12V Hotbox for Pressure Pro 8gpm/3000 machine

If you want lukewarm water, you'll be okay. Otherwise, you'll need a generator.
 
Or you get a 120v hot box and get a small generator to run it. Did that for years and as long as you keep the generator small enough you won't use too much fuel. I used a 2000 watt inverter generator, worked great for both hot boxes. Now I just build a 12v alternator into my rigs that is used to power the inverter for the 120v hot box.
 
i know several people that have that same setup an are not having issue.I think if you washed 5 days a week using heat most of the time you would have issue.Just depending on the use of the heat also you could run 2 marine battery in sequence an charge them using a battery tender you would be fine also.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses. I do plan to use the hotbox often, so I'll just go with the 115V to be safe. Benjamin, do you mean that you hook up a bigger alternator and inverter to you your truck battery, and plug the 115V hot box into that? Do you use a 2nd truck battery also?
Thanks!
 
I put alternators on the the pressure wash engine and use that for power for the inverter/batteries. I run 3 or 4 cylinder diesels for the my pressure washer and last one I had them install a 270 amp 12v alternator off the front crank, so when the engine is running the second alternator is running. My other engine I run the alternator off the rear pulley opposite the pump. Problem I have with that setup is I run a clutched setup so I can start the engine and engage the pump once the engine warms up. I can also stop the pump without stopping the engine as well, only thing I have to remember to do is turn off the burner as it can kill the batteries if I leave it too long. I also run a battery switch and so I can run from the truck if needed, but it used $3-5 an hour, my pressure washer engine is $.45-.60 an hour, so I don't run the truck unless in a pinch. I ran a stand alone generator though for many years, easy to do, reliable, and easily replaceable if something goes wrong and you need to keep going. Also you can sometimes run an extension cord from an outlet and just use the customers power and save your fuel.
 
Russ, can you break down the limits of powering hot boxes off of power washer batteries? I have a 20+amp recharger on my machine, and I'd like to use a 2000W inverter as a backup when the client doesn't have power on the outside of their building. Do I need a larger inverter? Two sets of 4 gauge battery cables? Two batteries? If I need 4 cables how do I wire that to the battery? Or if two batteries, how do I wire that to the recharger?
 
JBurd said:
Russ, can you break down the limits of powering hot boxes off of power washer batteries? I have a 20+amp recharger on my machine,
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The Beckett SDC, according to Beckett is rated Power supply: 13.5 VDC,Operating load: 25 Amps (Actual draw could be less depending on application). If you've got a high amp output...no problem. A large Kohler is a shoe in for this application.
JBurd said:
and I'd like to use a 2000W inverter as a backup when the client doesn't have power on the outside of their building. Do I need a larger inverter?
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I had a customer with an older full size Wayne 120 volt burner and put an inverter on his truck...not sure of the wattage. The inverter couldn't get the split phase motors started because of the low maximum the box could put out...yet a 2,000 watt belt driven generator will twist those motors right up.
JBurd said:
Two sets of 4 gauge battery cables? Two batteries? If I need 4 cables how do I wire that to the battery? Or if two batteries, how do I wire that to the recharger?
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One battery is plenty if it has a proper charge to it. A group 24 auto battery is perfect. Hooking up batteries in parallel will just make the time between fried ignitors longer.
 
It's the initial spike of power the the motor takes to start that the inverters don't like.
I use a 3000 watt inverter on my hydrotek burner and it works as it should.

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Thanks for the input Russ. I also had an insightful conversation with Jerry about this last night. My ac burner draws around 10 amps, which is over 100 amps on the dc conversion. That puts quite a load on the batteries and cables. If I have a 20 amp recharger that's a net loss of 80 amps per hour. A 100 AH battery would run just over an hour before dying even with the power washer charging it....unless the actual amps are significantly less as it's running (not clear if 10amps is peak or continuous). Either way...the batteries and cables would be my weak link with a 2500/5000 watt inverter. I've been using Interstate econo batteries (refurbished) and even when I tied two to my inverter with what I think is about 6 gauge cables (under 3') I couldn't get the burner to fire up. Jerry is pricing me some high end AGM batteries he found a good supplier for. Long story short...a gen set might be the way to go unless you are spending some coin on gassing it every year...which I am not since we rarely run heat.
 
I've done some more testing...and I'm stumped. Finally found the full label for my burner (Wayne EHASR)...it's actually only 5.5 amps. I've tried multiple battery scenarios (including two fully charged but older batteries, and one larger newish battery) and my 2500/5000watt inverter can't get this burner to turn on. It works fine plugged into the wall or my genset, and the inverter will power a 6amp belt sander under load no issues with every battery arrangement I've tried. I'm leery of springing hundreds on new agm batteries cause I'm wondering if there is something funny about my burner wiring causing it to disagree with the inverter. I ordered a kill a watt monitor that I'll try next week on the wall but in the meantime anybody got any tips?
 
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Is your inverter a "true" sinewave or a "modified" sinewave inverter. A 2500w continuous/5000w surge should be plenty enough power to get the burner going. I run a 13,000 BTU A/C unit off a 3000w continuous/5500w surge inverter in my trailer. Of course, I'm running a large 8D battery.

Some electrical devises don't like "dirty" power. Is the inverter a cheaper model or better model?

Mike
 
Try jumping the batteries with a car (running) and see if it starts the burner.


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