AboutC. R. Construction Expertise All construction related, remodeling related, home improvement related, do it yourself related, and generally generic or specific trades related and construction contract law related questions.
Experience 30 years in the construction industry. Commercial and Residential
Organizations Licensed General Contractor in 2 States
Expert: C. R. Construction Date: 5/9/2005 Subject: Can I use power inverter for this?
Question Have an 18ft Chevy Grumman Olsen step van that was converted to a sandwich truck. Was using a 3500 watt gas generator to power equipment. Would like to switch to a 5000/10000 watt power inverter and 2 deep cycle marine batteries(600/750 amps each) Total equipment use is a max of only 17 amps with fridge (6amps) being only constant power draw(aside from inverter itself) Is this possible to do? How long would I be able to run equipment? Want to use solar panels on roof to keep batteries charged. How many volts should panels be? Please Help
Answer This will be an incomplete answer, but may guide you a bit. The batteries are a non permanent power source. They will start to drain as soon as the appliances are connected. With the voltage drop fluctuating, the inverter will also fluctuate and the AC/DC will be unstable. It will work for a short period of time, but the damage to the appliance would be the concern. The alternator on your vehicle may be the true source for the power. It puts out the constant 13+ volts to the batteries. The solar cells...nice idea..but way too small. You can get the 12 volts..but miliamps.
