Off Grid Living / Camping > Off Grid Living / Alternative Housing

CFL connected to battery bus

<< < (2/2)

ghurd:

--- Quote from: Watt on April 09, 2012, 03:59:34 pm ---I did notice several breaker trips were required to get the light to do more than flicker.

--- End quote ---

I have no explaination for it...
BUT,
I was doing an experiment that needed a small load, or reading current draws, or something like that.
Seemed like my new cell phone with a switching charger in an inverter would be the perfect item.
The combination worked many many times in the truck and cars.  Same inverter, same charger, same phone.

Connected that stuff to a 7AH battery, with a pigtail lighter adapter, and an ammeter.
POOF!
Smoked the inverter.  Fuse was fine.  Not repairable.
As luck would have it, I have a BIG pile of those inverters, so grabbed another (how lucky am I!  ;D ).
POOF!
There went another one (how lucky am I?  :'( ).

The inverters were 50W cont, 100W surge (TRACE on the sticker!  Not a crap orange/black inverter that fits inside the lighter socket.).
The surge from the switcher pulled over 20A (meter's max reading) when the wire losses were low.
Worked fine in a car with that long small gauge wire, but not with short low loss wire.

Had to use a 140W, 175W, or 300W inverter to finish my experiments.  Cnt recall which.

I do not know what is happening in the switchers, but I know the surge is high and long-lived.

Might try a 1 or 2 ohm 1W resistor in series with the bulb?
(BTW, you have a PM)
G-

Watt:
Thank you G, you have a PM. 

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page