Quick inverter question

[robroy]

A mate of mine who is not on Trucknet asked me this.
He has got an 800 watt inverter to carry a TV only, and maybe a phone charger.
Can you run a 800 watt inverter off a Hella plug, and if so is it ok to put a thinner cable on it, as the one that came with it is too thick for the plug.
My apologies if this is a dumbassed question, I aint an electrician.

[AndrewG]

A Hella plug is fine Rob. The current drain will only be that of the Tv or the phone charger. The average lcd small screen tv will only be around 60 watts consumption. Plug a 600watt kettle into it and things will be different..

[trevHCS]

Assuming the hella is 24v and its a 15 amp plug which is the highest I've seen so far, then the max it can take is 360 watts. For safety let's say 300w max usage.

If it was 12v then it would be 180 watts max, so maybe 150 watts to be safe. 800w inverter should be fine as it wont actually pull that...unless they connect a 64" 3D curved TV.

As for cable, yeah should be alright but would use the thickest that will fit.

Edit: what Andrew said.

[Franglais]

The good news is that if you`re using the truck`s own Hella socket it will be fused. Any excess current will blow the fuse, so no danger. If the cable from the plug to the inverter is the same as that supplying the socket, again no worries.

24volt, 15amp giving 360watts sounds about right to me too. Inverters aren`t 100% efficient so if you limit all equipment connected to it to 300watts max all should be good.

[toonsy]

This is why I've not bothered with an inverter because I'd either kill myself or fry the electrics in the truck

I'll stick with my gas burner/tin kettle combo for my own safety

[robroy]

Thanks for all the help lads, I've screenshot all your comments and sent them to him.
Any fires.... you lot are to blame.

[trevHCS]

I could suggest another alternative which is a mini gas turbine to generate the electricity, thus saving the hella socket and using toonsy's method of avoiding burning down the truck.

[biggriffin]

I run a 300w inverter, to run my TV/DVD combo and avtex aeriel, plugged into the cigarette lighter next to the bed on a fh13, no problems as of yet.

[robroy]

I run a 300w inverter, to run my TV/DVD combo and avtex aeriel, plugged into the cigarette lighter next to the bed on a fh13, no problems as of yet.

Yeh, the one I use for my tv/dvd combi is also round about the same wattage.
It was the 800 watt bit that made my mate (and me) unsure if it was safe to run off the Hella or not.
Anyway, I've told him now what's been said, and he's going to set it up tomorrow.
Cheers.

[AndrewG]

I run a 300w inverter, to run my TV/DVD combo and avtex aeriel, plugged into the cigarette lighter next to the bed on a fh13, no problems as of yet.

I always had you down as a Scania man BG especially with the user name 'BigGriffin'

[biggriffin]

I run a 300w inverter, to run my TV/DVD combo and avtex aeriel, plugged into the cigarette lighter next to the bed on a fh13, no problems as of yet.

I always had you down as a Scania man BG especially with the user name 'BigGriffin'

Er not a big angry chicken pilot, refers to the original Griffin from Luton.