Does using inverter above 115W while driving drain battery?

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Safety first

 

Nothing ruins fun like safety

 

The answer is no it will not drain your battery. 115 watts is only 9.58 amps at 12 volts. Your alternator should be a minimum of 60 amps/720 watts. If you have the heavy duty alternator it is 130 amp/1560 watts so even driving at night with the lights, and air or heater on with your added device you are fine either way . Technically you should be able to use the full 400 watts with everything on and be fine. If you have the tow package you have the heavy duty alternator but even without it you will be fine. Drive confident and safely.

 

If you monitor the State-of-Charge of your healthy battery, you can easily tell if you electrical load exceeds the capability of your vehicle's charging system based on your driving habits and ambient temperature. If the battery is not receiving a full charge, just "top it off" with an external battery charger. I fully charged wet low maintenance car battery will read approximately 12.65 VDC at 77 degrees F with the surface charged removed and wet "Maintenance Free" or AGM will read 12.8 VDC. A very handly tool is a digital voltmeter that plugs into a cigarette socket, for example, http://www.walmart.com/ip/Equus-Innova-3721-Battery-and-Charging-System-Monitor/15137663. This tool can also be used to determine if charging system is producing enough voltage to recharge the battery.

For more information on measuring the State-of-Charge and charging, please see Sections 4 and 9 in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org.

 

Troof

 

I plug my Edgestar into the rear outlet while driving; I've had it running as well as a camera battery charging and a laptop plugged in at the same time and not had any issues (I have two outlets installed in the cab).

 

Longest I've ran it was for 5 hours at 400w during the summer. No issues at all. The inverter did get pretty warm but I wasn't worried about it catching fire or anything like that.

 

I have also done the 400 watt anytime mod just for the purpose of running my mini fridge when I go camping. Since doing the mod I have used it twice for this. First trip was for like 2 and half hours maybe 2 hours and 45 mins. Worked great. Second trip was 4 hours flat. Both times I was running the mini fridge in the bed of the truck with all my food for the trip and pulling a pop up camper with its own lights and such (running lights, turn signals brake lights). Never had a problem.