Why wouldnt this work? Inverters and caravans etc.

[psychocandy]

Off to glasto next week and gas water heater in caravan is buggered. £300 to repair - sod that.

Its also got a 240v emersion heater so when you're on campsite you plug the cable in and use this. Which is what the last owners did and never used the gas.

Trouble is glastonbury = no leccy.

One idea I have. Buy a 1000w inverter, plug into car and run car engine for 20 mins. You can then hookup caravan to inverter.

Water heater is 850w. Normally on site you get 16a or 10a hookup. Car lighter is 10a I think.

Any reason why this wouldn't work? Yes I would have to run the engine or it'd be flat battery PDQ :-(

[TykeMerc]

Immersion heaters pull a lot of load, simply plugging an inverter into your cig lighter socket and running the engine isn't going to be pretty.

There's a better than fair chance that the cabling to the socket will get damn warm and since it runs alongside the rest of your wiring loom it's a risk that you could do something nasty, not forgetting the very material risk of an electrical fire if something gets too hot.

Those inverters are intended to be used to power things like TV's, Laptops and chargers, not a water heater.

If you do try it then you would need a seriously beefy inverter and I'd recommend installing proper heavy cabling direct from the battery and avoiding the wiring loom.

In short you're asking for trouble unless you take some sensible precautions which may well cost a fair bit.

[TheFaQQer]

I'd be wary of trying to hook something that requires that kind of power to the cigarette lighter, to be honest. You could try an inverter that connects directly to the battery - that way if it goes wrong you aren't going to fry the cabling and socket, blow the fuse and end up in all sorts of bother.

There's a discussion here where people are advising against using an inverter for running a hairdryer for a few minutes, so I'd think that you are looking to do would be an even bigger no.

850w heater will need more than 1000w inverter because you'll lose 20% - if you are going to get one then make sure its' at least a 1200w inverter.

Article here for more advice.

[tractor]

Immersion heaters pull a lot of load, simply plugging an inverter into your cig lighter socket and running the engine isn't going to be pretty.

There's a better than fair chance that the cabling to the socket will get damn warm and since it runs alongside the rest of your wiring loom it's a risk that you could do something nasty, not forgetting the very material risk of an electrical fire if something gets too hot.

Those inverters are intended to be used to power things like TV's, Laptops and chargers, not a water heater.

If you do try it then you would need a seriously beefy inverter and I'd recommend installing proper heavy cabling direct from the battery and avoiding the wiring loom.

In short you're asking for trouble unless you take some sensible precautions which may well cost a fair bit.

Yes, it will catch fire. And quickly.

If you want to see the level of beef you need, surf some of the caravan or chandler sites for the stuff they use on boats.

I have a travel inverter that converts a boat's 12v supply (lighter socket type) to 240 for the laptop and GPS chargers etc, that gets pretty warm too so I don't use it for long.

[psychocandy]

Yes it seems the issue is the ampage needed to draw the wattage across 12v.

And lighter sockets are 10a. So 12v x 10a = 120w maximum.

But 1000w connected directly to the battery is 1000/12 = 83a or so. Fairly hefty - would imagine the cables need to be fairly hefty.

BUT look on amazon and there are tons of 1000w with thin cables. Not cool.

Heater is 860w so not a good idea I dont think.

[TheFaQQer]

Either get it fixed or spend some money on a decent petrol / diesel / LPG powered generator to do the job.

[MicrosoftBob]

It's glasto, just take food that doesn't need heating, heating you can do with out it's June and besides you won't sleep much anyway

If you take a lot with you, it only makes you more of a target for thieves anyway

[psychocandy]

Either get it fixed or spend some money on a decent petrol / diesel / LPG powered generator to do the job.

No generators allowed at glasto :-(

[psychocandy]

It's glasto, just take food that doesn't need heating, heating you can do with out it's June and besides you won't sleep much anyway

If you take a lot with you, it only makes you more of a target for thieves anyway

Foods not an issue. Gas cooker works fine. Its hot water for shower....

I dont care - I just wont wash but this is Mrs PC ....

[DimPrawn]

Foods not an issue. Gas cooker works fine. Its hot water for shower....

I dont care - I just wont wash but this is Mrs PC ....

Stay at a nearby 5* hotel. Sorted.