Battery Selection
Select Battery Type
Select "Deep Cycle" batteries to receive optimum performance from your Inverter/Charger. Do not use ordinary car or starting batteries or
batteries rated in Cold Cranking Amps (CCA). If the batteries you connect to the Inverter/Charger are not true Deep Cycle batteries, their
operational lifetimes may be significantly shortened. If you are using the same battery bank to power the Inverter/Charger as well as DC
loads, your battery bank will need to be appropriately sized (larger loads will require a battery bank with a larger amp-hour capacity) or the
operational lifetimes of the batteries may be significantly shortened.
Batteries of either Wet-Cell (vented) or Gel-Cell /Absorbed Glass Mat (sealed) construction are ideal. 6-volt "golf cart", Marine Deep-Cycle
or 8D Deep-Cycle batteries are also acceptable. You must set the Inverter/Charger's Battery Type DIP Switch (see Configuration section
for more information) to match the type of batteries you connect or your batteries may be degraded or damaged over an extended period of
time. In many cases, the vehicle battery may be the only one installed. Auxiliary batteries must be identical to the vehicle batteries if they
are connected to each other.
Match Battery Amp-Hour Capacity to Your Application
Select a battery or system of batteries that will provide your Inverter/Charger with proper DC voltage and an adequate amp-hour capacity
to power your application. Even though Tripp Lite Inverter/Chargers are highly efficient at DC-to-AC inversion, their rated output capacities
are limited by the total amp-hour capacity of connected batteries plus the output of an alternator when one is used.
• STEP 1) Determine Total Wattage Required
Add the wattage ratings of all equipment you will connect to your
Inverter/Charger. Wattage ratings are usually listed in equipment manuals
or on nameplates. If your equipment is rated in amps, multiply that number
times AC utility voltage to estimate watts. (Example: a drill requires 2.8
amps. 2.8 amps × 230 volts = 640 watts.)
NOTE: Your Inverter/Charger will operate at higher efficiencies at about 75% - 80% of nameplate
rating.
• STEP 2) Determine DC Battery Amps Required
Divide the total wattage required (from step 1, above) by the battery voltage
to determine the DC amps required.
• STEP 3) Estimate Battery Amp-Hours Required
Multiply the DC amps required (from step 2, above) by the number of hours
you estimate you will operate your equipment exclusively from battery
power before you have to recharge your batteries with utility- or
generator-supplied AC power. Compensate for inefficiency by
multiplying this number by 1.2. This will give you a rough estimate of how
many amp-hours of battery power (from one or several batteries) you
should connect to your Inverter/Charger.
NOTE: Battery amp-hour ratings are usually given for a 20-hour discharge rate. Actual amp-hour capacities
are less when batteries are discharged at faster rates. For example, batteries discharged in 55 minutes
provide only 50% of their listed amp-hour ratings, while batteries discharged in 9 minutes provide as little
as 30% of their amp-hour ratings.
• STEP 4) Estimate Battery Recharge Required, Given Your Application
You must allow your batteries to recharge long enough to replace the
charge lost during inverter operation or else you will eventually run down
your batteries. To estimate the minimum amount of time you need to
recharge your batteries given your application, divide your required battery
amp-hours (from step 3, above) by your Inverter/Charger's rated charging
amps and DIP Switch B4 setting .
13mm (1/2") Drill
640W
+
Appliances and Electronics
Refrigerator
Table Fan
540W
+
1440 watts ÷ 12V =
120 DC Amps × 5 Hrs. Runtime
× 1.2 Inefficiency Rating =
600 Amp-Hours ÷ 60 Amps
Inverter/Charger Rating =
8
Example
Tools
Circular Saw
800W
=
1440W
Signal Relay Tower Desktop Computer with
Large LCD Monitor
150W
+
500W
+
250W
120 DC Amps
600 Amp-Hours
10 Hours Recharge
=
1440W