Help! lethargic chick with bald bum

[Kris5902]

Curious how you are powering the ecoglow enroute?

'Bout spit coffee all over laptop.

 

[aart]

Am shopping new vehicles, one had a built in. 115V inverter.

I have a small 300watt inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter/12v outlet in the car or truck. The ecoglow 20 only draws 18watts, and we had no battery issues, even when the truck was parked on the ferry for two hours.

Am shopping new vehicles, one had a built in 115V inverter...not sure about wattage.

 

[Kris5902]

Am shopping new vehicles, one had a built in. 115V inverter.

Am shopping new vehicles, one had a built in 115V inverter...not sure about wattage.

You could easily plug an ecoglow 20 into any built in 115v inverter... they sip electricity. the inverter I used was what I had on hand, and I tested it all out with the vehicle before I went to pick up, knowing there was a fair chance of delays due to multiple ferries and routing on my trip.
Newer vehicles, especially those with “entertainment packages” (really? people need a DVD player to drive their kids around in the city... I remember 4 day road trips with nothing but radio and a book as a child!) come with larger batteries or dual batteries to support these accessories. Key points to look for are: will the outlet have power if the vehicle is not running? Our 2011 Jeep’s built in inverter only works if the engine is running, but my brother in law’s entertainment package 2015 mini van has 3 standard plugs that will run regardlessly. Bring a cell phone vehicle charger and standard wall cube to your test drives to verify the outlets, not all sales people know and some are dishonest.
The ‘92 Chevy we drove home in has an old school lighter plug that will stay on if the vehicle isn’t running, our ‘97 dodge has 2 outlets... one that turns off with the engine and one that doesn’t.
You could also get an inverter that has battery clips and run it directly from the car battery, or best solution is to bring a spare charged deepcycle battery to run one off of... if you have long hauls with chicks the $100 investment plus a battery charger might be a good idea, having a battery charger is a good idea even if you don’t need it often.
If your car has a small battery just be sure to turn it over and rev it a few times during longer waits (like when you’re jumping another vehicle... so you don’t need to get a jump yourself when you try to start up again, every 1/2 hr will probably do it!)
We are currently boondocking (living in a 5th wheel without any hookups except our septic dump) while we build our off grid house; so I’ve been learning A LOT about batteries and inverters and solar lately! Hope this is helpful for people...

 

[Kris5902]

TLDR... unless you’re into the technical details, summary:

You could easily plug an ecoglow 20 into any built in 115v inverter... they sip electricity.

I tested it all out with the vehicle before I went to pick up.

Key points to look for are: will the outlet have power if the vehicle is not running?

Bring a cell phone vehicle charger and standard wall cube to your test drives to verify the outlets, not all sales people know and some are dishonest.

You could get an inverter that has battery clips and run it directly from the car battery.

best solution is to bring a spare charged deepcycle battery to run one off of, plus a battery charger to charge it at home

If your car has a small battery be sure to turn it over and rev it a few times during long waits so you don’t drain your starting battery and need a jump.

Hope this is helpful for people...

 

[aart]

really? people need a DVD player to drive their kids around in the city

I Know, Right?!
Tho having had raucous small kids in the car, I can see the temptation.
Not to mention all the 'connectivity' crap, I don't even have a cell phone.
I don't need or want any of that, including the inverter, but it's there.
Am just glad I can still buy one that doesn't mandatorily drive and park it self.