Building a power inverter

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j_darling2007

Copper - Posts: 210

Joined: January 21, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: December 20, 2005 at 2:40 PM / IP Logged

Does anyone have a schematic for a 12vdc to 120vac power inverter. I would like to build one, but don't know how. How much money would I save, and is it worth it to you all to go through all the trouble to build one.

There are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't

haemphyst

Platinum - Posts: 5,054

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Joined: January 19, 2003

Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island

Posted: December 20, 2005 at 3:26 PM / IP Logged

j_darling2007 wrote:

Does anyone have a schematic for a 12vdc to 120vac power inverter.

How big an inverter do you need?

j_darling2007 wrote:

I would like to build one, but don't know how.

This statement makes me think it might be worth your time running to Kragen and picking one up off the shelf...

j_darling2007 wrote:

How much money would I save, and is it worth it to you all to go through all the trouble to build one.

Probably none, unless you were building a HUGE one - several thousand watts or better. Manufacturers got us ALL beat when it comes to buying up the parts for cheap... Considering you can buy a 300 or so watter for less than 50 bucks now, it is probably not worth your time... Now, if you were looking for a good project, buy the one you want, and figure a way to integrate 120v throughout your car, so passengers can just "plug in"...

It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

j_darling2007

Copper - Posts: 210

Joined: January 21, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: December 20, 2005 at 3:49 PM / IP Logged

Let me clarify myself. I know how to solder a circuit board, etc, I just don't know how to build a power inverter. I want to run my PS2 on the inverter, so I don't know how much watts for sure. I'll check when I get home. And I was thinking. To run say, 5 amps at 120vac, I would need to supply 50 amps at 12vdc, right. I know it works like this for dc to dc, but is it the same from dc to ac.

That would be an awesome project, though, I might try to do something like that eventually. Thanks alot for the help.

Schematic, anyone???

There are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't

haemphyst

Platinum - Posts: 5,054

Joined: January 19, 2003

Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island

Posted: December 20, 2005 at 4:06 PM / IP Logged

http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/inverter.htm

http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/mcsele/i2k.htm

http://www.interq.or.jp/japan/se-inoue/e_ckt8.htm

http://www.interq.or.jp/japan/se-inoue/e_ckt30.htm

http://www.discovercircuits.com/C/co-dctoac.htm

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/samschem.htm

I appreciate the fact that you want to do it yourself, but I think you are going to find it will not be worth your time...

It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

mobile1

Silver - Posts: 479

Joined: February 23, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: December 20, 2005 at 4:07 PM / IP Logged

for a ps2, you can just use a 300 watt inverter and it would cost around 30 - 50 bucks. WAAYYYYY cheaper that building your own.

j_darling2007

Copper - Posts: 210

Joined: January 21, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: December 20, 2005 at 4:58 PM / IP Logged

Thanks for the links and help. I kind of want to build one just for the sake of doing it. Depends on how much it costs and how hard it is.

j_darling2007 wrote:

To run say, 5 amps at 120vac, I would need to supply 50 amps at 12vdc, right. I know it works like this for dc to dc, but is it the same from dc to ac.

Is this right??

There are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't

haemphyst

Platinum - Posts: 5,054

Joined: January 19, 2003

Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island

Posted: December 20, 2005 at 5:57 PM / IP Logged

50A plus heat wasted to inefficiencies. A typical inverter runs aroun 80% eficient, (theoretical maximum efficiency os 92%) so add an additional 12.5A to be blown off in heat...

And actually, 120v is around 180v pk-pk, so you could get around 3.5A RMS from 50A in...

It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

menace2sobriety

Silver - Posts: 394

Joined: October 29, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: December 20, 2005 at 9:16 PM / IP Logged

ps2 is 9volts dc so all you would have to do is drop the power down, but that will mean having to wire it after the transformer which means opening the unit up.

Search for other posts by menace2sobriety

Slammed_Am

Copper - Posts: 117

Joined: December 07, 2002

Location: United States

Posted: December 21, 2005 at 10:52 AM / IP Logged

the PS2 actually opperate off 12V at least the older ones do, not sure about the slim ones.

With the older ones you haveto dismantle it thus voiding its warranty, butall you have to do is solder 2 wires(+ and -) to the board hook it up like any other 12v accessory and voila.

Jay T

Copper - Posts: 169

Joined: December 02, 2003

Location: Canada

Posted: December 21, 2005 at 9:35 PM / IP Logged

Quick question.....

do the inverters we buy for our vehicles use Pulse Width Modulation for the DC to AC? or is the circuitry dependent on the quality / cost

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