What have you used your inverter for?

When I bought my truck, I wanted the TRD OR for other reasons and when they pointed out the inverter plug in the bed I thought, "boy, that is useless." So in the month I've owned my truck it's came in wayyyyy more handy than I thought! So far:

- Went camping and it rained all weekend, but of course we still wanted to have a fire and it was a struggle to get it going. Happened to have a box fan in the truck and an extension cord. Plugged it into the Yota and voila... instant blow torch! Also used the fan to keep bugs off us. Same trip my buddy plugged his air pump in to blow up his bed.

- I live in an apartment and have to use a laundromat for laundry. The one I use is kinda in the middle of nowhere and I like to go late because I can't deal with the welfare mothers, so the parking lot is a ghost town. I usually bring my laptop with me to have something to do, but I forgot this time. What I did have with me was a shop vac, so while the clothes were washing I vacuumed my truck with the shop vac plugged into the Yota!

What have you used this inverter for?

 

Shop vac, air compressor, misc. electronics, trickle charger for dirt bike, battery charger.

I've also got a band saw on order that should work with it. Might try running the saw on my tailgate, as my workbench doesn't have a lot of room for maneuvering large pieces of wood.

Oh, and I had a great moment on a long road trip. Realized I could put my cell phone in the back to charge on the inverter, but still make calls because the handsfree system can of course still talk to the phone when it is in the bed. That was definitely a "the future is here!" moment for me. Yeah, I could just use a 12V cigarette charger, but I don't have one. The other option that occurred to me later- plug the phone in to the USB/AUX port, I bet that would charge it.

 

Sub'd.

Does the truck have to be running? I have yet to use mine. I need to read up on the use of the 200W/400W switch on my dash, unless someone on here has already gone thru the trouble and is willing to share.

 

compressor for air bags.air inflator for boat tubes,camping mattresses.trouble light when in the woods

 

I have made coffee in the back of mine

 

Only tried to use it once to run a circular saw...not nearly enough power for it. Kind of weak.

 

I believe so, mine says 100W while driving and 400W while idling. It's the most handy thing when camping, especially if you have kids

 

That's worth the price of admission right there. Care to tell us which model coffee maker you used?

 

I've run tv's, computers, routers, cable modems, misc lights and battery chargers. Many of them at the same time when the power has gone out. Turn them on in the right order and it's surprising how many things you can plug in.

 

My refrigerator is the primary thing I use my rear outlet for but I've also run a Dremel and some other small stuff on it. http://www.compactappliance.com/FP4...le-Refrigerator-Freezer/FP430,default,pd.html

I did the 400W full time mod and have also installed two single outlets in the cab on the side of the center console ahead of the shifter- they're spaced wide enough that I can plug in the chargers for my camera batteries, GoPro batteries, etc. I also use them for running/charging a laptop while driving.

 

Would it run a small air compressor for airing up tires?

 

yes


i use mine all the time for power tools while working on the truck.

 

I've ran a pencil grinder and charged batteries and ran a crock pot. its about 4 amps right (400 watts ~4 amps)

 

USB is slower charge that regular plug

 

I have a shopvac with detachable blower. Took the blower camping and had a queen size mattress full of air in 30 seconds. Beats all the other gadgets I've used while camping.

 

I plugged in my paint sprayer and went to town on my shed.

 

I towed a Float full of kids in a Parade and used the inverter to powered some of the lights on the float, worked great.

 

I still wonder how much I can power with...

400W on 120V means 3.33A ..... I've got a cooler for camping... But what else than charging stuff and everything?

Would it be a good idea to put a better inverter ? (Like 1000W or so...?) Would it require another battery?

I'd like to charge up my electric motor battery, but it draws 4.8A on 120. Same for power tools and such..?

 

how long can you run the outlet safely? I camp out in some pretty remote places and I'm always so scared to have my truck die while using it lol

 

I have searched around and can't find a definitive answer, can you run a fridge off of the inverter? Probably going with the edgestar or indel b. I would be using it for extended road trips but would probably be driving enough each day to keep the battery charged, truck won't be sitting around for more than a day. I was going to run a 12v socket direct to the battery but it would be too easy to just plug it in to the inverter. Plan on upgrading to a die hard group 31 anyway.

Thanks