Power inverters

[n2Jeepin]

Oh, I rarely take apart the press part part. Just rinse it off

My mom has an Aeropress (I don't) and it's got a bunch of little parts to clean.
Tho it's been a while since I messed with it, so perhaps there's an easier way.

That all said, I tend to more often use my single cup drip with a biodegradable paper filter. That's easiest! Tho I dislike making trash.
I'd rather have a reusable drip cone. That might be in my future.

I have also thought about getting a stovetop coffee maker

Great coffe pot!!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

That is a stove top Espresso Pot. A bit messy and slow, put it does a great job of making really strong espresso coffee. You can get the spoon to stand vertical in the cup .

 

[PaulT]

Tried them all.

Best to worst in terms of good taste, convenience, cleanup. IMHO

Melitta Filter cone. Always good, trivial to clean up
AeroPress filter press. Good if I remember to not press too hard and get grit in result
Bialetti stovetop espresso. Good, but messy and too much of pot is a thermal hazard if not alert
Folger coffee bags. Tolerable when camping, fastest, but can't choose blend
Percolator Not bad with care to not over or under percolate
Bodum French Press. Never been able to get a good, grit free cup, that doesn't get bitter before finish

It may just be that I have mastered the first two & haven't had incentive to master the rest. I'll accept that it may be user error.
Any fresh hot coffee is better than none when camping.

Paul

 

[MattC]

Tried them all.

Best to worst in terms of good taste, convenience, cleanup. IMHO

Melitta Filter cone. Always good, trivial to clean up


It may just be that I have mastered the first two & haven't had incentive to master the rest. I'll accept that it may be user error.
Any fresh hot coffee is better than none when camping.

Paul

So it's just the single cup "pour over" that you are using?

For the half dozen times a year i would need it, hey look like they would be worth giving it a shot for how cheap they are.

 

[hoyden]

The single cup "pour over" has become my go-to in the camper. I also tried a whole bunch of coffee-making camper experiments, and the two that lasted were my little french press and the Melitta single cup pour over. And the latter get my main use. There's virtually no clean up, not messy, doesn't take hardly any extra space....

That said (and to get kinda back on OP ) having an inverter would be handy when boondocking while working - have a way to charge the laptop. Otherwise, I can't think of much use for one. When I was living on the road, the few times I plugged into shore power was because it was crappy weather and my solar weren't getting charged and couldn't go outside and play.
Everything else I have can be charged via USB (phone, camera, Kindle....)

 

[PaulT]

Yeah, sorry for the detour. I carry a 150 watt inverter for the few items for which I haven't found a DC charger. But I can't see using hard won solar charged battery power for a resistance heater or microwave. If I didn't have alternatives for those house appliances, I would just bring the Honda. Running it for the short time needed to make a pot or run the microwave shouldn't be too disruptive while boondocking.
Paul

 

[craig333]

With Paul on this one. I've settled on the Melitta but it can be a bit unstable if you're clumsy like me.

 

[PaulT]

With Paul on this one. I've settled on the Melitta but it can be a bit unstable if you're clumsy like me.

I'll admit to being clumsy also. I set up the cup in the sink. The drain ring is flat and even if I blow it, the mess is in the sink.

Paul

 

[MattC]

I played with some stuff, and in the process of doing some homework I found this little guy at Cabela's
https://youtu.be/qABKhFRHQQ4
I figured it will keep me in coffee until I decide what I am doing about an inverter

 

[gaylon]

I found travel coffee mugs into the top of which the bottom of the melitta cone holder can rest safely and do the pour over with said mug(s) in the sink. Then add Baileys (or even better - Buffalo Trace Coffee Cream) and you are good to go.

 

[Vic Harder]

I found travel coffee mugs into the top of which the bottom of the melitta cone holder can rest safely and do the pour over with said mug(s) in the sink. Then add Baileys (or even better - Buffalo Trace Coffee Cream) and you are good to go.

I'm a straight up rye guy myself, but I like your thinking!

 

[Ronski]

I'll wade into this... If you are running anything with a fan/motor, you want a pure sine wave inverter. That means nice curvy waveforms, vs the alternative, which is basically square waves that motors don't like. For that matter, sensitive electronics don't like square waves, nor does radio gear.

Sine wave inverters cost a lot more, and you have to decide what you want to do. Just charge batteries on your electronics/camera/phone? A small 300W square wave will do, and these normally plug into your cigaretter lighter. I chopped the plug off of mine and wired it into the battery comparment and an ac outlet - done.

If you want to run something bigger like a big'ish screen or CPAP machine or - toaster oven - you will need that 2000W unit, and the batteries to run it.

Something to think about. A 1500W toaster oven is drawing 1500/120 = 12.5A in your house. Assuming 80% efficiency at converting the 12v DC in your batteries to 120v AC that the toaster needs, you need to deliver 156A to the inverter.

The wires had better be beefy, and short, and your batteries big if you want to cook much of anything!

FYI, I looked at my friends CPAP machine and it was rated at 80 watts. Newer generation unit.

 

[Vic Harder]

FYI, I looked at my friends CPAP machine and it was rated at 80 watts. Newer generation unit.

With apologies to the OP and this thread topic... Ronski, keep in mine that even an 80W unit running 8 hours a night will need at least a 100W panel on the roof to replace the overnight draw, assuming 8 hours of daylight.

 

[Escapepod]

Although we're waiting for our new truck/FWC, we've had a Go-Power 1750 watt inverter for about 10 yrs in our trailer. Main use? My wife's hair dryer. We toast on the stove with a cast iron pan, and a percolator makes the coffee. I'd love to find a low-wattage hair dryer that works, but few good reviews. All other uses, such as charging batteries & devices, could be handled with a smaller inverter. May have to bite the bullet and install a 2000W inverter in the new Grandby, unless some has solved this another way...

 

[Vic Harder]

Shorter hair?

 

[Escapepod]

Shorter hair?

Hah! Yep, had that discussion; her hair is fairly short, but not as short as mine, which I can dry with a paper towel. Her dryer use is no more than 2 min.

 

[Vic Harder]

ok then!

 

[craig333]

I forgot to mention the vacuum. My little 110 model works much better than any 12volt version I've tried.

 

[Norsman]

I bring a goal zero lithium 400 that has a built in inverter rated at 300 watts and 1200 surge watts. It is a pure sign wave inverter. It will charge my laptop, camera batteries, drone batteries, phone, ipads, etc and usually lasts an entire week without charging. I can plug it into my solar panel or just plug it into the 12v outlet in the camper while driving to charge it back up. This takes a load of my house battery and is perfect for the kids stuff as I don’t have to worry about them draining the house battery.

It fits perfectly in the small cabinets on the side in a Hawk front dinette.

 

[Marvap]

With apologies to the OP and this thread topic... Ronski, keep in mine that even an 80W unit running 8 hours a night will need at least a 100W panel on the roof to replace the overnight draw, assuming 8 hours of daylight.

Both make good points - I have a 300W pure sine wave inverter that I've used for years to run my CPAP, and until my solar/lithium upgrades a few years ago could barely squeak through the night, and that was with the humidifier turned off. Forget also running the furnace. That was with 50W solar & alternator charging of a 90 AH Gel cell battery. Now with 100 AH lithium & 200W solar it's all happy. Being able to draw the lithium down much further than the gel makes a huge difference.