it draws. It might peak at 1300 on switch on then vey quickly drop to 1200 or less. Most inverters will cope with a short surge. Can you measure the wattage using something like this or, if you already have the inverter, just give it a try.
 
Oscarpop said:
I do, but im a coffee nut and the Nespresso Pixie machines are cheap and efficient.

The inverter is a maxpower 1200 combi.
Click to expand...

Nowhere near as cheap or efficient as a proper gas espresso maker. And the coffee would be better too :)
 
Oscarpop said:
The title says it all i guess

What is the likely outcome of doing this?

A coffee machine doesnt work?

B:coffee machine works but doesnt heat up as fast?

C: Excess load damages inverter?

D: Excessive drain on batteries?

Many thanks in advance.

And apologies in advance to all the luddites that are choking on their organic, hemp tea, boiled on a peat fire at the thought of such modernity on a boat :)
Click to expand...

All of the above are possible.
D. happens anyway
C. might happen if it's a cheap inverter with no cut out.
A reasonable inverter may have a fuse for really excessive over currents

A good quality inverter usually has a margin built in, but it depends on the type (quasi- or pure - sine)

The real question is - "do you feel lucky, punk" :p
 
Get a 12 volt coffee maker, I have one I got from Go Outdoors. You put two cups under it, ground coffee in the top, add water and wait. It does take about 10 minutes to fill the cups and they are not very big but it does work. At home I have a beans to cup espresso machine, on the boat I make do with filter coffee.
 
You might want to consider how much current will be flowing to the inverter. 1300 watts at 12 volts makes 108 amps, which is a substantial current. It will be greater than that; inverters aren't 100% efficient. Even if the inverter will take it, you'll be testing the battery side wiring of the inverter, and may well blow fuses/pop circuit breakers. And if you don't, you may be running wires near their rated capacity, so they may run hot.

As others have said, "Do you feel lucky?"
 
Last edited:
lustyd said:
Nowhere near as cheap or efficient as a proper gas espresso maker. And the coffee would be better too :)
Click to expand...

I have to disagree. totally and in every way possible.

Coffee is scorched at 80 degrees celcius and tastes burnt. The stove top ones boil the water and force it up the spout burning the coffee.

I do have one for emergencies, but its not the same as a decent machine.
 
Oscarpop said:
The title says it all i guess
Click to expand...
I have crew to make coffee!

My late father sailed the seven seas and visited most of the planet in search of the perfect coffee maker. He had lots and lots of coffee makers and still came back to his trusty peculator, worked everywhere from a wood fire, the aga, a gas stove and even with this new fangled electricity.

The trick is selecting the right beans.
 
Oscarpop said:
The title says it all i guess

What is the likely outcome of doing this?

A coffee machine doesnt work?

B:coffee machine works but doesnt heat up as fast?

C: Excess load damages inverter?

D: Excessive drain on batteries?

Many thanks in advance.

And apologies in advance to all the luddites that are choking on their organic, hemp tea, boiled on a peat fire at the thought of such modernity on a boat :)
Click to expand...

I had a Victron 1500w and I used to boil a 2200w jug on it.
It had an overload led and this used to flash.... the faster it flashed the more overloaded it was. It flashed at about half speed. I ran this for a couple of years with no problems at all.

I never overloaded it enough that it shutdown and I think maybe 2500w might have done this but I never found out.
 
Oscarpop said:
I have to disagree. totally and in every way possible.

Coffee is scorched at 80 degrees celcius and tastes burnt. The stove top ones boil the water and force it up the spout burning the coffee.

I do have one for emergencies, but its not the same as a decent machine.
Click to expand...

Wow you truly are a coffee fetishist. I assume then that you don't drink in Starbucks, Costa etc either then since their machines work in exactly the same way?
 
Oscarpop said:
The title says it all i guess

What is the likely outcome of doing this?

A coffee machine doesnt work?

B:coffee machine works but doesnt heat up as fast?

C: Excess load damages inverter?

D: Excessive drain on batteries?

Many thanks in advance.

And apologies in advance to all the luddites that are choking on their organic, hemp tea, boiled on a peat fire at the thought of such modernity on a boat :)
Click to expand...

I can understand your love of the Pixie. We have them at home and on the boat and my crew would throw several things overboard (including the skipper) before the Pixie.

It all depends on your specific inverter and you should check its manual. The Mastervolt 1.2kw for example can handle 2.4kw peak load and will automatically cut out if you overload it for too long.

What model do you have?
 
The question seems a little like asking if a 1300w foot-spa can be operated, to relieve the pain caused by ill-fitting deck-shoes...

...an absurdly over-complicated answer to a problem that only exists if one determinedly avoids the effortless alternative.

Gas, kettle, water, filter-paper, decent ground coffee - are what's needed. I sold the stuff at Harrods, through the 'nineties - I know.

It's true that water at boiling point will scorch the coffee. But it isn't hard to add a splash of cold to stop the bubbling.

I bought a tough, very cheap, black funnel-thing from Ikea, to hold the filter-paper. Tablespoon of coffee in the paper, top with very hot water, wait a minute and the fabulous-smelling brew funnels into the mug. Don't use silly under-sized unstable cups on board.

I can't recommend a cafetière, there's too often a lot of 'soil' in the bottom of the cup. But permanent filters are good - no paper needed. Whichever method you use, it's important that the fineness of the grind matches. And, always buy a decent grade of coffee.

Plus...the coffee needs storing in the fridge after opening. It's a fresh product - develops a foul flavour if it's allowed to degrade.

If my way was remotely difficult, I couldn't manage it before I'd had my morning coffee. Which...would become impossible...

Is Oscarpop one of those chaps who doesn't like LPG on board? I've heard of such people, but I always imagined that they made up for the loss, with inexhaustible banks of deep-cycle batteries...in which case, the 1300w issue would scarcely have arisen...
 
Oscarpop said:
I have to disagree. totally and in every way possible.

Coffee is scorched at 80 degrees celcius and tastes burnt. The stove top ones boil the water and force it up the spout burning the coffee.

I do have one for emergencies, but its not the same as a decent machine.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with the disagreement. I have never seen a proper espresso coming from a gas operated device.

We use this:
http://handpresso.com/produit-1-2-handpresso_wild_e_s_e_.html#

It works fantastic, but you will have a sore arm by the time you have served 4 espresso.

We've tried this:
http://www.techimpex.net/2k9/index.php/en/marine/macchine-da-caffe/expresso.html

looks promising but build design has some serious flaws. After having tried the second non functional set, we gave up on it.

I agree with the high load the nespresso machines impose on the batteries. You may also need a proper sinewave inverter for it to work properly.

I'm still trying to solve the proper espresso question @ 12Volt thing for now.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
You might want to consider how much current will be flowing to the inverter. 1300 watts at 12 volts makes 108 amps, which is a substantial current. It will be greater than that; inverters aren't 100% efficient. Even if the inverter will take it, you'll be testing the battery side wiring of the inverter, and may well blow fuses/pop circuit breakers. And if you don't, you may be running wires near their rated capacity, so they may run hot.

As others have said, "Do you feel lucky?"
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If he has an inverter that will handle 1200watts, plus an allowance, ( my 2500w inverter is rated for short surges up to 7200w), it should already be wired and fused to accept whatever it might draw. If it isn't wired and fused correctly, he has been playing with fire since it was fitted.... Coffee or no coffee.

108 Amps for the 10 minutes it might take to make some coffee is only 18Ah. Out of a reasonable battery bank, this would be small beer.
 
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