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100 W Solar on T@b Outback and 200 W mini rice cooker

Bill@ndRoxBill@ndRox Member Posts: 89
in Battery/Electrical & Solar
Can anyone tell me if I can use my little 1.5 c rice cooker when boondocking? Thanks
It’s 200 W rice cooker.
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  • Sharon_is_SAMSharon_is_SAM Administrator Posts: 9,760
    Do you have an inverter?  How big is your battery?  How long will you run it?
    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
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  • Bill@ndRoxBill@ndRox Member Posts: 89
    Looked at my battery but don’t know what to tell you. Interstate Marine/RV Dual Purpose. HD24-DP 405 CCA 505 MCA.  My inverter is a dinky 74W continuous, 100W peak. Input 10VDC-18VDC. Output 5 VDC/ 2.4 A Max.  Cooking would be for 20-30 min or maybe a little longer. Thanks.  I know I’ll need a stronger inverter, maybe different battery setup, maybe dual 6? Can the solar 100W power a 200 W or stronger appliance. All ears. Thanks
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  • NormfunNormfun Member Posts: 285
    Short answer.  No. You would need at least a 400 watt inverter to power the rice cooker. Some quick math. 200 Watts @120 volts = 17 amp hour drain on your battery.  It sounds like your battery has roughly 35 amp hours of usable power, so technically you could run the rice cooker for 2 hrs before depleting your battery.  Now 100watts of solar will feed roughly 5 amp hours back in to your battery both during and after cooking the rice, assuming there is sunlight. So it could work but would be best to have rice for lunch then solar recharge. 
    Norm & Pat. 320 S Outback Utah or somewhere else.

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  • Bill@ndRoxBill@ndRox Member Posts: 89
    edited September 2018
    Dear Normfun, Thanks very much for the explanation. Makes sense. Bottom line make hay when the sun shines and get myself a 400W or more inverter?  Do I need to be thinking about side by side 6v batteries for future? There might be an occasion to use ac once in awhile. Thanks
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  • NormfunNormfun Member Posts: 285
    Let me answer this way. I have 300 watts of solar and 220 amp hours of battery. I never think about power anymore (except for the air conditioning, that requires being plugged in). For most needs a 400-600 watt inverter would be all you need for occasional use.  More battery and more solar only improves how often you can have rice ;)
    Norm & Pat. 320 S Outback Utah or somewhere else.

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  • Sharon_is_SAMSharon_is_SAM Administrator Posts: 9,760
    edited September 2018
    Your solar is only there to charge your battery.  Your battery is not considered a true deep cycle battery and Interstate slyly leaves out the actual amp hr which is key to determining your ability to do most anything.  I hope I am wrong, but my PC calculator reports you have less than 50 amps.  For RV use, CCA AND MCA are pretty unimportant.  50 amps means the average user can only go 1 day before recharging.  Certainly can’t run any appliance off of it without worrying you will drain the battery.  You need more capacity if you plan to boondock or at least not have access to electricity.  IMHO
    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
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  • Bill@ndRoxBill@ndRox Member Posts: 89
    Thanks!
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  • pthomas745pthomas745 Moderator Posts: 3,987
    edited September 2018
    I have run a 3qt Insta Pot and a hair dryer on the stock battery with a 900 watt inverter

    WITH THE INVERTER ATTACHED DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY.

    It can be done.  The Insta Pot only draws 700 watts max, and the dryer on low was 750 or so.  The key here (for the Insta Pot, at least) was it was only drawing the full 700 watts while bringing the cooker to pressure.  When it was pressured up, it would cycle on and off to 700 watts to maintain that pressure.  So, the total time at 700 watts was less than 10 minutes.   

    Same with using the hair dryer.  After two minutes, the battery went from 12.6 to 12.4. 

    There is a down side to the Insta Pot:  those 700 watts even for 10 minutes is a lot for your battery to deal with.  (And, science:  look up Peukert Effect!)  Make sure the battery is at least 80% charged when you start, or you might/will find yourself with a battery below 50%.  when you are done.  Try to do this before the sun goes down or you will be scrimping for power until the sun rises the next day.  (See Norm's advice above!)

    The up side for me is I eat pot roast in the middle of nowhere.  This is worth it for me.

    REMEMBER:  WITH THE INVERTER ATTACHED DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY, NOT THE 12VOLT PLUGS IN THE CAMPER!!!

    For your rice cooker, look at the power label on the back and see how many watts it uses.  A quick look at Amazon says most of them run at 350 watts.  I assume also the 350 watts is the maximum it uses, and it cycles on and off to maintain the heat.   It can be done, but not using the 12v plugs inside the Tab.  The inverter would have to be probably at least 700 watts.

    REMEMBER:  WITH THE INVERTER ATTACHED DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY, NOT THE 12VOLT PLUGS IN THE CAMPER!!!

    I keep pointing out the "inverter connected directly to the battery" because my post about doing this last year suddenly disappeared, and I'm assuming it was because the confusion caused by the discussion about the 12v plugs in the camper.







    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
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  • Bill@ndRoxBill@ndRox Member Posts: 89
    Thanks pThomas 745.  Much appreciated!
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  • pthomas745pthomas745 Moderator Posts: 3,987
    If you have access to one of the Kill-a-Watt type devices you will be able to see the rice cooker cycle on and off in real time.  What you would hope to see is the cooker getting to temperature quickly, and then just cycling on and off every few minutes as the rice cooks.  The longer the original high watt "getting to temp" phase lasts, the more drain on your battery.  It was a looooong ten minutes for the Insta Pot to get to pressure!
    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
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  • Bill@ndRoxBill@ndRox Member Posts: 89
    You folks are just awesome. Thanks for your many funny and helpful comments.  Boondocks pot roast, rice for lunch only, bigger inverter, maybe bigger capacity battery. Maybe I’ll just have rice crispies instead while I ponder all of this. 😊
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  • Sharon_is_SAMSharon_is_SAM Administrator Posts: 9,760
    Oh Dale!!!  LOL  You are missing the point!  LMAO
    Sharon / 2017 T@B CSS / 2015 Toyota Sienna Minivan / Westlake, Ohio
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  • GibWGibW Member Posts: 95
    @Dalehelman 👍
    2017 T@B Max-S, silver & silver, towed by a Titanium Silver 2018 Kia Sorento AWD V-6, Twin Cities MN
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  • Bill@ndRoxBill@ndRox Member Posts: 89
    So funny Dale!
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  • ericnlizericnliz Member Posts: 4,437
    @Dalehelman :rofl:
    2016 T@B MAX S-aka: WolfT@B
    TV: 2006 Chevy Avalanche LT Z71 aka: WhiteWolf, or 1972 Chevy Custom10 P/U aka: SnarlingWolf
    Spokane, Wa.
    Eric aka: Lone Wolf  


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  • Michigan_MikeMichigan_Mike Member Posts: 2,861
    Rice can be easily boiled over a campfire too, along with sautéing a slab of ribs!   =)

    I was always leery of drawing down our batteries and Linda always had these questions about solar, what she could run (coming up with sewing ideas, crock pot uses, etc.) and then me playing the devil's advocate and it all ending up in a dark cloud.  I bought a 600W inverter off Amazon with alligator clips and we ended up doing a crock pot chicken out in Arizona on the trailer tongue and even cooked a ham for Easter and shared leftovers with our neighbor Steve, who was very appreciative.  This was done via a larger solar array (attached to our parked 29' travel trailer on site) and more battery power, and my point being that you obviously can do a lot with solar if you have the capacity to do so, ample sunlight and plan out your day accordingly.  

    Linda even uses her sewing machine, we use a small swamp cooler, TV/DVD setup, fantastic fans, electric percolator, etc.  But again, this is all done with optimum sunlight, ample solar (470W solar system, 2000W inverter/charger) and battery storage system.  I'm confident that the portable 200W Zamp panel (which I was using with the 600W inverter and small crock pot) is ample enough for any T@B equipped with dual 6-volt battery setup and added amp hours to comfortably power up a small crock pot with the right inverter.  Just be careful out in bear country as that beautiful aroma wafting across the forest might bring in a few uninvited guests!   :o:)
    Mike - Elmira, Mi / 2019 T@B 400 / 2021 Chevy Silverado LTZ
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  • ericnlizericnliz Member Posts: 4,437
    @Michigan_Mike, Unless....it happens to be the Rainier Beer Bear! =);)
    2016 T@B MAX S-aka: WolfT@B
    TV: 2006 Chevy Avalanche LT Z71 aka: WhiteWolf, or 1972 Chevy Custom10 P/U aka: SnarlingWolf
    Spokane, Wa.
    Eric aka: Lone Wolf  


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  • Michigan_MikeMichigan_Mike Member Posts: 2,861
    ericnliz said:
    @Michigan_Mike, Unless....it happens to be the Rainier Beer Bear! =);)
    Hmmm, and that would be you???  Lol
    Mike - Elmira, Mi / 2019 T@B 400 / 2021 Chevy Silverado LTZ
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