Inverter charger

[Stretch40]

Hi all I'm buying an inverter to run my charger for our up coming Wales trip from my sums my giant 6amp charger draws 4amp input x 230v is 920w biggest inverter I can find is 6000w peak which sounds great but it's continuous output is 1000w rated at 2000w do we think that will power my charger to charge battery ?

 

[nosenada]

If you have not done so already I would buy a cheap watt meter to see the actual draw of your charger. It may not be 920w. I would be surprised if it was that high.

My Shimano 4 amp charger (e6000) only draws around 180w max when measured.

Other recommendation is to spend the extra for a nice pure sine wave inverter. While your charger may work with a cheap modified sine wave inverter it may run hotter (shortening its lifespan) and could be damaged if the cheap inverter dies suddenly.

I use a 600w pure sign wave inverter (800w peak) to run 3 Shimano 4 amp chargers chargers. It was only $116 US.

The peak wattage rating does not really matter for a charger load. The peak wattage rating is more important when you are running a motor from the inverter such as a fan or refrigerator compressor motor where the start up load spikes.

 

[Stretch40]

Tbh I thought it was high I've never had a wattage meter and I've been a service eng for 20yrs lol I use multimeter insulation tested and oscilloscope occasionally but never wattage meter ? I just did the calculation and came up with 920w I'm off googling now thanks

 

[Stretch40]

Ah just looked u mean those crappy plug in power meters people use at home ok that will work ?

 

[nosenada]

Ah just looked u mean those crappy plug in power meters people use at home ok that will work ?

Yep. Plug the power meter in then plug in the charger. Best probably to measure when it is charging around 30-50% to get the max wattage.

 

[Stretch40]

Great idea ordering now of my eBay lol

 

[stiv674]

The 4 amps on the charger refers to the output current not input, as mentioned above my Focus charger draws just under 180 Watts, 4 amps at 42 volts plus losses for electronic stuff inside equals the 180 Watts.

 

[Stretch40]

It's not my charger is 6amp smart charger the input is 4amps 100-240v I'm Gona measure it ?

 

[stiv674]

It's not my charger is 6amp smart charger the input is 4amps 100-240v I'm Gona measure it ?

Oops, my mistake, I didn't read your first post properly... just read the 4 amp charger bit Mine says 2 amps max input current, only ever seen 180 Watts max though so hopefully yours won't be much more than 300 Watts... ?

 

[Stretch40]

That would be great cos if I buy a 1000w continuous inverter I can charge two batteries ?

 

[thebarber]

I use a 12/1200 victron pure sine inverter and it's overkill but keeps my 240v freezer (converted to fridge) rocking full beer 24/7
A 600w would probably have done the job.

 

[speshhead]

Hi All ,
Please forgive my intelligence. I seem to be having problems with working out if i have the right inverter its pure sine wave 1000w
my specialized charger specs are input 100-240v 2.5a with output 42.0v 4.0A

do i x 42v 4.0 which gives me 168 w
My lead acid leisure battery is 110ah

how many chargers to my 700wh battery can i expect

any help would be well appreciated.thanks

 

[Stretch40]

Hi no it's the input u work out but if it helps my giant charger is a 6amp charger I've bought a watt meter plugged it in and while charging the mist it drew was 180w so if your inverter is 1000w continuous you are well in ? I'm buying a 900w continuous inverter to charge two batteries but it says it's 2000w rated 4000 peak ?I think you will be fine ?

 

[speshhead]

Great cheers my inverter has a display on it that went to 179w whilst charging . can it be worked out how many charges i would get ?

 

[jimbob]

Hi All ,
Please forgive my intelligence. I seem to be having problems with working out if i have the right inverter its pure sine wave 1000w
my specialized charger specs are input 100-240v 2.5a with output 42.0v 4.0A

do i x 42v 4.0 which gives me 168 w
My lead acid leisure battery is 110ah

how many chargers to my 700wh battery can i expect

any help would be well appreciated.thanks

What is the capacity of your bike battery? You shouldn't really discharge lead acid below 50% (but every now and again is ok). Your 110ah battery has about (110 x 12) / 2 = 660wh available. If you know the capacity of your bike battery you can then work out how many charges you can get.

(Yes, I know this is very simplified, but good enough!)

 

[speshhead]

Hi 700wh battery .cheers

 

[jimbob]

Hi 700wh battery .cheers

So you should get a single charge from it.

 

[speshhead]

Good stuff cheers ?

 

[Nickolp1974]

Hi All ,
Please forgive my intelligence. I seem to be having problems with working out if i have the right inverter its pure sine wave 1000w
my specialized charger specs are input 100-240v 2.5a with output 42.0v 4.0A

do i x 42v 4.0 which gives me 168 w
My lead acid leisure battery is 110ah

how many chargers to my 700wh battery can i expect

any help would be well appreciated.thanks

i get approx 3 chargers on 504wh shimano batteries out of 160ah. i have 2 x 180ah in my camper, so really i only have 180ah useable due to depth of discharge(50%). if you only have 1x 110ah, you really only have 55ah and wit that im not so sure it will even charge a 700wh battery even once fully.

 

[Nickolp1974]

What is the capacity of your bike battery? You shouldn't really discharge lead acid below 50% (but every now and again is ok). Your 110ah battery has about (110 x 12) / 2 = 660wh available. If you know the capacity of your bike battery you can then work out how many charges you can get.

(Yes, I know this is very simplified, but good enough!)

dont forget inverters are only about 85% efficient! so only 561wh

 

[jimbob]

dont forget inverters are only about 85% efficient! so only 561wh

Very true, but I was just doing ballpark numbers! By the time you add in the lead acid will start at 13.8V which will give more power, the fact the battery being charged is unlikely to be completely empty etc it ends up being there or there abouts!

Back of the envelope maths...

 

[speshhead]

cheers lads thanks for the input ?? would i be right in thinking that a 12v specialized charger (42v @ 2A ) rated. that drew 69ah total over 10hrs running of the 110ah battery would be more effeciant say than inverter and standard specialized charger ?

thanks again ??

 

[Nickolp1974]

cheers lads thanks for the input ?? would i be right in thinking that a 12v specialized charger (42v @ 2A ) rated. that drew 69ah total over 10hrs running of the 110ah battery would be more effeciant say than inverter and standard specialized charger ?

thanks again ??

Not sure, i used the 2 different shimano chargers on my testing but didn't go in depth at all. Didnt want to keep using the Van batteries when the van's not actually being used!! not long now hopefully. In my thread on my van it gives a little info, post #9 Transit Custom EMTB Camper van conversion - EMTB Forums

 

[speshhead]

cheers just looked some great info on there . thanks again for your input ??????

 

[jimbob]

cheers lads thanks for the input ?? would i be right in thinking that a 12v specialized charger (42v @ 2A ) rated. that drew 69ah total over 10hrs running of the 110ah battery would be more effeciant say than inverter and standard specialized charger ?

thanks again ??

It should be more efficient, but difficult to say by how much as its very dependent on hardware. I'd guess between 5% and 20% better than an inverter.

 

[speshhead]

cheers ??

 

[Andycap]

It's not my charger is 6amp smart charger the input is 4amps 100-240v I'm Gona measure it ?

If your charger is rated 4A at 100-240v then the 4A would be the draw at 100v and at 220v would be approx 1.93A giving you a max of about 400w drawn.