will this power work?

Work for what? If your thinking about trying to run an electric smoker (any model) forget it.
At 4oo watts you can run a few lights maybe.

Yachtturner
My main concern with this unit would be the size. 400 watts means the equivelant of 4 100 watt light bulbs, not much to work with. If you are looking at powering any refrigeration or electrical heating/warming equipment etc. you are probably looking at minutes rather than hours of capacity because of the small internal battery of this unit. Also if you are running a cookshack or other electric unit that is rated at more than 400 watts it would overload this unit. It is designed mainly to keep your computer and maybe a light or fan going, not much more than that.

I am researching the same type thing. You might check on ebay. There is a converter on there that is rated at 12,000 watts peak output, and 6,000 watts continuous. It doesn't have it's own battery, you hook it up to your vehicle battery or other deep cycle batteries like the fishing trolling motor batteries at Walmart etc. It has 4 fifteen amp/110 volt outlets. The key to long endurance is the amount and size of batteries you hook to it. They need to be hooked in parallel (+to+, -to-). This keeps the input voltage at 12 volts and each battery you add to the system gives you more time of use. This isn't automatic turn on though.

I am looking at another site that has a similar inverter that will step the 12 volts up to 240 as I have a cs250 which needs 240 volts. I'm not sure how to post the link here, but I'll figure it out if you are interested. It has a calculator on the site where you can put in the wattage you need to run and figure out the battery requirements.

I am thinking about either stacking a number of the trolling motor batteries or using a golf cart battery for power source. I would then hook it into my truck to charge while driving as well as have a docking station where I keep the trailer parked to charge the batteries. This is all new to me also, but I like the idea of silent power rather than the noise of a generator. I too am looking for any ideas from the more experienced out there. Hope this helps.

Jack

Yachtturner

I forgot to mention the unit on ebay retails about 500 bucks. Sometimes goes at auction for about 4.

Welcome aboard by the way.

Jack

Actually Axel, I run my FEC 100 at contests with a 400/800 inverter and a marine battery. With a charged up battery, the system will run for 18-20 hours on one charge.

And an FEC 100 only uses about 100 watts to run after the ignitor has started the pellets. I just don't know the number of watts needed while the ignitor is on.

YT, I am not sure I would feel comfortable with the UPS as a backup. You make one point that I think is important and the quality of the power at the contests. With my battery/inverter setup, I don't have to worry about it. Just my opinion though.

Check out this website. They have everything you will need.
Inverter

I thought I saw it was 300 watts for start up somewhere but not sure. Wasn't sure if this power source would run the FEC for awhile just in case of a power out. Ribdog, I noticed you used the 400 watt inverter, which isn't much, so i thought this might work for a bit. I think I might keep looking. Thanks

Two things to consider.

1. Peak usage and
2. Duration.

I'll have to check, but I think the initial igniter kicks it, it's over 400 watts, so you'll blow a circuit if it's a 400 w backup.

For duration, you have to figure the drain. The older FE's aren't bad and you can run a long time on battery. The IQ can actually have the igniter kick back on, so it might drain more.

Last time I asked CS, they said a 400w inverter was good enough to run it.

I real simple idea is a deep cycle marine batter and a xantrex inverter (I've seen them at Costco/Sam's). Not the best, but it works. You could add a battery charger pretty easy to that for the price shown $129.00

Also keep in mind those battery backups aren't deep cylcle batteries and you'll be draining them frequently and recharging and they're not best for that (that's my PC/Computer experience talking).

The BIGGEST thing to think about on an inverter after you get the watts/duty cycle thing down is get it as close to the battery as possible. Throw away those wires that came with it and wire it up with some monster cables or at lest 12 gauge. I'm running a 2000 watt (real rating, not Pep Boy rating) six feet from the battery in my 33 foot trailer so I robbed a pair of copper 1 gauge jumper cables.

quote:

Originally posted by Axel Walters:
Work for what? If your thinking about trying to run an electric led bulbs smoker (any model) forget it.
At 4oo watts you can run a few lights maybe.

I think we can run quiet a bit lights with 400 watt power. It is all about using power saving appliances