Idling an engine overnight to power inverter to AC

[rec.travel.cruises]

We are looking for one of those v6 toyota class C's and find many
without generators. I am concerned about hot summer nights and want
AC. Rather than limit the search to ones with a generator, why not
get a large inverter, and simply leave the v6 engine run at idle
overnight?

This brings up 3 questions 1. would this hurt the vehicle engine? Its
idling, not under load, so fat chance of overheating. 2. Would the
alternator be sufficient to charge the house battery to keep the
inverter going? If not, the inverter shuts off automatically,
stopping the AC, and when it gets warm and I wake, I can reset the
inverter since the engine has been charging the house battery with no
load while the inverter is off. 3. How much fuel would the V6 use in
8 hours of idling? A generator would use about 3 gallons by my
calculations, so if the V6 used 5 gallons, that is an extra $8.00 for
AC overnight, better than a hotel. Am I all wet???

[Tom J]

rec.travel.cruises wrote:
> We are looking for one of those v6 toyota class C's and find many
> without generators. I am concerned about hot summer nights and want
> AC. Rather than limit the search to ones with a generator, why not
> get a large inverter, and simply leave the v6 engine run at idle
> overnight?

So you think an idling engine can run an inverter large enough to run a roof
air conditioner??? I have some shore line property on 3 mile island for sale
cheap!!

Tom J

[rec.travel.cruises]

Thanks Tom. I really did not know if a 60 amp alternator would do
that, thus I asked the question politely. Not currently interested in
your Pennsylvania property

[Rick Morel]

Unfortunately, you are all wet.

An inverter running the A/C will draw about 140 Amps at 12V for the
average roof AC.

You could get a 150 Amp or greater bus or marine alternator, but the
vehicle engine would have to run at a fast idle. Plus it would be
running under a small load - The alternator would take about 3-1/2 HP
at that output. Plus idling really isn't very good for the engine.

Cheaper and less trouble to pick up a generator and devise say a rear
bumper mount. We had good luck with a Champion 2500 Watt, available at
Lowes at a good price. About the cost of a good 2500 Watt inverter.
Mounted it on the cabin top of our sailboat and it ran the marine A/C
many nights,

Rick

[Shad O'Shay]

"rec.travel.cruises" <thelongte...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:dfb2dc57-2cdf-42f8...@y12g2000vba.googlegroups.com...

> This brings up 3 questions 1. would this hurt the vehicle engine? Its
> idling, not under load, so fat chance of overheating. 2. Would the
> alternator be sufficient to charge the house battery to keep the
> inverter going? If not, the inverter shuts off automatically,
> stopping the AC, and when it gets warm and I wake, I can reset the
> inverter since the engine has been charging the house battery with no
> load while the inverter is off. 3. How much fuel would the V6 use in
> 8 hours of idling? A generator would use about 3 gallons by my
> calculations, so if the V6 used 5 gallons, that is an extra $8.00 for
> AC overnight, better than a hotel. Am I all wet???

Yes, you are all wet. Stop being so rude to everybody who'd like to
enjoy breathing clean air and who has a RIGHT to breath clean air. Stop
being so selfish. Get a hotel room you twit.

Shad O'Shay

[Ron]

"Rick Morel" wrote in message
news:333bc7tpb7d02ahdf...@4ax.com...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Most inverters put out what they call a modified sine wave which more like a
square wave. Many electronic devices don't like 120v ac that isn't a pure
sine wave or close to a pure sine wave like the electric company provides.
Your roof top air conditioner compressor and fan motor may not like the
inverter output and may not last long using that power. Pure sine wave
inverters are available, but they cost about 4 times what the modified sine
wave inverters cost.

Ron
who zapped an electric blanket with a modified sine wave inverter
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rick

[Rick Morel]

On Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:18:49 -0600, "Ron" <RonR...@aol.com> wrote:

>
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Most inverters put out what they call a modified sine wave which more like a
>square wave. Many electronic devices don't like 120v ac that isn't a pure
>sine wave or close to a pure sine wave like the electric company provides.
>Your roof top air conditioner compressor and fan motor may not like the
>inverter output and may not last long using that power. Pure sine wave
>inverters are available, but they cost about 4 times what the modified sine
>wave inverters cost.
>
>Ron
>who zapped an electric blanket with a modified sine wave inverter
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There is that. The reason the electric blanket control was zapped, and
what will zap ANY non-transformer battery charger is due to the
circuitry in the controller or charger. They switch at x voltage in
the sine wave. All modified sine wave inverter manuals warn against
using with those devices.

I will respectfully disagree re the compressor and fan motors. I've
heard the won't last long, but personal experience and experience of
dozens of cruisers (boat) have shown there is no problem with fridge
compressors and other induction motors. They will run a little hotter,
but it doesn't seem to harm them.

Rick

[Rick Morel]

Typo correction: The Champion Generator is 3500 Watt, not 2500.
Probably need a 3500 Watt inverter as well for startup surge.

Rick

[ilbe...@gmail.com]

On Nov 17, 2:41 pm, "rec.travel.cruises"

Wont work . You need something like a Honda portable generator which
will handle a small a/c . Put the generator aways from the RV/
Van ... theyre not too noisey .

[ilbe...@gmail.com]

On Nov 17, 2:41 pm, "rec.travel.cruises"
<thelongtermcare...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here ya go : http://www.campingworld.com/honda/