Hooking up an inverter to your car is battery

[bronsin]

While drawing AC power from the inverter, is it OK to have the engine running to provide DC voltage? Or does the engine have to be shut off while drawing AC power?

Thanks!

[kevinj93]

Before I retired, we had several work vehicles that had inverters installed to run various pieces of equipment. I also have A couple of small inverters that plug in to the lighter socket.

The only problem I have had is when my son was using one of the plug in inverters. It was working fine while we were driving. It was working fine wheil we were parked with the ignition switch in the accessories position. It died when it was in use while starting the engine.

From this experience, my suggestion would be that engine running or not are both okay, but best to turn the inverter off while starting the engine, as the inverter may not like trying to run at the lower voltage while the starter is cranking.