A few months ago I got serious about finding a good reliable 12 v DC to 120 V AC power inverter so I could run the MAK off a 12 volt battery for the times when getting power is difficult. BUT... I also didn't want to break the bank doing this either!
Let me preface this by saying I was NOT going to chance harming the MAK controller, by using a lesser expensive Modified Sine Wave inverter. Trust me, I almost ruined a sound amplifier by doing that - never again!
A good heavily-built Pure Sine Wave inverter, with a decent warranty, is the way to go.
The MAK power usage is:
Start up: 137W, 1.2A.
Running: 62W, 0.54A
After a LOT of research, looking at specs, user reviews, etc., I finally settled on a:
Samlex 600 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter
model: PST-600-12
List price: $265 - but can be found for around $210
Basic Specs:
1,000 watt surge / 600 Watts continuous
Total Harmonic Distortion < 3%
Peek Efficiency 85%
Warranty: 2 years
It was a little more pricey than comparable brands (they run about $210), but it's specs & ratings were higher, and customer reviews everywhere I could find were better than other brands.
After it arrived I was immediately impressed with how heavily built it was. I made up a set of heavy 4 gauge cables (per the manufacturers recommendations) hooked them up and then tested it. Multi-meter showed 120 VAC like it should.
Next, we plugged in & powered up the MAK and set it for high and let it run for a good 20 minutes. So far so good, but how will it do for a long cook?
A couple days later a friend needed 15 lbs of pulled pork for a bridal shower - PERFECT FOR A GOOD TEST!
After making sure my marine battery was charged up, we loaded the pork butts onto the MAK and away we went.
This is a dual purpose Marine Battery rated at 115 Amp Hours.
After about 8 hours of running continuously it ran perfectly as hoped, and the battery still showed about 11.5 volts, which is about what I expected. By my estimates, as long as the ignitor doesn't run a lot, the MAK should run for a good 16 hours or so on a single 115 AH battery.
The only thing left is to get a in-line fuse to guard against a battery short.
Now I can take the MAK and cook anywhere whether there is power or not!
