Power Inverter

[Neverhome]

I have read in this forum where many of you carrier 110 volt air compressors in your basement for on the road inflation. My question is if you need to use it on the road, do you have to hook a generator up or can you leave the truck running and plug it into the outside 110 outlet on the fiver and the converter will handle it?

Neverhome

[BFlinn181]

I'd check the amperage needs of the compressor and make sure your inverter can handle that kind of draw. Most compressors need a lot of power, more than your charge line from the tow vehicle to 5th wheel can handle.

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by Neverhome

I have read in this forum where many of you carrier 110 volt air compressors in your basement for on the road inflation. My question is if you need to use it on the road, do you have to hook a generator up or can you leave the truck running and plug it into the outside 110 outlet on the fiver and the converter will handle it?

Neverhome

Do you have a 12 volt battery in the fiver that the inverter is hooked to? What wattage is the inverter? If you have a 1500 watt inverter that should handle all small portable compressors. If it's smaller, check the amp draw of your desired compressor, keeping in mind it will draw more for a second or two while it starts, and the draw gets higher as the pressure builds.

An alternative is a heavy duty 12 volt unit like this one.

[wingnut60]

First, do you have an inverter or converter, or both? Inverter in the title, converter in the post body?
No go on the converter doing anything if not plugged into shore power...
An inverter will have to be both rated to run the compressor and have the correct cabling and battery setup to provide enough power to run it.
I carry a Porter Cable compressor that I run off my generator.
Joe

[Neverhome]

Thanks to all of you for all of your advice. Just watched a video on the Montana Electronics and you cannot plug into the 120 outlets unless attached to shore power.

Neverhome

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by Neverhome

Thanks to all of you for all of your advice. Just watched a video on the Montana Electronics and you cannot plug into the 120 outlets unless attached to shore power.

Neverhome

Then you should consider one of the Viair 12 volt units. Here is another thread currently discussing them as well.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280152