The Xantrex (www.xantrex.com) Jazz 250 self contained inverter was advertised in FMCA magazine and I ended up getting one. It has some nice features for those who want to toy with the idea of an inverter. It only costs $100.
I could never figure out why folks wanted inverters in their RVs. You cant run anything that requires very much power. If you are hooked up, don’t need it, if you are boondocking and need real power, turn on the generator. Then it finally came to me; it is to run the TV. That may not be the only use, but I bet it is the predominant one. Since we don’t watch TV, it took me a long time to figure it out.
But now I have a reason that is even more bizarre. I want it for my electric blanket. I always get cold, and Linda’s hot water bottles do help some to take off the chill, but I wanted to see if I could “invert” my electric blanket while boondocking.
The Jazz is an AGM battery (weight 18#) in an attractive and easy to manage sturdy plastic case, with a built in inverter that changes the 12 volt dc to 120 ac. It has one ac plug. It can only run something less than 250 watts, so it is pretty small capacity. But it will run your laptop or recharge it’s battery. Or your phone. Or run your TV. Or your 120 volt air compressor (tires). Or recharge your electric razor. Or recharge tools. Or your electric blanket.
It also has a 12 volt dc power plug (cigarette socket). So you can run any appliance that you might plug into your cigarette lighter. You can also use it to jump start another vehicle (since it is in essence a car battery).
It has 2 fluorescent Lights, which will run for over 24 hours.
Recharging can be done by plugging into 120 volt ac wall plug, or by plugging into your RV cigarette lighter as you drive along. So it will be ready when you stop to boondock the next evening.
Obviously this small unit is somewhat limited in it’s power output. But it is easy to use, portable, versatile, inexpensive and gives me the chance to play with it and see if someday I might want to go to a real inverter attached to my house batteries. For the time being, this little unit keeps me warm at night, and serves as back up battery, and I am having fun exploring it’s potential.
Doug
doug@rexhalltips.com