Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:46pm

I have a thousand watt inverter on my narrowboat. My wife has tried to use a pair of 400 watt hair straighteners designed for multi voltage use but they will not warm up. The staighteners work fine at home so I am confident that the fault does not lie with them. Do you have any idea what the problem may be? Thanks Tom

Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:00pm

sounds like a duff socket mate have you tried something else in it .OR have the straighteners got a switch on them to switch between voltages

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:21am

Tom Is this direct into the inverter or via "mains" wiring. If its the former try something else in the socket, if its the latter make sure you do not have an rcd or mcb that hastripped or a fuse that has blown. Also if you have a shoreline connector make sure you do not have a change over switch that is set to shore power, thus isolating the inverter from the boat's circuit. Tony Brooks

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:01pm

Hi Tony. I am plugging the straighteners into a "mains wiring" socket with the switch definately set to inverter, not shore power. Other electrical items work in the sockets and I have tried the straighteners in all the sockets. There is a light on the straighteners which comes on but they don't warm up. The straighteners work fine at home and I have tried 2 different pairs of straighteners with the same effect. Thanks for the help so far. Tom

Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:04pm

Hi Canalrider. Please see my reply to Tony below. The straighteners are designed for multi region use and have no switch between voltages. Thanks. Tom

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:21pm

Tom I suspect the straighteners employ some form of electronic temperature control and your inverter has a modified sine wave output. Modified sine wave inverters are known to produce odd results from some electronic equipment. If I am right then you have three choices: 1. Buy a pure sine wave output inverter (expensive). 2. Tell your wife to go with curly hair (probably not advisable). 3. Try to find a set of straighteners that either work on gas or use a simple mechanical thermostat (probably difficult because shop staff tend to be clueless on such matters). I am afraid that is the best I can do. Tony Brooks

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:15pm

Thanks very much Tony - at least the mystery is solved. I am not brave (or foolhardy) enough to take uo option 2 so I will look at the other options. Thanks again Tom