By Greg on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 04:33 pm: Edit

Hi all -

Have a '95 Disco and thinking about installing a Portawattz 800W (continuous) inverter. Wondering if anyone knows how many amps the stock alternator can handle. I already have a heavy guage Distribution block hooked to the battery that I can tap into....saw in some past discussions that people use a "yellow-top" battey, which I'm assuming is better designed than normal car batts to handle prolonged current draw.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

By Ali on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 05:32 pm: Edit

I think the Optima Yellow top is a "deep cycle" battery, made for deep cycle of discharging. This type of battery is also used in Marine application and as a secondary (double battery system) automative battery for powering accessories, winches, etc..

By PerroneFord on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 06:22 pm: Edit

Tap the battery directly to run an inverter that size. I run a 600w inverter and used 6 gauge marine wire to tap the battery directly. Works perfectly.

-P

By Mike B. on Saturday, October 13, 2001 - 09:36 pm: Edit

800 watts is a lot of draw. Your alternator will not be able to keep up if you load the inverter up pretty good. Do you really need that much? Bigger is not always better.

Thanks,
Mike B.

By JP on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 07:57 am: Edit

The Disco Gulf Spec (since 95) has a 120A Marelli Alternator - FREE upgrade from 100A. It even bypasses the 100A main fuse on its way to the battery.
JP

By sid on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 09:54 am: Edit

what does the inverter do for you? why have it?

By Collin on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 10:47 am: Edit

Sid,

A power inverter converts DC to AC and steps up the voltage. Essentially, you are adding a couple of 120VAC power outlets to your vehicle. You can run radios, fridges, battery chargers(camcorders especially), etc with an inverter. You can get inverters with many different power ratings. The higher power inverters have to be wired directly to you battery so you don't blow fuses in the truck.

Collin

By Axel Haakonsen (Axel) on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 11:17 am: Edit

Also, installing an 800watt inverter does not mean that you will be constantly drawing 800 watts. It just means that the inverter is capable of supplying up to 800watts. In most scenarios you won't be using anywhere near that much. If you were however, the amperage would be about 67amps. (800w/12v = 67amps)

By Discosaurus (Discosaurus) on Sunday, October 14, 2001 - 12:18 pm: Edit

The OEM alternator is 100A.
If you put a bigger one in, you must bypass the fuse in the under hood fuse block.

The OEM alternator has a limited lifespan. If you offroad a lot and get a bunch of water or dust under the hood, it'll eat it's bearings out in under 50K miles.

keith
discosaurus

By Cartner on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 - 03:51 pm: Edit

What is the Disco Gulf spec? I'm confused...Free? anything free is good...tell me more, as much as possible...thanks!!

By Greg on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 - 04:21 pm: Edit

thanks everyone so much for the helpful info!

Seems like the size inverter I'm looking at is about as big as one should go (with a stock 100A alternator) and standard battery. Sounds like it'd be wise not to really max out on the 800 watts. I'll post again here if I run into any problems (so others can avoid). thanks all.

By Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 - 04:33 pm: Edit

Get this baby - then you can run your house off it next time there's a war!



http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/vector_3000.html

Dean

By Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 - 04:36 pm: Edit

No seriously, a bigger one would let you run something very powerful, but only for a few minutes before the battery drained. But that may still be useful, eg electric tools.

By Shane C. (Qsiguy) on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 02:59 pm: Edit

I use a big one with no problems. It is just nice to have it when you need it. I have used the smaller ones and when using a drill or something you can overload them when trying to drill a hole in steel or something thick. It won't draw any more than the small ones when you are running things like chargers and lights and stuff. Go as big as is cost effective. Look at your batteries cranking amp output, 700-800amps and more. It will handle the momentary needs of your inverter if you every have need to use it.

Deans 3000 watter may be a little excessive for most people, I like the 1500 watt one.

By PerroneFord on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 04:16 pm: Edit

Shane,

Which 1500 watter did you get? When I was looking around, all the ones over 1000 watts were the "true sine-wave" jobs that costed like a weeks pay!

-P

By Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 04:54 pm: Edit

check out the address (under the photo above) - they sell vectors and cobras and others.

Dean

By Shane C. (Qsiguy) on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 08:57 pm: Edit

-P "Which 1500 watter did I get?"

I own a mobile electronics company and I like the Sima SPV-15. It works well and it's inexpensive. 1500 watts continuous/3000 watts peak, it has a low battery alarm & shut down. List price is $479.95, I sell them for $269.95. I have a Statpower PW-1750 that's about the same but specs say it'll put out 1750 watts for 5 min. (I think the Sima will do the same thing but they don't advertise it) The Statpower list price is $599.95, I sell it for $299.99. I can also get inverters by Cobra, Tripp Lite, and Jensen. I like the Cobra HG-PI2000 as well but it's a little spendy at $549.95 list/$349.99 my price. If any of you are interested I'll give you a "Disco Owner discount" let me know

By PerroneFord on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 - 10:13 pm: Edit

Those are some GREAT prices! Had I known about you before I bought mine, I would have CERTAINLY jumped on it. Most of my tools are cordless so I don't really need that much power, but for those who want to run a grinder, or drill, or a recip. saw, one of these would be just the ticket!

-P

By Brett Gottdener on Thursday, October 18, 2001 - 09:59 am: Edit

Could I run a 110 volt flux-cored MIG welder off one of the inverters that you listed Shane? I have been thinking about an inverter for some time now, but want one that I could use my welder off of.
Thanks,
Brett Gottdener

By Shane C. (Qsiguy) on Thursday, October 18, 2001 - 03:01 pm: Edit

Brett, how many amps does that welder draw? The 1500 watt inverters could handle a load of about 13 amps @ 110 volts AC continuous and momentary loads up to about 27 amps @ 110 volts AC. These figures are assuming your battery(s) and alternator are running peak performance because at these loads you could be drawing as much as 200 amps from your battery/alternator. Needless to say you wouldn't want to be running it very long at max output.

By Shane C. (Qsiguy) on Thursday, October 18, 2001 - 03:04 pm: Edit

Also, keep in mind that these inverters use a modified sine wave and some tools/equipment won't work with a modified sine wave. You'd have to check that out as well.

By Slider on Thursday, October 18, 2001 - 09:08 pm: Edit

These pics show a small 400 watt inverter I built into the console...there is some room under there...It's good for (laptop/videocam) battery charges or heating pad for the bad back drivers out there...while I was in there and had the room I added a footwell light...

a bit closer in


I would not recommend building in anything more than a 400 watter...heat disipation will be an issue

By Shane C. (Qsiguy) on Thursday, October 18, 2001 - 09:40 pm: Edit

Nice job Slider, looks great.

By Warren on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 12:45 pm: Edit

Slider You Never Stop Knocking my Socks Off