Is the inverter active even when it is charging? I.e., can I use it just as an inverter while driving? Can't see why not, but I don't see that explicitly stated anywhere.
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I can't see why not either. While driving, this gadget and the car's battery are both being charged by the car's system, which has many times the necessary output to run everything all by itself. You wouldn't want to use the inverter when you were charging the battery from the wall charger, but there's no reason to try that in the first place.
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Steve, this thing supposedly has 200 cold cranking amps available. My mechanic said he thought it would start my 2000 Jeep Cherokee (6 cyl.) Do you agree?
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I thought this had a 14 amp-hour battery and 200 CCA. But when I got it, the specifications for it actually said it had a 12 amp-hour battery and only 120 CCA.
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I have read somewhere you should connect the inverter to the battery. Because of the potential load you are pulling could exceed the charge controller. I am just passing on what i read just got my panels will be installing them soon
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I'm not sure that I understand the question, but I will try to answer what I think is being asked. First, my inverter is directly connected to my power source on my truck. So I don't use anything that will run my truck batteries down while the truck is not running. If this Digital Inverter can be charged from a 110v wall outlet, then it will probably draw a lot of power to charge I would not charge it from my inverter unless my truck is running and I wouldn't be running anything else at the same time.. You could damage the electrical system in your truck and/or damage your inverters. Hope this helps.
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Michelle your would have to look at the watts on the AC unit. ? And I could give u better answer This inverter is really a great unit but keep in mind battery. I tested it out and run a portable ac for 5 minutes on 1 fully charge battery. It worked great. My battery bank at the moment has 4 batterys links to solar panels AC unit would upto 30 minutes on what I have. Hope that helps you Inverter great. But you need a lot of batteries to run power drain units like AC Units
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You will have to get an inverter to charge from a car. Auto Zone has them, I bought one that sits in a cup holder and plugs into your cig lighter works great.
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I'm not sure what you mean. If you're asking if it will still work without the car being either on or on accessory, every car I've ever been in does maintain power to the cigarette outlet even when the car is completely off. If that doesn't work, just turn your car on accessory and it will work fine. You just turn the switch on the invertor on. I'd recommend turning the interior lights off in your car while doing this or run the cord through the window to prevent running the battery dead. If you do that, you won't have a problem with your battery going dead, not even close.
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Hi Jen, We have only used it plugged in. My husband thinks you can charge it and use it while charged. I will tell you it has saved us a towing expense on 3 occasions. Twice with a dead battery. So dead....it wouldn't charge. Once a bad alternator. We used the quick charge function and it worked like a charm so that we could get it to the shop. Good luck.
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No it's a convential one.It uses gasoline.A inverter uses a DC source,car battery then converts it to AC
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I just installed one recently. You are correct, this doesn't plug into an inverter. Instead, the meter display connects only to the solar charge controller for which it is built. Some inverters also have separate remote monitors that you can buy. I chose not to purchase a separate monitor/meter for my inverter since I can clearly see the inverter display where mine is mounted.
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You're probably thinking of a charge controller, not an inverter. And yes, you always need a charge controller so you don't overcharge the battery with the solar panel
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Hey Michael, in my experiences with these inverters, it is best to direct connect to the battery. The cigarette lighter will not carry enough load for most things like laptop, a light, etc.... You can contact the manufacturer and get more specific details on "load". To really use this device the best, connect to battery. Best Buy does installs or any car audio sound shop. I can't remember the product warranty but it is best to have it connected by a professional. My first one stopped working because it had a loose connection and shorted out. Also, I have blown up a couple devices trying to use the cigarette lighter. They melt and smoke. This is electricity, so you must be careful. Hope this helps and good luck.
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honestly i havent set mine up yet but my plan is to hook it up to an inverter then plug a charger into the inverter. but sadly i havent had time to mess with it yet. the inverter will protect your battery from overload though i do know that. it changes the current from direct to alternating so it will become just like a wall socket when there is adequate sunshine. but honestly solar has a ton of ways to hook it up and it all depends on what you want to use it for. youtube has a million different explainations of how it can be used for different things and thats just one source. if you can respond im curious what you plan to use it for? honestly i havent set mine up yet but my plan is to hook it up to an inverter then plug a charger into the inverter. but sadly i havent had time to mess with it yet. the inverter will protect your battery from overload though i do know that. it changes the current from direct to alternating so it will become just like a wall socket when there is adequate sunshine. but honestly solar has a ton of ways to hook it up and it all depends on what you want to use it for. youtube has a million different explainations of how it can be used for different things and thats just one source. if you can... » Read More honestly i havent set mine up yet but my plan is to hook it up to an inverter then plug a charger into the inverter. but sadly i havent had time to mess with it yet. the inverter will protect your battery from overload though i do know that. it changes the current from direct to alternating so it will become just like a wall socket when there is adequate sunshine. but honestly solar has a ton of ways to hook it up and it all depends on what you want to use it for. youtube has a million different explainations of how it can be used for different things and thats just one source. if you can respond im curious what you plan to use it for? « Show Less
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I have an inverter I use that I plug into my cig lighter, if you can wait until I get a chance to test mine...............I should be able to get back to you with an answer on Tuesday or Wednesday. Tim
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Yes, I have been using mine while charging with the USB in my vehicle. No issues.
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Charles E. Embury Sr. said on February 21, 2015 | EditThe inverter is run off of the battery being charged by your panels and has nothing to do with the charging system or the controller. As long as your battery or batteries are charged the the inverter will supply power for you up to the rating of the inverter ,good for running low amp items so as to not kill your battery.
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YES. Although I've never used this while charging in a car, I don't see why that form of use/charging would be any different from use/charging while at home (i.e., plugged into an AC wall outlet). I routinely use this while it's plugged-in and charging. Although it seems to hold a charge for MANY days, if not months, when not in use.....I most often have not used it in a while, so that when I do use it, I charge it at the same time so that by the time I'm finished...it's also fully charged. Hope this helps.
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I will have to get back to you on that question. I assume your inverter output is modified sine wave?Anyway i do belive you can charge the unit with dc power using a male male cord to go into your cigarette lighter. look up the manual online, it will say for sure.