Posted by Hampton/CA on 6/11/05 11:26pm
Msg #44028

Inverter question for Margaret/FL

400 watts and under can plug into your lighter. Over that, and you must attach to the battery, or hard wire like you did. My printer uses 285 watts and my laptop another 75. I'm looking at the 400 watt inverter. Why did you choose the 3000 watts?

Did you use pure sine or modified? If you used the modified, does your printer work OK with it?

Tmobile has hotspots that I can use for $6 per hour, which is plenty of time to download docs. Once I get busy, I can open an unlimited account and use it whereever they have a hotspot. It sounds like you're using something different, perhaps a cell connection. How are you accessing the internet? Tmobile has hotspots at most Starbucks, and there's several scattered throughtout my area, which is roughly 8,000 square miles. (There's a lot of open space between cities out here.)

I plan to simply go to a hotspot, download docs, send it to the printer in the back seat, and get on the road again while the docs print.

During the summer, it can get very hot inside of a car once you've parked. How do you protect your toner cartridges from forming clumps, or has this not been a problem? In CA, we get days that are near 110 degrees. You can practically boil water in the inside of parked car, so I'm concerned about what heat will do to the printer supplies, and/or the equipment.

Thanks for your help. Hampton/CA [e-mail address]

Reply by Margaret/Craig on 6/12/05 6:14am
Msg #44039

I chose the 3000 watt to make sure I do not overload. My son is an electrician and re suggested the 3000, along with several other knowledable people. I have have camera equipment and powerful flash lights that I need to charge also. I have a a DVD player and Satillite Radio that I plug in also for when I am sitting in my car waiting for edocs. I run my AC all the time, so I have not had a problem with the heat. I tried the HOT spots at starbucks, but we seem to only have them in affluent areas, not rural, country, etc. My connection is a card that plugs in my laptop on the side and you put a sim card in. It is totally separate from my cell phone.

I do not know what pure sine or modified is. The kind that plug into your cig lighter because I had tried them before and they blow out the fuses.

I also used the 3000 watt power inverter during the hurricanes last year to plug in my refrigerator. I worked totally from my car last year for 2 weeks when we lost electricity.
Mine is not hooked directly to the battery. They installed a Battery isolator so it would not drain my battery.