Coffee From Inverter Power?

[SteveJ-ClassB]

lived 1+ years full time and peculated coffee on the stove top every day, and still do when traveling. I'm not sure why more don't go this route. Mine makes 9 cups

For me it's a matter of taste. BTDH. Different strokes and all that.

 

[elayjay]

When folks say "with all due respect," what they really mean, is "with no respect." I was in a jocular mood, and kidding around with the subject. I'm sorry if you were offended.

So, anyway, unless your "coffee" device is pulling over 2.5K watts, it should work fine. If it's not working, get your generator serviced. In the end, your propane, your "coffee" pods, your "coffee maker." Have fun.

I wasn't offended, but try an emoji next time. it helps the rest of us know it's a joke. If not it sounds like you are criticizing the OP.

 

[markopolo-ClassB]

Hello, I didn’t see in the above responses that anybody mentioned that the nespresso machines might require a pure sine wave power.?

The Onan does actually output pure sine wave power but the issue could be related to the specifics of the output quality at no load or very light load and the electronics of the Nespresso having an issue with either the voltage or frequency from the Onan. That's when it could easily be out of spec.

It would be worth testing by powering a 600W toaster or some other resistive load at the same time to see if the Nespresso works every time the toaster is also running.

The sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't could also be explained by generator load if the fridge or converter/charger sometimes put enough of a load on the Onan to stabilize the output.

 

[terance13]

From my days working for the US Forest Service...no k-cups back then. Just a pot, ground coffee, stream/river water and matches...we had all the wood we needed for the fire! LOL

 

[booster]

I think this discussion shows the need to have some kind of power analyzer and/or protector.



When we still had an Onan, before we got a hardwired power protector, we used a relatively inexpensive plug in the outlet power monitor. It did have an alarm on it, even, IIRC. It gave volts, frequency, etc so we could see if the Onan was doing a good job or not. It would also show shore power wiring errors, but to be truly safe you had to use it at the post before plugging in, with a 30 amps to 20 amp socket adapter.


I am pretty sure this is the model we had.


https://www.campingworld.com/digital-line-monitor-24900.html

 

[Doctor Old]

Update

Took a short trip and had no issues. We have found that if we start the genny, then plug the machine in and let it warm up and THEN unplug and restart the machine it works fine. Why? Who knows? A very minor annoyance but it works and we’re happy.

 

[booster]

Took a short trip and had no issues. We have found that if we start the genny, then plug the machine in and let it warm up and THEN unplug and restart the machine it works fine. Why? Who knows? A very minor annoyance but it works and we’re happy.

My guess would be it would also be fine if you just it unplugged while the generator is warming up. It is probably seeing the bad power generated as the generator gets up to speed and setting a fault because of it. It probably would be better for the coffee maker to have it unplugged than the fault and restart.

 

[Doctor Old]

Well, we give the generator a couple minutes to warm up before plugging the machine in so I’m not sure what the coffee machine is detecting. I just know we found a quick solution.

 

[micalo]

Hope you found a solution to your problem...
I did not go thrue all the messages but here are my toughts.
I also have a onan 2800 and to my belief it produces 120 volts and i also have a converter that transfers 120 volts to 12 volt. From what i have in the motorhome owners manual it is writen that you cannot have an inverter with the genny, only converter. Also don't know wy you would need one or the other as genny outputs 120 volts and 23.3 amps wich should be good for your coffee machine. Maybe your problem is more like the genny is to low on rpm to produce the power it should. If rpm is good it should work fine.
Sorry for all the gramatical errors
Mike

 

[Calson]

Running a generator to power a pod type coffee maker seems more than a little strange. I like real coffee and not the stuff in the pods, or what is sold by Starbuck's, and so I use a stainless steel percolator to make coffee on the stovetop. Far more efficient and no noisy generator to talk over or bother other in our vicinity.

Taste depends on the coffee and what we buy I grind with a conical burr grinder to the grain size needed for the percolator and then we keep it in a plastic container in the fridge.

With the percolator we can toss out the grounds and have no plastic cup waste. We already have too much plastic waste in the environment and no reason to add more when there are alternatives.

 

[avanti]

Running a generator to power a pod type coffee maker seems more than a little strange.

I don't see what is "strange" about it. It is a straightforward tradeoff among time, mess, hassle, taste (which is subjective), and environmental concerns (which are addressable). Such tradeoffs are determined by the values assigned by an individual to each factor. Your values may be different from those of others, but I don't see where any of the choices is "strange".

 

[Davydd]

With a "pod" coffee maker I don't burn propane. I don't need to run a generator either. If wanted to, I could use any freshly ground coffee from beans I desire in a self loading pod container or I could use certified recycle pods. So, I enjoy any type of coffee available when I want it and never wasted coffee to throw out making too much or letting it get cold. I'm able to brew coffee in what mood I am in be it dark, light, strong, mild, flavored, expensive, just to get caffeine, or maybe decaf with no fuss and quickly as I said in the time it takes to fill the diesel tank at a service station with no put away or clean up. Pods are drip, not percolated. That's a Keurig.

When traveling if you drink coffee out of a Thermos you probably compromise the taste anyway like drinking wine out of a plastic or stainless container many put up with not carrying fragile true wine glasses in a Class B.

 

[ChicagoTom]

I agree with Carlson. IMO it's more than strange and I would be PO if someone fired up their noisy generator to make coffee. If you have solar, then fine. Comical about using propane. I made a pot every day while living full time, running the fridge, hot water and furnace on colder nights. About a buck a day, and best guess about 20 cents worth of propane used for the stove.

 

[Doctor Old]

Well, with regards to firing up the generator, it’s what we have for power and we only do that during the day at rest stops, overlooks and parking lots when we are on the move. We have an induction cooktop so propane won’t help with making stovetop coffee. As far as waste, there is none as the Nespresso pods are recyclable and we do indeed recycle them. It’s super convenient with the least amount of space for equipment. Not my favorite type of coffee as we love true espresso made from fresh ground beans in a proper machine. But much has changed for us and this is all a moot point. We’re trading our rig for something different. Cheers.

 

[paddy-ClassB]

You could try grinding coffee at home and keeping it in your RV freezer. We use insulated French Press. When done, we clean by pouring dregs through tea strainer (the kind with a handle) into sink. Then just bang the grounds in the strainer into the garbage.

We do exactly the same but do not store coffee in freezer.
Great coffee and no 120VAC needed.
I never buy any accessories that require 120VAC.
We dry camp mostly and refuse to use generator or huge amount of our limited battery supply to run appliances.

It was so nice to camp on the shore of Lake Superior in a national forest campground for three days without the need to fire up the generator.
Had great coffee every morning.

 

[rvsprinterguy]

We have a puny battery bank and a small pure-sine-wave inverter for the TV and Blu-ray player. I've never considered using the inverter for anything generating heat. It's always seemed more efficient to burn fuel to directly make heat for cooking when possible although I've been known to fire up the Onan to run the microwave.

When the generator is running or we have shore power, we heat water for coffee using an electric kettle, then pour hot water over grounds through a Melitta filter. If no electricity is available, we heat water using a regular kettle.

As for coffee, we tend to buy the already ground usual brands. Occasionally I'll get a little fancy and grind whole beans just before brewing. I found a hand-cranked burr grinder online that's good for that.

 

[avanti]

Keep in mind that, although they draw a lot of amps, Keurig-like devices don't do so for very long, so you aren't using a lot of amp-hours. You don't need a huge battery bank to make these practical, just one big enough to run a large inverter successfully.

 

[rowiebowie]

Keep in mind that, although they draw a lot of amps, Keurig-like devices don't do so for very long, so you aren't using a lot of amp-hours. You don't need a huge battery bank to make these practical, just one big enough to run a large inverter successfully.

Correct. Our 2x100AH lithiums and 3000W inverter run our microwave just fine. My only reason for the 3000W is it is the same footprint as Renogy's 2000W Inverter/Charger.

 

[Philipclopez]

I can't live without coffee. Now I've always had pot Black+Decker coffee maker. The design is sleek and matches my kitchen so well.

 

[Jim Agile]

Your problem may be a heavy current surge to your coffee maker when the heater in the coffee maker is first powered. Resistive heating devices (like incandescent light bulbs and electric heaters) have very low resistance when cold but reach their operating resistance when they are hot. Because the initial resistance is low, the current demand is momentarily very high. The initial current surge can draw the voltage output of your generator down momentarily causing the coffee maker to shut down. If the condition is marginal, you may get the sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't condition.