1HP Compressor on Victron MultiPlus 3000

[deepthought]

Can I run a 1HP air compressor on a Victron MultiPlus 3000? or do I need bigger inverter? I would like to use some airtools and for cleaning etc..



Thanks

[denverd0n]

Well, one horsepower is equal to about 760 watts. Double that to allow for the surge during startup. A 3,000 watt inverter should be plenty.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Well, one horsepower is equal to about 760 watts. Double that to allow for the surge during startup. A 3,000 watt inverter should be plenty.

Agreed. A typical 1hp, 120V compressor runs fine on an ordinary 15A house circuit, so a 3kva Multiplus should have no trouble powering it (especially considering the Multiplus has pretty good overload capacity for starting motor loads, provided the batteries can keep up).

[smac999]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Agreed. A typical 1hp, 120V compressor runs fine on an ordinary 15A house circuit, .

that doesn't mean anything because a 15a outlet on grid can supply unlimited surge current. a table saw or large shop vac will not run off a cheap 2000w inverter. I measured 45a start up on my table saw.

the 3000va victron can supply surge to 6000w. it's probably fine.

[Ballsnall]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Well, one horsepower is equal to about 760 watts. Double that to allow for the surge during startup. A 3,000 watt inverter should be plenty.

Might be fine for 1hp motors without a load but for a compressor, I'd double it, then triple it again. MultiPlus 3000 should be fine, just.

[Jammer]

Several good choices in battery air compressors that will do what you want

[Jammer]

Several good choices in 12v air compressors that will do what you want.


https://www.aircompressorsdirect.com...or/p13972.html

[Jammer]

And in 2022 there are better alternatives than air tools for anything you might want to do on a boat. 20 years ago that wasn't true but....


...you can get nail guns







You can get good impact wrenches:









and you can get die grinders

[Jammer]

IMO there is no good reason to have air tools on a boat and if you do there are better choices than running a 115v compressor off an inverter.


For blowing up fenders etc if you don't want to use a hand pump there are some very compact air inflators on the market that are quite good. Here is the one I have:





I have been beating the crap out of it but if present trends continue I will not be able to break it before its five year warranty runs out.

[Jammer]

Another Fact to Consider is that if you SCUBA dive you can get a cheap older regulator and set it up with your choice of a blow gun, a tire chuck, or a quick connect, and use SCUBA air for occasional tools. A SCUBA cylinder lasts a long time with this and you can get quite a bit of use out of a cylinder that is down to 500 PSI that most people consider the minimum for diving.


Or you can get an small "pony" cylinder and use it for this sort of thing, whether you dive or not. Compact, no electricity required, refill it when you need to.


I got rid of the 2 hp compressor in my garage after switching to battery tools.

[rslifkin]

As far as battery vs air tools, I'm usually a fan of electric. Except for running an impact. Even cheap air impacts work better than good electric ones in my experience, both as far as living up to their torque ratings and longevity. Air tools are also more compact than a cordless electric, as you don't need a bulky battery, etc. For some applications that matters.

Realistically though, I wouldn't put a compressor on the boat unless I needed a dive compressor or I were installing air horns.

Originally Posted by smac999

that doesn't mean anything because a 15a outlet on grid can supply unlimited surge current. a table saw or large shop vac will not run off a cheap 2000w inverter. I measured 45a start up on my table saw.

the 3000va victron can supply surge to 6000w. it's probably fine.

True, as long as the startup surge is short enough you can pull a significant overload without tripping a breaker.

That said, thinking about it, I've run a compressor spec-ed as 0.8 hp off a 1500w modified sine Xantrex inverter before and it startup and ran just fine. So I'd expect most 1hp models would run fine on a 3kva Multiplus.