looking at inverters that plug in to the cigarette lighter plugs . The little guy has a deep cell marine battery . Is a 1000 watt iverter enough to run a retro toaster oven grill, coffeepot ?
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Hi Barb,
It has been a while, but my recollection is that Amps X Volts = Watts. Most cigarette lighter ports have 15 Amp fuses, so 15 X 12 = 180 Watts being the most you could draw. Your toaster should say somewhere on a label what Wattage it draws, but I'm guessing it would be well higher than 180. I have a 400 Watt inverter that clamps directly to the battery terminals. I suspect you are going to need some very large wiring (4-6 gage?), and a circuit breaker all wired directly to the battery to run 1000 Watts. That has the potential to draw 83 Amps!
I hope that helps,
Steve -
Is this what you are looking at? https://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-BSE.../dp/B01F5D10TG
The comments on the Amazon listing make it sound like that is a 1500 watt device, which means you would not be able to run it on a 1000w inverter.
I will agree with what Steve has said, and will add that the battery that came with your Little Guy is probably not large enough to power that cooktop for very long. Typically I think the Little Guys came with an inexpensive 75ah (amp-hour) lead-acid battery, but that may have changed over the years. I will note that lead-acid batteries can only be drawn down to 50% of their rated capacity. Meaning you can only use 37.5ah of a 75ah battery.
A 1500w device is capable of pulling 125 amps from the battery (1500watts / 12volts) . Running that cooktop/griddle/coffee-maker device for 15 minutes would use 31ah (125amp x .25hours) of your useable 37.5ah battery capacity, essentially draining the battery completely. This is assuming the battery is not more than a few years old, and in good condition. Drawing any more energy from the battery would cause permanent damage to the battery.
If you are absolutely 100% set in your mind that you want to power this cooktop/griddle/coffee-maker from your camper (while not plugged into campground power), then I will strongly recommend getting two brand-new matching 100ah batteries, and having someone install a 2000w 'pure-sine' inverter with 1-gage wire. You would definitely need someone who knows what they're doing to install it for you. All in, you can expect that setting your camper up to use this device to cook 'off-grid' will cost you well over $400 in parts, not including the cooktop. I could install it all for you at a gathering (and not charge you for it), but its still an awful lot of money to cook some eggs and drink some coffee.- Two inexpensive 100-ah deep-cycle batteries will run you about $100 each
- A 'cheap' 2000w pure-sine inverter will be at least $175. (If you don't use a pure-sine inverter, you could cause damage to the electronics in the cooktop.)
- Two in-line 150a fuses are about $15-20 each
Do you often camp where there are no hookups? If you typically camp at campsites with power, a $30 extension cord from the power post to your galley would be a lot cheaper, and a lot easier.Comment
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Yes , that is the retro combo I have . The battery did not come with the td , I added it later . It is a deep cell marine battery . I also have a solar charger , but no controller . We can look at it when we get together .Comment
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Sounds good, Barb. You always camp at campgrounds with power, don't you?Comment
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If I can , but if everything else is booked , I'll take a non-electric site .Comment
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