Power Inverter Recommendations

[Ironhead401]

I am taking a road trip to Myrtle Beach and am looking for a decent Power Inverter for under $75. I had a shitty Stanley one that I had used on the last trip. I forget how many watts it was rated for (I think 500 watts) but it was able to connect to the cig lighter (110 watts I know) or the battery. We tried plugging my GF Laptop to it while in the Cig lighter and it would shut down after a while.

I am not opposed to hard wiring it to the battery, but I want something better than the Stanley. Any recommendations?

[Ironhead401]

Was thinking about using this one.
http://www.harborfreight.com/750-wat...ter-66817.html or this one. http://www.harborfreight.com/750-wat...ter-69660.html or upgrade to this
http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-wa...ter-97047.html

What is the best way to hard wire this to the battery? I would run it through the fire wall to the battery but what type of wire would be best to do this? Was thinking 4 gauge?

[njyork42]

I've got the $35 one and it runs my laptop just fine, but it fell apart on me for no reason (I glued it back together).

I bought a black and decker 750w , and it was worth the extra coin. Was using it to run a couple drills for a few days working on a roof and lots of other stuff from time to time.. Still in great shape and just plain feels durable. You can find them as cheap as $45 on ebay but they go up to about $80 depending where you get it.

Dunno what gauge wire I would run.. I have always just clamped it to the battery.

[Ironhead401]

Originally Posted by njyork42

I've got the $35 one and it runs my laptop just fine, but it fell apart on me for no reason (I glued it back together).

I bought a black and decker 750w , and it was worth the extra coin. Was using it to run a couple drills for a few days working on a roof and lots of other stuff from time to time.. Still in great shape and just plain feels durable. You can find them as cheap as $45 on ebay but they go up to about $80 depending where you get it.

Dunno what gauge wire I would run.. I have always just clamped it to the battery.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take a look at that one. I always just clamp to the battery too but I'll be driving and will need the inverter in the vehicle so stuff can be plugged in. The clamps that come with them aren't long enough.

[njyork42]

Yea.. I got what you are saying. I have a cheapo 150w off ebay that plugs into my cig lighter for stuff that I used in the cab.

[LynnM]

Run it direct to the battery with a 20a fuse. It will work more efficiently, The cig wiring is not really up to the use of a converter