12V converter

[CamillaMichael]

I have one of those converters that you plug into your vehicle 12V plug and is designed to output 120 current...I think that's the intent?? Anyway, I purchased this thing to be able to run my laptop while on the road without its battery going dead on me. I have been wondering if a 120v air compressor could be plugged into this thing without blowing up my truck (worst case), or blowing a fuse? Anyone have any info on doing this???

[Slufoot733]

Mike, I believe what you have is an "inverter". Inverters are rated by wattage. The small ones usually provide about 100 - 300 watts. I suspect this will handle your laptop, charging a cell phone, etc. But an air compressor takes a whole lot more watts than 300. Any time a motor is involved the wattage use will be much higher. There are inverters available with much higher watt ratings but they are more costly. Check online for what's available. Here is one site: http://www.invertersrus.com/ which has several different size inverters right on the front page. You'll note the 400 watt inverter costs $34 while the 2500 watt unit costs $229. They also show what some of the units can power. We had some at work on the repair trucks that provided 5000 watts or more. They were VERY expensive but they handled heavy drills, grinders, etc.

[pineranch]

Michael,
Perhaps you can google up a 12v charger for your brand of laptop. Got one for my dell on amazon.
Mike

[HamRad]

Amperage is also something to consider. Many of the air compressors will have a draw that will challenge many of the smaller generators and inverters. I had some first hand experience with this issue. I had purchased one of Harbor Freight's compressors. I had a 600 or 1000 watt inverter and tried running it off of that. But the compressor required too much amperage and would not run. Just another thing to consider. Good luck, Dennis.

[mhs4771]

Even if you had an inverter to handle an air compressor there is no and I mean NO way you could do it plugged into the lighter socket. You would have to be connected directly to the battery with some pretty heafty cable. Not knowing exactly the specs on you compressor, but it would be sort of like trying to run a small AC unit and I'm sure you've read all the discussions on ACs an the current draw required to start their compressor.

[kab449]

I power my compressor with a 2500 watt MSW inverter. I purchased it at invertersrus.com. I also ran 1/0 cable from the engine compartment to the truck bed. I have another deep cycle battery in the truck bed that is isolated from the starting batteries to power the inverter. I can run my trailer from this setup sans the heavy draw appliances.
As you can see it requires much more than using the trucks 12 volt power port, but it can be done.

[CamillaMichael]

Well, I am not surprised by your responses...thought it would be too easy to just apply some plug-n-play stuff! Thanks to all for your input.

[DQDick]

Plug and play works well with small appliances, but just isn't the thing if you really need some juice.

[1retired06]

My 1000W inverter runs my air compressor (110 PSI) with no problem, connected directly to vehicle or trailer battery.