Running Fan from the invertor

[rippers]

Has anyone run a fan from the inverter? I'm looking for a fan for when we go to Spain and the 12v ones don't look all that or even that powerful.

I know the inverter is 150w and even I was looking at one of the fans from Argos that we have at home which is perfectly adequate and its rated at 35w so I'm assuming it will be ok with the correct power adapter but am I going to flatten my battery if I ran it over night just on the leisure battery and no hook up. ie how long would it last on the battery. Also does the inverter/cali control unit have a safety over ride so you can't flatten the leisure battery?

 

[WelshGas]

If the fan is 35w output then that would give a current consumption of 0.15amps/hr therefore 3.6 amps/24hrs, ( if my School Physics serves me still ) so you shouldn't have a problem although it will depend what else you are running off the Leisure Batteries .
I don't believe there is any safety cutout on the Inverter to avoid flattening the Leisure Batteries .

Is this the fan.
Looks as if it is some upgraded Computer type digital fan. Good find.

 

[snowy55]

Using the inverter is a very inefficient way of using your 12v leisure batteries you waste alot of energy making 240v out of 12v.

 

[SimplyDubs]

If the fan is 35w output then that would give a current consumption of 0.15amps/hr therefore 3.6 amps/24hrs, ( if my School Physics serves me still ) so you shouldn't have a problem although it will depend what else you are running off the Leisure Batteries .
I don't believe there is any safety cutout on the Inverter to avoid flattening the Leisure Batteries .

True at 240V but... don't forget the input to the inverter is 12V... maths remains the same and as such the current drain from the leisure batteries is actually closer to 3A (Just under mathematically BUT - in reality more than 3A due to the inefficiency of the inverter which typically ranges from 40% to 90% depending on how close to the rating of the inverter)... so quite a large drain on the batteries, in fact around 5 times that of the fridge which typically has a 20% duty cycle at just over 3A.

Using the inverter is a very inefficient way of using your 12v leisure batteries you waste alot of energy making 240v out of 12v.

-

Absolutely right!

Thinking about it... the fan is likely to be an inductive load like all AC motors, not a resistive one.... so with the square wave generated by the inverter then it'll introduce probably another 20% inefficiency.

So current drain likely to be 4 or 5 amps... not worth it!!!!

Rippers, I personally wouldn't do it... open the windows, get some deflectors and let the wind do the same job... Or if you must, get a small 12v fan.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Mark

 

[WelshGas]

Well it is 46 years since my school physics lessons. Thank you for correcting me.

 

[SimplyDubs]

Well it is 46 years since my school physics lessons. Thank you for correcting me.

No worries... struggle myself with my childhood physics... I'm only a couple of yours behind you

THINK my logic is right but happy to be corrected.

 

[DM]

Has anyone had issues with voltage regulation using the invertor?

After roasting in Corsica last summer I looked at fan options again. I decided to go for a small 240V 36 watt tabletop vertical format one that we will also use in the bedroom at home. I totally get all the comments about inefficiency of using the invertor but when we are moving every day it’s not a big deal and can be used on hook-up as well.



Of course we left England in a heatwave for the wettest late June ever experienced in Central Europe !! So the fan didn’t see action until towards the end of our trip. It seemed to work well at first so we left it on a 1 hour timer when we turned in. It seems to have burnt out before the timer turned it off!!

It could just be a faulty fan (although not particularly cheap) but I’m wondering if the voltage regulation on the invertor may be an issue. Mind you I’d still expect a decent fan unit to detect that itself and turn off rather than burn out.

I’m a bit nervous about using the invertor at all now. The fan will go back for a refund - no problem there. But the other use of the invertor is Mrs DM’s MacBook. It has always seemed OK but the last thing I want is that burning out due to over-voltage!!

 

[Max-Felix]

On both my Calis with inverters they have never worked. They do seem pretty poor quality. Goodness knows what VW would charge for a new one but probably crazy when you can buy a reasonably reliable 300W one for £25 to use in any vehicle:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B072V5LKWM/?tag=eliteelect-21

 

[DM]

On both my Calis with inverters they have never worked. They do seem pretty poor quality. Goodness knows what VW would charge for a new one but probably crazy when you can buy a reasonably reliable 300W one for £25 to use in any vehicle:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B072V5LKWM/?tag=eliteelect-21

Thanks - I already own 2 invertors that I used to use to cobble together an in-car entertainment system to keep the kids busy on long journeys (day’s before such things were available as 12V. They both work flawlessly. Just frustrating to have to carry one of those when the Cali supposedly has one.

 

[Wongo]

Fiamma sell a roof light extractor fan than can be used as a stand alone, I saved it from my old motor home. 12volt and quiet.

 

[WelshGas]

Has anyone had issues with voltage regulation using the invertor?

After roasting in Corsica last summer I looked at fan options again. I decided to go for a small 240V 36 watt tabletop vertical format one that we will also use in the bedroom at home. I totally get all the comments about inefficiency of using the invertor but when we are moving every day it’s not a big deal and can be used on hook-up as well.

View attachment 35187

Of course we left England in a heatwave for the wettest late June ever experienced in Central Europe !! So the fan didn’t see action until towards the end of our trip. It seemed to work well at first so we left it on a 1 hour timer when we turned in. It seems to have burnt out before the timer turned it off!!

It could just be a faulty fan (although not particularly cheap) but I’m wondering if the voltage regulation on the invertor may be an issue. Mind you I’d still expect a decent fan unit to detect that itself and turn off rather than burn out.

I’m a bit nervous about using the invertor at all now. The fan will go back for a refund - no problem there. But the other use of the invertor is Mrs DM’s MacBook. It has always seemed OK but the last thing I want is that burning out due to over-voltage!!

Use it for a Euro Plug Insect Repellant and a Mains 50w fan for the last 3 years without any problem.

 

[larrylamb]

We use a 6" clip on fan from CPC, cheap as chips. I like the large clip as it means it can be located in many places, we use it at night for airflow over the lower bed when really hot. We have only used it on hookup although it's wattage is very low.
http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/pel...n&ddkey=http:en-CPC/CPC_United_Kingdom/search