pc and power converter questions

[lightspeed]

i have a question to anyone who might know , i have asked before on here about using a desktop computer and a power converter i looked in heartland catalog and they have a 5000 w/10000w for 399.99b with shipping for 14.95 its suppose to run up to 60 inch tv's and a lot of others stuff . what i am wanting to do is get the e machine desktop pc with a 7 ? gb memory and a 500 or more hard drive on it (factory ) i know poeple say laptops use a lot less but they don't have this much memory and hard drive for the 398 price of this e machine at wal mart either (otherwise i would get one . )
so what i am wondering is using a power converter a pc like what i mentioned e machine and a lcd pc screen 14 ? inch , will it run the auxillery battery down quick ? the auxillery battery would probably be a deep cell battery from wal mart .
i might have a ac/dc type cooler fridge (they look like an ice chest .) or is their any better power converters out their thats the same thats better for that price or less , less is better lol ! thanks in advance on all this !!

[markopolo]

That unit is more than you need.

Computer 200 to 500 watts + monitor 40 watts = 540 watts max. A 1000 watt inverter will easily do the job.

Divide the total watts you are powering by 10 to figure out the DC amp hrs drawn from your battery. Using 10 instead of 12 (12v system) allows for efficiency losses. Inverters are typically only 90% efficient.

So let's say the computer is using 260 watts and your monitor is using 40 watts for a total of 300 watts. Divide that by 10 to get DC amp hr = 30 amp hr.
One new 12v deep cycle battery should be rated 120 amp hr. Most RV'ers won't let the battery get below 50% capacity so that means you only have 60 amp hrs to use. In this example you'd be able to run your computer for two hours before you would need to charge your battery.

[lightspeed]

hello and thanks for answering markopolo what you figured was for a desktop computer right that i mentioned and not for a laptop . also i mentioned about one of the ice chest type ac/dc refrigerators did you figure that in to? and if so will a thousand watt converter still be ok or should i bump it up to the next size ?? i would be running one of those very small wal mart microwave ovens to from time to time i think they are 700 watts . would it be better if i had two of those twelve volt deep cell batteries from wal mart to use ? thanks again will be waiting for your reply .

[g1g]

I don't know how much the cooler draws but I doubt it is much. Like Marco said a 1000w would work for the computer but the oven would need more power. I suggest if you need the oven turn off the computer for that short time. Just don't run both at the same time. The reason is the bigger the inverter the more power it will draw even without anything on. Example is if the inverter uses 10% of its capacity a 2000w inverter will use 200w and a 1000w inverter would use 100w. Don't quote the 10% factor that is just for example but the actual figures work pretty much the same.
As for batteries I would reccomend more. One will not give you much time. Exactly how many needed you have to ask yourself how much will you be using them and how will you be recharging them as well as what size batterys are you talking about, they can range from about 500w to 1000w. Personally the more the better (within reason 2 minimum and 4 max) as long as you have a place to put them and can handle the weight. In a B I doubt you will fit 4 batteries but 2 is common

[markopolo]

I agree with everything g1g posted.

A regular household outlet in your home is 15 amps AC or 1800 watts. That gives you an idea of how oversized a 5000 watt inverter is.

A pure sine wave inverter would be better for your situation than a modified sine wave inverter. It will be better for both your computer and your microwave oven. Example: In a microwave oven, popcorn might take 4 minutes to pop using a modified sine wave inverter but only 3 minutes to pop using a pure sine wave inverter.

I'd suggest going to 1250 or 1500 watt inverter if you are going to try powering a small microwave oven. The 700 cooking watts probably actually uses a 1000 watts or more.

You might find this post: http://www.classbforum.com/phpBB2/vi...9&t=779&p=2371 interesting.

[lightspeed]

thanks for your replies i am working off a very minimum income and have to watch my money aren't pure sine converters high? for a 2500 watt? also i am wondering if a high output alternator would be good to use in my van to help charge up my regular battery and maybe two auxillery deep cell batteries to keep them all charged better???

[lightspeed]

does anyone know if an individual can buy from a place like this ( or does anyone know of any places like this an individual can order from and would it be safe to do so ?)and if so is it any cheaper including shipping than bidding on ebay for a pure sine converter " it says on the web site from 1 order to whatever.

http://rsnb.manufacturer.globalsources. ... verter.htm