This is a picture of how the inverter and battery are hooked up.  It only takes a few seconds to attach the clips to the battery posts, then you push the on/off switch, on the power inverter, to the on position and plug in your appliances into the outlets on the inverter. 

The wattage of your AC Power Inverter will depend on what items you want to plug into it during an outage.  The larger wattage items will require an AC power inverter capable of more wattage.  A 600 watt power inverter will not power something that takes 800 watts to run.  You will also need to find out how long your battery will last before it is fully discharged, or have spare batteries on hand. 

Remember, once a battery is drained of electricity, your appliance will no longer run, so you have to make sure you have enough electricity to last the entire time it is needed. That is why you have to know how many watts are being used by an appliance you will plug into your AC power inverter and how long the power will last for them.  (See wattage chart below for some examples)

We have a 700 watt AC power inverter, with three outlets and a standard size 12 volt car battery and they support a lamp, clock radio and cell phone charger just fine.  We have never run out of power before the electricity was restored in the house. 

Another consideration is whether your AC power inverter has a USB port.  If you plan on connecting a computer to your inverter, then this is another thing to look for when purchasing your power inverter. 

Do you get a modified sine wave or pure sine wave inverter?  The modified sine wave inverters work just fine for most instances.  The pure sine wave inverters are much closer to the electricity found in your house.  A computer or television will probably work much better and have a clearer picture with a pure sine wave inverter, whereas a radio, lamp or cell phone charger work great on a modified sine wave inverter.  It will depend on what you are running with your inverter as to the type you should purchase.   

 General Safety Precautions:

• Place the AC power inverter on a reasonably flat surface.
• Keep the AC power inverter dry. Do not expose it to rain or moisture. DO NOT operate the AC power inverter if you, the inverter, the device being operated, or any other surfaces that may come in contact with any power source are wet. Water and many other liquids can conduct electricity, which may lead to serious injury or death.
• Avoid placing the AC power inverter on or near heating vents, radiators or other sources of heat. Do not place the AC power inverter in direct sunlight. Ideal air temperature is between 50° and 80° F.
• In order to properly disperse heat generated while the AC power inverter is in operation, keep it well ventilated. While in use, maintain several inches of clearance around the top and sides of the inverter.
• Do not use the inverter near flammable materials.  

 AMPS X 120 (AC voltage) = WATTS 

 

Usage Chart for Some Common Appliances Appliance Est. Watts   Appliance Est. Watts Coffee pot (10 cup) 1200 VCR 40-60 Coffee pot (4 cup) 650 CD or DVD Player 35 Toaster 800-1500 Stereo 30-100 Cappuccino Maker 1250 Clock Radio 50 Coffee Grinder 100 Blender 300 Microwave (600 to 1000 W cooking power) 1100-2000 W (elec. consumption)   Laptop Computer PC & Monitor   50-75 200-400 Waffle iron 1200 Game Console (X-Box) 100 Hot plate 1200 Space Heater 1000-1500 Frying pan 1200 Iron 1000 Toaster Oven 1200 Washing machine 920 Blow dryer 900-1500 12" 3 speed table fan 230 Cell phone charger 20 TV - 12"  B&W 30 Light Bulb 60, 100 Lamp with 3 bulbs 180, 300   These are approximate wattages.  Check your appliances for exact amounts.

Q.  I need an inverter that can feed good power to a UPS, so that the UPS won't always engage in battery mode.  What do you suggest?

A.  The AIMS 600 watt pure sine wave inverter should work fine with a UPS.  It may need to have the neutral line grounded, but can be tried without first.

 

Q.  I have a 12 volt with 2 - 6 volt sealed batteries.  It has a plug in for a regular charger.  Will the Vector 2 amp float mode battery charger work on a sealed type battery, similar to a spot light battery?

A.  Yes this charger will work as long as the 2 – 6 volt batteries are connected in series outputting a voltage of 12 Volts.

 

Q.  I have a 12 volt car battery and then I have a scooter with a six volt.  Will the 12 volt Battery Tender Charger charge them both?

A.  No, you need a separate 6 volt battery charger for the 6 volt battery.

 

Q.  Can you plug a UPS into the AIMS 300 watt pure sine wave inverter without damage to either?  Will the inverter auto reset itself after a fault?

A.  Yes, you can plug a UPS into this inverter, but some UPS’s require the AC neutral line (white wire) to be grounded to earth.  No, it must be reset manually.

 

Q.  Do you have an inverter that can be used for running a miller stick welder?  The specs are:  230v, 56/60Hz, rated output 100 amps, 100% duty cycle and 47.5 at 230 volts.  It’s a Miller Thunderbolt XL 225/150, AC/DC.

A.  Yes, the only one that will work is the AIMS 7000 watt industrial grade modified sine wave power inverter, 24 volt DC to 240 volt AC.

 

Q.  If I bought a 3000 watt inverter, and ran it flat out on a fully charged car battery, how long would the power last?

A.  A 3000 watt inverter would put about 250 amps of load on a battery, when at max out.  The battery supplier will have to tell you the rest, since every battery has a different capacity.

 

Q.  Will the XP Powerpack 200 inverter power my wall cube rated at 120 volts AC, 60 Hz (17 watts)?

A.  Yes, it will work fine for your wall cube.

 

Q.  My electric chair requires a 3 amp charger at 110 volt AC.  What size inverter do I need to supply this from 12 volt DC?

A.  A 750 watt inverter will be sufficient.

 

Q.  Can a 5,000 watt modified sine wave power inverter be used to power electrical baseboards, or a space heating system?  If yes, can this be done over a 5 to 6 hour period daily?

A.  Yes, that will work for most heating systems, except sometimes, when they have variable heating.  That may require a pure sine wave inverter.  Most standard heaters do work even with variable fan speeds.  The inverter will work as long as the batteries have enough voltage level to support it for a 5 to 6 hour period.

 

Q.  What size cable should I use from a 1000 watt modified sine wave inverter to the battery, for a 10 foot run?

A.  It should be 4 Awg cable.  Normally a 6 Awg cable would be okay, but for 10 feet you want a bit larger size.

 

Q.  Is the cigarette outlet plug on the Vector 225 watt MAXX SST power inverter permanently part of the inverter, or is it the removable screw on type?

A.  It is the permanent type.

 

Q.  Does the AIMS 3000 watt pure sine wave inverter, 24 volt unit have a sleeping mode when not in use for battery power saving?

A.  No, there is no sleep mode.  The problem with sleep modes is that when a small load is plugged into an inverter in sleep mode, it won't pull it out of sleep mode and the small device won't work until a larger load is plugged in and takes the inverter out of sleep mode.

 

Q.  I am setting up a solar and wind system at my cabin and was wondering if the Vector 3000 watt power inverter could be wired directly into my breaker box?  I have all gas appliances including dryer and refrigerator.

A.  With a proper transfer switch, to isolate the main power from the inverter, it will be possible, but I would recommend an inverter with a built-in charger and transfer switch for this type of application.

 

Q.  Does the Vector 2 Amp float mode battery charger come with the female socket, which would be permanently attached to the battery that the charger plug goes into?

A.  No it does not, just alligator clips and an AC plug.

 

Q.  How many amps are in the charger of the AIMS 1500 watt power inverter with built-in charger?

A.  It's about a 3 amp trickle charger.

 

Q.  What else comes with the Vector 2500 watt power inverter?

A.  Nothing else comes with it.  The cables and remote control are sold separately.

 

Q.  On the AIMS 5000 watt modified sine wave inverter, I noticed that a person can wire this up to use the full 5000 watts.  Which wires are positive and negative?

A.  The black wire is hot, the white wire is neutral and the green wire is the ground.

 

Q.  Will the XP Powerpack 200 unit work for a heated waterer that uses 100 watts and will it work for about 6 hours at night?

A.  This will operate a heated waterer, but unfortunately it will only operate it for 2 hours, depending if it has a thermostat or not.  If it has a thermostat, it will operate for longer than 2 hours.

 

Q.  Can I install the AIMS 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter and run an Oxygen Concentrater, or do I have to have a UPS too?

A.  No, you don’t need a UPS.  The inverter will provide AC power as long as the battery can supply 12 volt DC power.  The combination of the load, alternator and battery will determine if you need a larger alternator or more batteries.

 

Q.  Can I use the AIMS 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter to power the block heater in my diesel?  It's about 1000 watts. I need to be able to heat it for about 2 hours. The truck has 2-900 CCA batteries in parallel. Do you think that the batteries will be able to handle that?

A.  First, I would recommend going up one size to a 1500 watt inverter.  Secondly, the 2-900 CCA batteries have no relevance.  If the load is about 1000 watts, you will need the batteries to have at least 200 amp hours of capacity (which they probably do).  It should work, but it really depends on the amp hours of the batteries.

 

Q.  I own a travel trailer that has a 124 watt television and 8 watt DVD player, also an occasional laptop computer.  Do you have an inverter that would work well for this situation?  I have two 6 volt batteries that I use for my final 12 volts.

A.  The AIMS 180 watt pure sine wave inverter should work okay.  If you want to connect direct to the battery, you should get the 300 watt pure sine wave inverter instead.

 

Q.  What size inverter would be needed to run several grinders and a tire machine that pulls around 25 to 30 amps, without kicking out and shutting off?

A.  If the tire machine runs at 25-30 amps by itself, then the AIMS 8000 watt modified sine wave power inverter 12 volt would work for you.

 

Q.  Will the XP Powerpack 600 HD run a potable skill saw?  It pulls 12 amps at start up.

A.  No, this unit does not have sufficient power to run the saw.

 

Q.  Can you please tell me how many watt-hours the Douglas DG12-55UTH battery can produce?

A.  It produces 16.65 watt-hours per pound and 1.69 watt-hours per inch.

 

Q.  What type of inverter is needed to power an electronic Yamaha 650 keyboard and two speakers for an outdoor performance?

A. A pure sine wave inverter is needed and the size of the inverter will depend on the amps and wattage being used.

 

Q.  Will the AIMS 3-way automatic transfer switch work for powering my home panel with a battery back up of 4, 12 volt dry cell batteries and push any remaining power back through the meter.  In other words, run the power meter backwards?

A.  No, you need a grid tie inverter to do this and we don't sell any of those inverters at this time.

 

Q.  I am looking for a backup power source for my sump pump.  A single 1/2 hp pump that draws 10 amps.  I need something I can have plugged in to the A/C outlet and will switch to battery power automatically.  Will the Xpower 5000 inverter with remote switch do that?

A.  No, this inverter will not work.  You need an inverter with a built-in charger and an automatic transfer switch for this type of application.

 

Q.  How far away from the power inverter will the GP-SWR-B remote switch work?

A.  Ten feet maximum.

 

Q.  Will a 180 watt pure sine wave inverter provide sufficient wattage to run both a cell phone and a laptop, or do I need an inverter with more wattage?

A.  The cigarette lighter socket will not provide more than 180 watts, so if you are drawing more power, you will need to connect direct to the battery with a larger inverter.  The question is too general as it lists no specifics.  A cell phone charger is not much power, but a laptop may be 80 watts to 220 watts, so you need to add the watts and stay below 180 for the 180 watt inverter to power both.

 

Q.  Which inverter would have the lowest total harmonic distortion, would perform best under the load and would be of the highest quality for a high-end audio/video setup in a vehicle?

A.  In a vehicle you don't get a really good ground, so the possibility of noise is always there.  The AIMS pure sine wave industrial grade models have the lowest harmonics and a 1500 watt inverter should work for this application.

 

Q.  What does Soft Start mean?

A.  Soft Start means it ramps up to the peak and doesn’t just jolt there.

 

Q.  What are the CCA's for the Douglas DG12-100UTH battery?

A.  These Douglas batteries are not rated in cranking amps.  They are mainly used for power back-ups and the telecomm industry.   I would not recommend them for a cranking battery.

 

Q.  Will the AIMS 2500 watt modified sine wave power inverter, 24 volts, run florescent lights okay and will they make noise?

A.  There is no guarantee that the modified sine wave inverter would work for those lights.  Usually they are okay with a modified sine wave inverter, but they may flicker and make a slight buzz.  To guarantee they will work okay, you need a pure sine wave inverter.

 

Q.  Can I use the Duracell/Xantrex PowerSource 1800 to run my fridge and how many minutes will it run, if only the fridge is connected?

A.  Yes, you can use this to run your fridge and here are some examples of how long items will run using the PowerSource 1800: Cordless phone 5W-63 hrs, Table lamp 40W-10.5 hrs, Cell phone 5W-63 hrs, 13" TV 38W-11 hrs, Internet modem 6W-56 hrs, Desktop computer 200W-1.5 hrs, Inkjet printer 8W-46 hrs, 8.8 cu. ft. freezer 80W-4.5 hrs, Clock radio 8W-46 hrs, 18 cu. foot fridge 120W-2.8 hrs, Laptop computer 20W-22 hrs, Sump pump ½ HP 300W-1 hr, 20" LCD monitor 52W-7.5 hrs, Microwave 920W-12 min.