Simple DC Inverter

[douglas]

It includes:
One 120v 12v AC transformer
One NPN transistor
One 12v battery
One 120v night light with socket and wires

[crazy1]

Thanx for the info Bro.

[douglas]

Only thing is they suck the batteries dry fast and need to be charged again

[crazy1]

And thats why you use solar and wind power right.

[douglas]

It helps some but I only have about 15-20 watts feeding in from outside so it would take a while for them to charge, thats why I been using LED's because they take only 10% to run The Inverter converts the amps into high voltage so the more wattage you need the more amps as well so I never really use them because of that

[crazy1]

I see.......Hey there is an LED store right on the side of 94 out your way. We're gonna stop in there and check it out some time. Soon I hope.

[douglas]

Sounds good bro, I went LED fer the Holidays this year, I phound out that 600 normal lights would cost around $185.00 for about 45 days to run and 600 LED's would cost only $1.45 to run, them things can run off air

[crazy1]

WOW!!!! I never really realized that there was that much differance in useing them.

[douglas]

I bought some 3 watt ones (halogens) on eBay a few days ago with heat sinks included so I'm going to use them in the living room above the couches to see how it goes

[Deleted]

Doug,.... I gotta say Im really impressed!

[crazy1]

Let us know how they work out. It sounds interesting.

[douglas]

We'll do bro

[douglas]

Well I got em in yesterday and tried them out and they hurt your eyes if you look right into them, so I aimed them toward the floor for a walk way into the living room

[crazy1]

Good job Bro. Glad to hear everything worked out as well as it did.

[douglas]

My three panels are coming tomorrow so I had to whip up a quick platform for them this evening

[douglas]

I decided to build a couple more inverters but this time I found some info on how to put it all together

This one is simple and only has two small transistors running on 12v with a small block, the night lights help to regulate the transistors so they don't overheat.


This one I'm using to light up the basement and had it run a 100w 40w and a 13w the same time, runs on 24v
:iagre:

Installed a few more lights in the basement just in case we lose power

[Pharmer Phil]

so this NPN transistor must be doing the work here? the transformer is a standard step down transformer...correct?
I wanna know more Doug

[douglas]

You could use a pair of NPN's or PNP's as long as they are the same, if you double them you will have more watts and even more if more is added. They don't have to be the same as shown because I tried many different ones I pulled out of junk stereos and had the same result. I pulled the large block out of an old sound system for more watts, the small one will only light 1 or 2 bulbs at the most. You could use a 12v battery charger block for the job if it's a throw away but it will have to have three output leads but it might be noisy but still work, here's a diagram I found on Google a while back, they use two resistors but using the night lights they adjust to any transistor. Be careful not to hook the power input backwards or you will fry your transistors, but if you splice in a strong diode it will keep this from happening.

[douglas]

Whatever you do do not try this with a Microwave transformer because they have extreme high voltage and can reach up to 300v or more and can be fatal I may try one out on a fluorescent tube just to see what happens

A microwave transformer in action
youtube.com/watch?v=i3wJ0q8mKLE

[douglas]

Got a few 16 amp transistors in from eBay and now I am able to add a few more watts enough to light a 100w bulb

[Pharmer Phil]

quite the set up bro!

[douglas]

It's still weak but with some work I hope to run the upstairs TV off the solar panels