# Advice sought on requirements to run heat presses



## Jani (Oct 14, 2006)

I'm not sure I am putting this into the correct thread, but I wonder if anyone will be able to help with this question ?

I will need to run, at various times one or other of two heat-presses which I will be carrying with me to events. I am aware that it is highly unlikely I would be able to run them at the same time. I will also need to run a laptop and printer.

The heatpresses both have different electrical outputs:-

Mug press:-

250 W
220 V
no idea what the amp is ( I check in the plug ? )

Flat press:-

1200 W
120 Volt ( that is taken from an American site - it is UK standard )
10 Amp

My questions are

is there anything out there that will be powerful enough to run either of these without me having to pull a massive generator on a trailer ? 

Can either of them run from normal electrical hook up in sites or are they likely to fuse the whole place ?

Would an inverter be necessary and what chance is there of solar panels ever being sufficient to run either of them ?

What size inverter should I be looking at purchasing anyhow ? I'd rather be in an overkill situation ( as long as it does no harm ) than find that I am not using something 'strong' enough. I will be using a laptop on a regular basis and sometimes for fairly long periods of time.

Can standard generators run on either petrol, deisel or lpg - or are they all designed differently and with one form of fuel in mind ?

I'd be very grateful to hear any views and advice, and thankyou in anticipation 

Jani


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Jani,

"I'm not sure I am putting this into the correct thread"
Looks good to me!

"I am aware that it is highly unlikely I would be able to run them at the same time."
Yes, you can run them at the same time. See below.

"is there anything out there that will be powerful enough to run either of these without me having to pull a massive generator on a trailer ?"
Yes. Consider a Honda EU2.0i generator. 
http://www.edgetechnology.co.uk/honda/hondaeu20i.htm

"Can either of them run from normal electrical hook up in sites or are they likely to fuse the whole place ?"
They will run quite happily on any electrical hookup except those that still frequent the most basic rural French campsites.

"Would an inverter be necessary and what chance is there of solar panels ever being sufficient to run either of them ?"
An inverter is not necessary if you are running a genny. As to whether you can use an inverter INSTEAD of a genny, this is down to the "duty cycle" of the presses, that is, what fraction of the time they consuming full power, versus nothing. So, I run devices solely from an inverter connected to my leisure batteries consuming both a hundred watts or so continuously for a couple of hours at a time, and a hairdryer at your other press power of 1200W for minutes at a time, once a day. That, frankly, is about the limit of what an inverter & leisure batteries can do. Beyond this, you need an electric hook up or a genny.

Forget solar power as a means of helping to run these. It may well be desirable to have a solar panel for the rest of the van anyway, but they are not cheap and a waste of time if you are having to run a genny anyway.

"Can standard generators run on either petrol, deisel or lpg - or are they all designed differently and with one form of fuel in mind ?"
I would avoid a diesel genny as they are noiser. You can run a Honda EU1.0i or Honda EU2.0i (or similar) on petrol, or have it converted to run on either petrol or LPG, as I have. If the latter and you are using the generator a lot, then you will need a large refillable LPG tank fitted.

Dave


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Watts*

Hi Jani

your two items are 1200w plus 250w = 1450w. This is somewhere between 6 and 7 amps. Many overseas campsites are only 6 amps.

The one I use in Italy is 6 amps but this can be increased to 16 amps on payment of a supplement.

Rapide561


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Quite correct, though Jani asked "either" for this question, and the larger device only needs 5 Amps.

Even then one can get around this where there is a duty cycle. I can run equipment requiring 2.5kW using my Victron 1.6kW inverter from a 4A mains supply, and when the equipment switches itself off, for example via its thermostat, the excess mains is immediately used to recharge the leisure batteries at up to 70Amps (if the batteries are big enough).

All wiggly amps clever stuff.

Dave


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*watts/amps*

Hi Dave

A quick question if I may without hijacking the post. I am considering having 1500 watt AC/DC air con fitted and am told that it will be OK on a 6 amp site. Can you offer any explanation? Thanks

RW


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

My guess, without knowing which model, is that the 1500 is what is termed a "cooling power" rather than the smaller "power consumption" which goes with it. 

Marketeers never bothered troubling themselves much with physics.

Dave


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*air con*

Thanks Dave. I shall try fo find the particular model and report back with some technical spec!

RW


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

I suspect it is this:
http://www.waeco.co.uk/docs/Easycool- Instructions and Operation guide GB.pdf

See PDF page 5 ("real" page 25).
You should be fine on the most basic 4A site hookup.

Dave


----------



## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

Great.... our first resident mobile laundry. Is this a first on here.


----------



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Air con*

Evening Dave

That's the baby. Thanks for your input.

Rapide561


----------



## ingram (May 12, 2005)

*Re: Watts*



Rapide561 said:


> your two items are 1200w plus 250w = 1450w. This is somewhere between 6 and 7 amps. Many overseas campsites are only 6 amps.
> Rapide561


But Jani said:-
"Flat press:-

1200 W 
120 Volt ( that is taken from an American site - it is UK standard ) 
10 Amp "

How is she going to run that from a 240volt supply?

H


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

I presumed she meant that although the equipment is 240V "UK standard", the information is taken from a US website.

What meanings did you attribute to "UK standard" and "US web site"?

Dave


----------



## Jani (Oct 14, 2006)

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your replies guys, I really appreciate it.

Yes I meant that the information was taken from an the web site of the American manufacturers of the flat press, but those that are sent in the UK for sale are already adapted electrically for UK use.

It's unlikely that I would want to run both machines at the same time, but it is always possible that it would be necessary every now and then. The smaller press only takes a short time to heat up and so I can put that on and off as required - the larger one takes a good while longer to reach operating temperatures of 200degrees celcius and it is possible that I'd leave that running for a while as it would probably consume more energy to keep getting it back up to temp.

We are collecting the motorhome on Friday and I have spoken with them today and asked for the single 80amp leisure battery to be switched for x2 110 ones which will help with running the laptop and printer.

I guess that the higher the inverter I buy the better ? I am now getting to grips a little with the sine wotsits I think.

The next step is to get a solar panel ( for general use too and what size do you recommend ? and what is average fitted price of these ? ) and the inverter and then later on invest in the 'right' generator to power up these heat presses of mine ( primarily just for the presses )

Thanks a bundle though - it is good to know that I can run them on the mains at sites ( if allowed ) through an inverter. I'm thinking it would be best to get the 250 w inverter ? What I don't want to do is to buy one thing and then discover that it would have been better to have bought something else which is only about £40 more or something.

Jani


----------



## badger (May 9, 2005)

Friend of mine runs a flat bed heat tranfer T shirt printer, laptop and printer etc. all on a genny (normal 2.5kw), seems to work just fine.


----------



## Jani (Oct 14, 2006)

Excellent Badger,

many thanks, that is exactly what I will be doing - shirts, mousemats etc and the mugs. I sell the equipment and so am able to use the lowest wattage press I can that will still do the job - they vary so much in size and power.

I just didn't want to cause mayhem on a campsite using a hookup and fusing everything or ruin my own motorhome 

Jani


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Jani,

For your smaller press and laptop, consider a Sterling 350W modified sine wave inverter for £50. You don't want to use a bigger inverter than you need. Not sure if this link will be enduring:
> Sterling <

However, it is important to estimate duty cycle/ average power consumption, for even with 2 110Ah batteries, if you went at full power all the time, you wouldn't last a working day. Then you have to think about charging the batteries up for the next day, which is a whole new ball game without hookup ....... 

Dave


----------



## Jani (Oct 14, 2006)

Hi Dave,

Thanks a lot for your help here. We are now ready to purchase and have fitted the inverter. I looked at the stie you gave the link to and have two questions ~

1. Can we only plug one item into the inverter at a time ? Or do cables run from the inverter to sockets which are placed wherever we want them in the motorhome ? I only see one socket on the inverter itself.

2. Would we do any harm by having an 'overkill' situation in as much as if I bought the next one up to the 350 ( for £100 ) would it be okay ? I understand that you are saying we shouldn't require it, but I think I would feel more relaxed knowing we had a little 'more' whatever it is than we need lol.

Thanks again 

Jani


----------



## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi Jani

I saw a big 1500 watt invertor in someones MH this weekend. The physical size of the beast meant it really needed to be fitted in a locker but it had aremote control switch so it could be switched on and off from the motorhome kitchen area. Good tool.

Have not forgotten that photo, will get it off to you

stew


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Jani,

"1. Can we only plug one item into the inverter at a time ? Or do cables run from the inverter to sockets which are placed wherever we want them in the motorhome ? I only see one socket on the inverter itself. "

You can just use a 2 or 3 way adapter in order to use multiple devices at the same time from a stand-alone inverter.

Yes, it is possible to wire up an inverter to supply the mains sockets in a van. Indeed, that is what I do, but particularly if your inverter is a separate unit from your charger, you need to think it through very carefully indeed, such as what happens when you go on hookup, can you stop your absorption fridge from discharging your batteries, and can you stop your leisure batteries trying to charge themselves via the mains charger and merely discharging themselves through waste heat in the process ......

"2. Would we do any harm by having an 'overkill' situation in as much as if I bought the next one up to the 350 ( for £100 ) would it be okay ?"

Yes, you would still be operating above 90% efficiency.

Dave


----------

