12V to 110V inverter questions

I had a Peak 800watt inverter go bad in my fish house…(inverter smelled hot and TV went off)
Using it mainly to power the TV (70 watts?)
Looking to replace inverter–but the first inverter (400 watt) I tried would not run the TV.
TV would boot up, but then go black screen.
Reading the fine print on inverter brochure–it mentions some TV models require a PURE SINE WAVE inverter.
I’ll confirm that the TV is working at home tomorrow.

Can anyone shed some light on this set-up….are you using the regular “Modified sine wave ” inverters?
I don’t have the PEAK brochure–but I doubt it was a PURE SINE WAVE inverter…and it was working.

THX.

I have gone through a lot of inverters over thr years in work trucks just running the laptop. I have not purchased the pure sine because of price but if you are inly using for the tv you might want to look at a 12v tv. I am 100% 12v in fish house except for the microwave and charger and I can go days without running generator.

Riverwader wrote:

I have gone through a lot of inverters over thr years in work trucks just running the laptop. I have not purchased the pure sine because of price but if you are inly using for the tv you might want to look at a 12v tv. I am 100% 12v in fish house except for the microwave and charger and I can go days without running generator.

I’m the opposite, I’m 100% 110 volt. I’ve seen way too many friends have big time problems, a couple with actual flames, with inverters and 12 volt voodoo. If my house can be on the ice the extra weight of my generator makes zero difference. A GOOD Honda generator in the back of my pick up box facing away from the house and an extended run tank is silent and safe.

i have a modified wave inverter in my fish house and it powers my tv just fine

The price of pure sine wave inverters has come down if that was the issue. If I didn’t already own a modified sine wave that’s the way I would go.

If the wave type wasn’t the issue I’m surprised a 400w wasn’t enough. ex. just added a 32″ Insignia $100 tv via a 400w 8 year old inverter. Seems to work fine but we just got started. 12v tv’s are more expensive, we looked.

One thing I read on inverters was the bigger they are the more they have for vampire draw. So finding a way to cut power when not in use is a good thing.

I would purchase a pure sine wave inverter or get an inverter generator if you are running any electronics that you value. Obviously any inductive loads do not need a true sine wave to function correctly but electronics with microprocessor’s do not like dirty power. Spend a few dollars and you will have it for life.

Computerized electronics are the most sensitive and the most likely not to work and play well with a modified sine wave inverter.

I have a PEAK inverter in my truck that I use to recharge cordless tool batteries, run the chainsaw sharpener, etc. You are correct, they are modified sine wave. I have run a TV off of this inverter and it worked fine, but any Apple charger will not work, so the sensitivity to the MSW is all over the map with different devices.

As PatK says, pure sine wave inverters have come way down in price and now I see you can get 500 watts of PSW inverter for less than $100. When I need another inverter, that’s the route I’ll go. I’d think 500 watts would be plenty to run a TV, lights, chargers, etc. Obviously, you’re not going to be doing microwave popcorn and running a refrigerator on it.

I have a generator at my hunting camp, but I only run it when absolutely necessary. Otherwise I use the battery/inverter because I like the instant on and no noise.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I have run a TV off of this inverter and it worked fine, but any Apple charger will not work

Grouse

I must be lucky because my apple charger works on my modified wave inverter also

Coletrain27 wrote:

I must be lucky because my apple charger works on my modified wave inverter also

I believe at one time it worked fine with the iPad charger, but last summer it would not work when I tried to charge an iPhone. New iPhone or charger model?

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Coletrain27 wrote:</div>
I must be lucky because my apple charger works on my modified wave inverter also

I believe at one time it worked fine with the iPad charger, but last summer it would not work when I tried to charge an iPhone. New iPhone or charger model?

Grouse

My phone and charger are over 2 years old. We charged my fathers 10+ year old Samsung with it also And my sons iPad which must be around 10 years old. Maybe different brands of inverters have some differences? Mine is a 1000w Schumacher brand. I’m not sure but it’s good to know for future if I have Things that don’t work

Riverwader wrote:

I have gone through a lot of inverters over thr years in work trucks just running the laptop. I have not purchased the pure sine because of price but if you are inly using for the tv you might want to look at a 12v tv. I am 100% 12v in fish house except for the microwave and charger and I can go days without running generator.

Why would you need an inverter for a laptop, they run on DC, otherwise the battery wouldn’t work

Why would you need an inverter for a laptop, they run on DC, otherwise the battery wouldn’t work
[/quote]

Most laptop chargers are 19vdc-25vdc that would not work very good on a 12vdc system.

supercat wrote:

Why would you need an inverter for a laptop, they run on DC, otherwise the battery wouldn’t work

Most laptop chargers are 19vdc-25vdc that would not work very good on a 12vdc system.
[/quote]

In the case of powering a laptop, one could use one of the many adaptors which plug directly into a 12 volt power receptacle in any vehicle.
Thus no need for a pure wave inverter to step up to 120 volts only to be stepped back down to 19 volts.
The power receptacle plugin goes directly from 12voltDC to 19voltDC.

I was able to find a TV for my camper that had an external power supply. They are called “fat snakes” because they have a brick in the middle between an A/C cord and the D/C cord. I looked at the DC voltage fed to the TV and found a computer laptop car charger that did the same. That got me to the voltage I needed without going from 12VDC up to 120VAC and back to wha the TV needed.
Not sure how easy a TV with a power supply like this is to find, but as someone else suggested, Camping TVs are 12volt. Might be simpler.