Thread: 12v Inverter for Coffee Machine

Originally Posted by RVR110

Thanks, but for the purpose of this exercise, I am absolutely certain that the only solution I am interested in is a 240v coffee machine, and I want to run it off my existing dual battery set up. Unfortunately sizing the inverter according to my income/wealth doesn't really quantify the size and type of inverter that is appropriate for a 1300w coffee machine.

yeah it does... you get the biggest one you can afford. if you go the smallest on the atill just do the job you are going to kill it because of the waythe budget drive all for a profit engineers work.

if you get one that will just do the 1300w or even smaller because you sit down and work out the duty cycle time and the surge rating ad figuree out that hell a 1000W inverter will do the job whats oing to happen is as you eat your way through your battery voltage he input stage works harder and the insufficiently padded and heat sunk white man magic bits will heat up and dry joint the solder arc and generally eat themsevle for breakfast. And because your pushing the limiits all of the bits because they're designed to be at peak efficiency at around 80% and your pushing them at 120% repeatedly and constantly so they suck more amps to produce what you eed and make more heat and then in 3 months you've killed the inverter and need to replace it... and because its drawing so much extra out of the battery to simply turn to heat the battery life is shortened.

I already know you're trying to do this on a budget because you've come here and asked, IF you werent you'd have dropped a lazy fat wad of folding on a 2400w pure sine wave unit and got on with bragging about it to the triads of people who line up for cofffee on your big trips.

you already have a dual battery system, you presumably already have the machine as you know its power specs so now with the budget you have you just go and buy the biggest inevert you can afford and couple it up as closely to the battery with the fattest leads you can make fit. the inverter will last longer, the batteries will proide longer and have a better life, and because the power output of the inverter is more stable the coffee machine will last longer... OR, ditch the fancy coffee machine, go and get a kmart/harvery norman/good guys special with a <800w draw and a repco/supercheap/autoXL 800W inverter an use that configuration. I've done it tht ay but I came at it the other way, I had the inverter for running power tools so went to find a coffee machine that it could run.

as for charging for coffee out field... My usual price was "well the machines there, the milks in the engle beside the coffee, I take 2 sugars, feel free to help yourself while I sort out X/Y on your car"

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

yeah it does... you get the biggest one you can afford. if you go the smallest on the atill just do the job you are going to kill it because of the waythe budget drive all for a profit engineers work.

if you get one that will just do the 1300w or even smaller because you sit down and work out the duty cycle time and the surge rating ad figuree out that hell a 1000W inverter will do the job whats oing to happen is as you eat your way through your battery voltage he input stage works harder and the insufficiently padded and heat sunk white man magic bits will heat up and dry joint the solder arc and generally eat themsevle for breakfast. And because your pushing the limiits all of the bits because they're designed to be at peak efficiency at around 80% and your pushing them at 120% repeatedly and constantly so they suck more amps to produce what you eed and make more heat and then in 3 months you've killed the inverter and need to replace it... and because its drawing so much extra out of the battery to simply turn to heat the battery life is shortened.

I already know you're trying to do this on a budget because you've come here and asked, IF you werent you'd have dropped a lazy fat wad of folding on a 2400w pure sine wave unit and got on with bragging about it to the triads of people who line up for cofffee on your big trips.

you already have a dual battery system, you presumably already have the machine as you know its power specs so now with the budget you have you just go and buy the biggest inevert you can afford and couple it up as closely to the battery with the fattest leads you can make fit. the inverter will last longer, the batteries will proide longer and have a better life, and because the power output of the inverter is more stable the coffee machine will last longer... OR, ditch the fancy coffee machine, go and get a kmart/harvery norman/good guys special with a <800w draw and a repco/supercheap/autoXL 800W inverter an use that configuration. I've done it tht ay but I came at it the other way, I had the inverter for running power tools so went to find a coffee machine that it could run.

as for charging for coffee out field... My usual price was "well the machines there, the milks in the engle beside the coffee, I take 2 sugars, feel free to help yourself while I sort out X/Y on your car"

Actually I haven't bought the coffee machine yet. I obtained the power consumption of the unit from the data sheet. I could buy one of these inverters, but I suspect that it would be overkill for the intended load.

Summarising all of the posts above, it appears that a pure sine wave inverter in the range of 2000w-2400w would be required. A quick pricing search indicates that (ignoring the Chinese units on eBay) an inverter matching that criteria would cost between $1,000 and $2,500 depending on the brand and retailer. Plus the cost of the coffee machine. So now I have to consider if the coffee produced by said machine is worth that to me. Hmmm..... something to think about over my cappuccino tomorrow morning...

whats so special about your seleted machine?

have you tried a mukka epress stove top unit? or seen what you can make a cheaper smaller unit do?

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

whats so special about your seleted machine?



have you tried a mukka epress stove top unit? or seen what you can make a cheaper smaller unit do?

Allegedly it makes nice coffee. I could look at other solutions but I really like the idea of a machine. It will be a reasonably small machine - we have a machine at home (which is great), but it's larger and has more features than I want in the car.

The point of this thread was planning, design & costing - to determine the specs of an inverter that would be up to the job without being overkill. Once the planning is done I'll decide if I will proceed or not.

I've had many thoughts on the perfect camping coffee set-up and I still think the dream is an electric espresso machine like what you're aiming for. Other solutions come close in espresso quality, but at a lot more complication and effort. I agree, the electric espresso machine is the dream.

My tip is if you have a way of heating water easily (eg. Jetboil), pour hot water into the machine. Most of your power goes into heating the water, so if you start with pretty hot water the machine won't use as much power - better for batteries and inverter.

Apart from that, I'll be watching to see how good everything works.

P.S. I have these which makes a great coffee (espresso with creme and all), but by the time I hand grind the beans, boil water and foam the milk, it takes about 20 minutes to make a latte. (totally worth it if you're sitting around the camp fire)

Originally Posted by Judo

I've had many thoughts on the perfect camping coffee set-up and I still think the dream is an electric espresso machine like what you're aiming for. Other solutions come close in espresso quality, but at a lot more complication and effort. I agree, the electric espresso machine is the dream.

My tip is if you have a way of heating water easily (eg. Jetboil), pour hot water into the machine. Most of your power goes into heating the water, so if you start with pretty hot water the machine won't use as much power - better for batteries and inverter.

Apart from that, I'll be watching to see how good everything works.

P.S. I have these which makes a great coffee (espresso with creme and all), but by the time I hand grind the beans, boil water and foam the milk, it takes about 20 minutes to make a latte. (totally worth it if you're sitting around the camp fire)

Many machines say to only use cold water. I've assumed (so I may be wrong) that using cold water increases the life of the pump and rubber pick up lines. If the machine uses a thermoblock to heat the water than it will heat the water again anyway and it will be too hot and burn the coffee. A boiler machine may not be as bad. I wouldnt use hot water either way.

That is a glorious looking espresso machine!

Cheers

Dan

Hi If its only for private use not commercial, ABR Sidewinder sells a unit that will run an Aldi coffee machine. A very cheap way to keep some wifes happy. Cheers Rob

found the link http://www.sidewinder.com.au/page227aa.html

I use one of these on the road and at home.

AeroPress

Dave