Could I run these appliances from an inverter?

[francophile1947]

Surely a good quality inverter can handle a 160w juicer, only operating with the engine running?

I would say yes, as long as your inverter is wired direct to the battery - the Bongo ciggie lighter sockets only have fairly light wiring.

[g8dhe]

Juicing is almost a way of life though. Surely a good quality inverter can handle a 160w juicer, only operating with the engine running?

Yes it will probably work 80-90% chance, especially if you wire the inverter direct to the battery, better still mount the inverter under the bonnet and run the mains cable back inside (take care to make sure vibration won't wear the insulation away over time). Make sure the inverter is rated about twice the average power level of the highest rated device i.e. if its the juicer then 300Watt should be adequate to handle the surge of power at switch on. Try to go for a PURE SINEWAVE inverter if you can afford it, not all all devices like running on pseudo sinewaves especially electronic devices.

[digitalgypsy]

Where would be without such generous and informative advice! I certainly wouldn't own a Bongo without it. Thanks guys, much appreciated

[Alison01326]

Although I have a 110aH Elecsol battery, I only ever run appliances that are designed for 12 volt use eg a Waeco CF25 compressor cooler, a Webasto heater and occasionally a DVD player or TV. The cooler and the heater both have low voltage cut offs and they both start stopping (!) after about three days' use if I'm using them together and I haven't been out for a spin and recharged the battery.

If I were you (and I'm not, because I would never be bothered with juicing ), I'd get something like this http://www.detoxyourworld.com/acatalog/z_star.html for juicing and an Omnia Oven, like this http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/18076586 ... adtype=pla for cooking. Assuming, that is that you have some kind of hob?

As I have neither (but use a pressure cooker in the Bongo occasionally) you'll have to seek recommendations on these two products from others.

Good luck - you'll find a way.

[mikeonb4c]

Although I have a 110aH Elecsol battery, I only ever run appliances that are designed for 12 volt use eg a Waeco CF25 compressor cooler, a Webasto heater and occasionally a DVD player or TV. The cooler and the heater both have low voltage cut offs and they both start stopping (!) after about three days' use if I'm using them together and I haven't been out for a spin and recharged the battery.

If I were you (and I'm not, because I would never be bothered with juicing ), I'd get something like this http://www.detoxyourworld.com/acatalog/z_star.html for juicing and an Omnia Oven, like this http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/18076586 ... adtype=pla for cooking. Assuming, that is that you have some kind of hob?

As I have neither (but use a pressure cooker in the Bongo occasionally) you'll have to seek recommendations on these two products from others.

Good luck - you'll find a way.

Well Alison beat me to it on the mechanical juicer idea (but £90 - golly ). Or maybe cordless, though ebay only revealed a suspiciously cheap item at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pro-system-Co ... 2318f1d481 though you'd think there might be something better out there

Cooking when wild camping surely has to be non-electric, being realistic. Might be interesting to use a slow cooker on long journeys though

[Velocette]

We bought a rack and pinion juicer from Aldi, the type that you just pull a long handle down to squash the fruit. My daughter used it daily for a couple of years until she left home so it would last forever if it were just used for camping. It was about Fifteen Quid at the most.

[ffrank]

my bongo is all electric.its best to use a microwave oven(short bursts of high power is the way to go)...i can get by off road, on my own electric power without recharging for usually 3 days ok.leisure batteries are designed .to be run down to nothing.but if used with an inverter then the inverter avoids this from happening anyway as it gives you an audibile warning of low battery.also it needs a minimum voltage to work with.my microwave also has a infrared grill for toast ect.but i would not use it if i was planning to be off road for 2 or three days.. i also can run a compresser fridge but like the grill not if off road again for more than one day..the fridge will run for 48 hours before my leisure battery needs recharging.thats 90watts over 48 hours .although its not running all the time as they dont need to......when i move on i use a smaller inverter which is powered by the vehicle battery which powers a fast battery charger.i also have a very very small solar panel also on this battery ive never tried to totally recharge from this source.my inverter is located at the rear along with a gel battery as it is inside the vehicle.the battery is a( bm12 100)100ahbattery megastore.the inverter is a hq-inv1700.(peak pwr 3000watt,output pwr1700watt.the smaller inverter is an inv330,peak600 330 output continuous.the small invertor also powers my laptop for any amount of time using the vehicle battery.i also use the big invertor for my electric blanket in the colder months i sleep with it on all night.i have a third smaller again inverter which runs off the vehicle battery again.it powers up my electric shaver charger,phone charger,camera charger,camcorder charger.i also use my in veicle lighting from the main vehicle battery.now just incase anything goes wrong i have a leisure battery under the bonnet that is kept as a spare.it can be used to replace the inverter battery or switched into the vehicles system to start my bongo ,it can also be recharged in the system. i also run loads of other bits an pieces mostly on the move.so if your mobile every day you could keep the fridge running and have toast on the grill at breakfast.frank...r4dka

[ffrank]

from frank p.s. on inverter reply from me...inverters for use with double insulated appliances only...as supplied by manufacturers...buying a auto trip socket will not work with an inverter...to be 100% safe you need to connect the inverter output thru a small household consumer unit ..isolater mcb ..if using a microwave or any appliance that requires an earth...frank r4dka...

[ffrank]

a simple rcd circuit breaker on the inverter output is sufficent.the inverter has overload protection .and you have a fuse in your mains plug .i dont want to put you off by saying you need loads of extras .but a small consumer unit should have a rcd fitted to it if you got one frank r4dka

[digitalgypsy]

Update after DAYS of reading about generators and inverters...I finally realised I was just being fussy!

I've come round to the idea of sustainable living now, very interesting to know what you can achieve without electricity! For anyone who is interested in juicing, here's a mobile juicing/blending setup for your bongo:

- http://www.ukjuicers.com/z-star-juicer? ... tAod_xcA9Q
- http://www.amazon.com/GSI-22365-Outdoor ... B0000Z6JZU

As long as you have a worktop, then you're good to go. So yep thanks Alison great shout on the Z-Star juicer Oven looks interesting also...hadn't stumbled across that. Definitely expands your menu past the usual frying/boiling 2 hob scenario.

As far as inverters go, I think I'll just settle for a 150w pure sinewave. The only things I would need to charge are toothbrush, mobile and laptop. I guess that would also enable me to store it in my bench seat drawer, since being 150w it would only make use of the 12v socket and can be unplugged easy.

Thank you all muchly

[mikeonb4c]

Update after DAYS of reading about generators and inverters...I finally realised I was just being fussy!

I've come round to the idea of sustainable living now, very interesting to know what you can achieve without electricity! For anyone who is interested in juicing, here's a mobile juicing/blending setup for your bongo:

- http://www.ukjuicers.com/z-star-juicer? ... tAod_xcA9Q
- http://www.amazon.com/GSI-22365-Outdoor ... B0000Z6JZU

As long as you have a worktop, then you're good to go. So yep thanks Alison great shout on the Z-Star juicer Oven looks interesting also...hadn't stumbled across that. Definitely expands your menu past the usual frying/boiling 2 hob scenario.

As far as inverters go, I think I'll just settle for a 150w pure sinewave. The only things I would need to charge are toothbrush, mobile and laptop. I guess that would also enable me to store it in my bench seat drawer, since being 150w it would only make use of the 12v socket and can be unplugged easy.

Thank you all muchly

Excellent. But get a bigger inverter just to reduce occasions when starting current trips it out. I have a 300w one and it still trips out when a ps3 is plugged in, although it is fine if I reset it. You can get ones that don't have this problembut they cost more. Maybe someone on here can advise.

[Alison01326]

I hate to state the obvious, but we leave our rechargeable toothbrushes at home when we haven't got the means to charge them and use the old fashioned manual variety!!

And mobile phones? It is usually possible to get a 12v charger for a mobile (we've got them for ours) so that makes life a lot simpler.

I've seen the price of 12v chargers for laptops, and have to say that I'm appalled, so I won't be suggesting one of those.

I like the challenge of being able to function without mains electricity - maybe it's my age (no, I'm certainly not saying that I grew up without electricity ), maybe it's because I tent camped on and off for 30 years so got used to the idea of no power.

We shelled out on a 13w solar panel from Maplins earlier this year http://www.maplin.co.uk/13w-solar-briefcase-99760. We haven't actually used it yet (!) for one reason or another (not least because when we took it away in June, immediately after it arrived, we discovered it was cracked when we got to the campsite). Since we've had it replaced, we've only been to sites with electricity so it hasn't had a trial run yet. Admittedly, 13w isn't going to provide much but will probably keep enough juice in the leisure battery to keep it above the level where the cooler and/or the heater will fail to run.

[Dodgey]

13W will be enough to keep your battery healthy when the vehicle is parked up and not in use. It's also enough for mobile phones and iPods.

In a pinch, on a bright day, it might also get your engine started if left for an hour or so to charge the battery. I let an MX5 battery go flat in France, and half an hour of the same solar panel in the sun and the car had enough to start the engine.

What 13W won't do is keep up with anything like fridges, coolers, etc.