I would like to know if anyone has added an inverter to their Odyssey (2009 or 2010 EX-L). I have a family member on an oxygen concentrator that uses about 350 watts AC. I was thinking of adding an under the hood DC to AC inverter (500 watts AC). My questions are:
(1) Will the Odyssey electrical system support this extra load?
(2) What's the best place to tie into the existing electrical system?

Off hands, i don't see a problem, but i do have some concerns.

One, there is a possibility that electrical noise produced by the inverter while in operation might affect things like your ecu, or at least cause interference in your radio.

Now, the 2nd.

I used to work for a company that made inverters. You would not believe what people used them for, but our biggest fear was using them with medical grade equipment. ANY medical grade equipment may have problems from using an inverter, possibly causing a catastrophic failure of the equipment, and or death of the patient.

Why?

commercial-grade inverters all put out non-sine waves. This might cause the above problems. PLEASE contact the manufacturer of the medical grade equipment, and do NOT use it in this way UNLESS they clear it in writing, with a signed copy in your hands. Good luck on getting that, btw.

Regards,

Gene

Gene,
Thanks for your comments. You raised some issues I had not considered. We have two oxygen concentrators - one by Inogen that comes with it's own DC to AC power supply that plugs into the cigarette lighter receptacle and is certified for use in a vehicle. We use the Inogen unit in vehicles and have had no problems. We have a second oxygen concentrator by Everflo that is designed for operation off commercial power. I was exploring the possibility of using a commercial add on inverter to power up the Everflo oxygen concentrator to provide a backup to the one from Inogen. Based on your comments about the non-sine wave characteristics of the commercial inverters we will hold off on the modification of a vehicle to add an inverter. Do you know of higher grade inverters that would provide a better AC sine wave regulation? What do you think of using the commercial inverter with a good UPS to improve the power quality?

Gene,
Thanks for your comments. You raised some issues I had not considered. We have two oxygen concentrators - one by Inogen that comes with it's own DC to AC power supply that plugs into the cigarette lighter receptacle and is certified for use in a vehicle. We use the Inogen unit in vehicles and have had no problems. We have a second oxygen concentrator by Everflo that is designed for operation off commercial power. I was exploring the possibility of using a commercial add on inverter to power up the Everflo oxygen concentrator to provide a backup to the one from Inogen. Based on your comments about the non-sine wave characteristics of the commercial inverters we will hold off on the modification of a vehicle to add an inverter. Do you know of higher grade inverters that would provide a better AC sine wave regulation? What do you think of using the commercial inverter with a good UPS to improve the power quality?

Steve, as far as I know, no commonly available commercial inverters produce a sine wave. Most companies don't advertise it, but they produce an "Modified sine wave", which is another way of saying it's a cross between a square wave and a sine wave. The generators that produce our power all produce sine waves, and all equipment that runs off of ac is designed for it. Some equipment doesn't care, but I would be VERY careful, as I mentioned before. Your safest bet, if you feel you must use this equipment in the Ody, is to contact the manufacturer, explain the situation, and ask for their advice. If they say no, it's NO. They have a lot of insurance for a reason, and they will not recommend an application unless it is safe. If worse comes to worse, buy another Iogen, and sell/return the other. Please be safe, this could be someone's life!

Good luck!

Regards,

Gene