Power inverter for my obs

[happy49219]

Hey guys I'm going camping this weekend and I want to bring my obs to smoke some ribs I was told to get a power inverter to plug into my phone charger port.  My question is what wattage do I need to get,  and is it ok to do this?  Or am I better off using a generator?

Thanks

[squirtthecat]

I tried running my OBS off of my 400 watt inverter - but it wasn't enough and kept tripping the circuit.

The OBS has a 500 watt heating element, and the smoke generator heating plate needs another 125 or so - not sure how much the motor uses when it cycles every 20 minutes..

I'd say you'd need 700 continuous (not peak) watts to be safe.

[Up In Smoke]

http://www.majorpower.com/inverters/inverter_faq.pdf
Try this link and see if it is any help, i fried a couple of inverters trying to run a laptop in my truck.
I am with squirt on this, it is better to have too much, remember that the heating element and puck warmer are going to
be drawing power full tilt for about an hour before preheat temp is reached, and then after the load is put in it has play catch up again!

[ArnieM]

I don't like generators because they're noisy and they stink. 

A 700-800 watt inverter will likely blow fuses for your phone charger port.  A direct battery connection would be better.

Then, of course, there's the Bradley propane smoker.  It might be less expensive than some of the other alternatives.

[squirtthecat]

A 700-800 watt inverter will likely blow fuses for your phone charger port.  A direct battery connection would be better.

Arnie brings up a good point...  When I have to use it - I have my inverter hooked directly to my car battery - not through the cig lighter and related smaller gauge wiring. (and fuses)



This particular unit was about 45 bucks from WallyMart - it has provided some light and communications (and sanity) on many occasions now..

[HawkeyeSmokes]

If you have access to a generator, I would use it. For the amount of time involved to do ribs, your going to need to keep you auto running using an inverter.

Might as well listen to the generator, it's a lot cheaper than your car.

Just my 2 cents.

[squirtthecat]

Agreed!

I've got some very expensive generators - but they are rarely used. (knock on wood)   ;)

[smoker pete]

I don't like generators because they're noisy and they stink. 

A 700-800 watt inverter will likely blow fuses for your phone charger port.  A direct battery connection would be better.

Then, of course, there's the Bradley propane smoker.  It might be less expensive than some of the other alternatives.

ArnieM is right that it would be less expensive to own a Bradley propane smoker.  Inverters will run anywhere from around $70 to $400 and they can and will suck batteries down in a hurry.  Then as your batteries start to lose their charge you'll need a way to recharge them which means running your truck or your generator.  It's a catch 22.  If you need to run your generator to recharge your batteries then you might as well just run the OBS with the generator.

I am presuming that you are talking about dry camping or boondocking cause it would be a mute point if you were in an RV park with full hookups.  Most RV inverters are intended to power a TV and DVD and not much else.  I have a 50 amp built in propane generator in my 5th wheel that I would consider running to power an OBS but I would use up a gallon of propane per hour to do it.  Even though my generator is quiet by most standards I would still have to run it for hours.

IMHO I would just get me a Bradley propane smoker (BPS) with the adapter(s) so I could use a regular 20 lb bottle of propane.  I'm actually thinking of getting me one of those propane smokers for camping.  I carry an extra bottle of propane in my 5th wheel anyway for my Weber Q220 for grilling.  You can get a BPS from Bradley for $99 or other places like Amazon for $80.

[happy49219]

The reason I don't want to do the propane is it gets windy at this lake no trees.

[ArnieM]

I have a Kohler 5.5 KW generator that I haven't started in about 3 years.  My bad  :-\

You could build a wind blind for the BPS.  Maybe three 2x4 foot pieces of plywood, hinged together.  Add a couple ground spikes to keep it in place.  That should solve the wind problem.

Long ago, we used to anchor out in a cove in my sailboat (Sabre 28) and the power boats would come in and run generators all night.  Maybe that's where I got my dislike for generators - noise and stink.

[mikeradio]

you can run it off an inverter but you will need a large bank of batteries.  Say you need 700watts to run the smoke generator and heater

This is assuming that everything is on full for the whole smoke, in real life when the smoker gets to temp the heater would start
cycling and you would use less power.  So this would be the worst case.


700w/12v=58amps then add 15% for losses  so you need about 66 amps to run the smoker every hour.

I am not sure what your smoking, but say you want a 20 hour smoke  66amps x 20hrs = 1320 amp/hours

Your car battery is only around 80 amp/hours so you need a battery more like a deep discharge battery
like a 6volt golf cart battery they are 6volts and 220 Ah so you need 2 to make 12volts at 220 AH

So 1320 / 220 = 6  so you would need 12 - 6volts batteries to make a 12 volt bank with 1320 AH capacity.

So it is possiable, maybe you have a cheep source for batteries??

[JT-MO]

Like smoker pete said, you must be boondocking cause if you are not then the best option would be to get a campsite with electrical hookup for that OBS.
That is what I do when I go to places like state parks, etc..

If not then a generator is the next best option if you have one. However I don't do this myself, I only take the OBS to electric hookup sites.

[LumpyDVC]

Or smoke the ribs the day before and reheat when you get to your campsite.

Or if you time it right you could smoke them, then FTC them.

Personally I'd just cook them the day ahead, reheat on site.

Lumpy # 2

[beefmann]

mike radio hit the  nail on the head, and  stay away from any  draw from the  battery that  starts the engine, once it  has no power, no engine start,