Inverter Recomendations

Gene Morris · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 4:51 pm Post subject: Inverter Recomendations

I purchased an inexpensive 2kw inverter at Harbor Freight. It lasted 4 months with minimal use. Could someone recommend a good inverter 2KW. I have 2 sealed start batteries and 4 6V golf cart batteries for the house. What should I look for when installing? How do you tell if you have a reverse polarity issue. I have looked at the Xantrex Prowatt SW2000 True sine wave 2000 watt. It seems to be in my budget, any advise would be appreciated.

Gene

journey on · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:42 pm Post subject:

OK, I've had an Xantrex PROwatt™ SW 1000 Pure Sine Wave Inverter for 10 years and it has worked well. I'd recommend it.

But, why do you need 200 watts? In line with my view of the C-Dory: less is more, what would you use 2000 watts for? And do you have the batteries to back it up? 2000 W (2 KW) requires 200 amps of DC current. I have a set of golf cart batteries and I can't support that load for long. Also, the 1000 watt (1 kW) inverter is 30% less, $150.

Don't forget to include the DC wiring from your batteries to any inverter. I use 30 ft (round trip) of 4 ga wire, since I mounted the inverter in the cabin and the batteries are in the stern. I notice that 4 ga tinned wire is $164 on e-bay, West Marine may be higher. Use an appropriate breaker and switch.

A sine wave inverter is great, I beleive HF only sells square wave inverters ("Modified" sine wave.)

Boris

BrentB · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:17 pm Post subject:

Have you calculated your power needs and include inverter inefficiency?

Electrical tester (reverse polarity and other conditions)
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Receptacle-Tester-RT100/203195018

a few years ago I bought a Whistler 1200 from Amazon . It stopped working and out of warranty but I contacted Whistler and they repaired and tested it along with paying for return shipping.

I thought of them like Tabman from Bennett tabs
YMWV

journey on · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 8:08 pm Post subject:

While the Whistler 1200 may be a great inverter, it's a "modified" sine wave inverter. I be3leive that's either a square wave or a stepped sine wave. Either gives a lot of harmonics, which produce an interesting hum at times. Best for charging devices.

They're cheaper than Harbor Freight, tho.

Boris

BrentB · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 8:12 pm Post subject:

Boris is correct

The unit is modified sine wave

thataway · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:05 pm Post subject:

One of the best inverters on the market to day is the Magnum. This unit is designed and built by the guys who started Heart and Trace (which were then sold out). It is a quality item. I have the MS2012-20B 12V Pure Sine Wave Inverter w/ 2-20A Breakers in the transfer switches. 33 5 sec surge power (real watts): 3300 30 sec surge power: 3100 watts 5 min surge power 2800 30 min surge power : 2200 watts Continuous power output at 25° C: Battery charger is 100 amps and there is a generator auto start, as well as the ability to alter charging profiles etc. This is probably overkill for your purpose. You have to decide if you really need the sine wave or MSW. I swapped my modified sine wave out (sold it to a friend, for his large cruising boat and the switch only cost me about $200.

I can run 2 large TV's, two satellite systems, a sound system, induction burner, microwave and 22 cu foot household refrigerator all at once from this inverter. No problems in the 7 years I have owned it. This runs off a bank of golf carts/series parallel.

Some of the other units are now made in Taiwan or China--and the reliability has not been as good in the past.

The question is do you really need 2000 watts (surge to real 3300 watts)? A microwave or induction burner? This is the most common use of an inverter in a small boat. Do you need a switching unit for the 110 volt mains power?

In my Tom Cat, I used a 1200 watt inverter, and to keep it simple I used a separate plug for the microwave or induction stove. That is, I had parallel 110 volt circuits in the boat--so I could plug into mains power or the inverter power, and avoid a 110 Volt switching relay.

Mastervolt and Victron also make very good alternators and charger combos.

Most of the good inverters will detect and show faults on the remote readout.

One thing is to listen to a microwave which is running on a MSW, vs a pure sine wave inverter. I have heard that the longevity of the microwave is less with the MSW, vs the Pure sine wave.

My

Gene Morris · Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:40 am Post subject:

Thanks for the replies;

I do have a strong bank of 4 6v golf cart batteries "series/parallel" that produce approx. 500AH of current. I also have a good xantrex stand alone 3 bank 20 amp charger. All wiring is complete to the faulty converter. I also have separate outlets for inverter power vs shore power. I will run a coffee maker, toaster oven and possibly a microwave. And not all at the same time of course. My understanding is that the coffee makers draw about 1300 to 1500 watts. What is your experiences, obviously I would like to get by with a smaller (less expensive) inverter.

Gene

journey on · Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:09 pm Post subject:

ow, 4 golph cart batteries, 2 banks? I had 4 of those batteries on Our Journey, but could only fit 2 on Journey On. You can certainly support the 2KW inverter, but I hope your outboards are up to the recharge. Our coffee maker is a butane stove with a coffeepot and the Honda puts out 40 A.

Xantrex is the company that bought out Heart. They're a Vancouver company, mfg in China. Trace makes/made commercial products was my experience. Anyway, I bought the Xantrex inverter because I have a Xantrex 20 amp charger which is in it's second boat and has worked well since 2001. It's also been sprayed with (fresh) water when the water heater failed.

And Bob, where do you put those golph cart batteries in a 22? That must be a study in ingenuity.

Boris

thataway · Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:17 pm Post subject:

The Kill-O-Watt device (costs about $18) will measure the amp, or watt draw of an appliance, as well as line voltage, and frequency. Thus you can find out exactly what amount of current draw your appliance uses. (It is also usually stamped on the bottom, or on a sticker).

Not sure if the "automatic" timed feature of the coffee maker will work on MSW--the resistive heating element works fine.

I would suggest getting an inverter with a good warrantee, maybe even the extended plan. I have had some of the more common ones fail--but that was a few years ago.

Gene Morris · Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:47 pm Post subject:

Boris;

I have the house batteries on the deck of the hanging locker in my Tomcat. Of course they are sealed batteries. The run from the batteries to the inverter is less than 4 ft of cable.

Dr. Austin;

The electric coffee pot shows power requirements of 1350 watt. Microwave oven and toaster oven are less..

I have time to figure this out. Our next big cruise won't be until spring next year, when Margaret retires. Summer in SE Ak. Fall & winter East coast of US.

thataway · Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:11 pm Post subject:

There are a bunch of MSW, 1500 to 2000 watt inverters on the market. I had 1500 watts on my Tom Cat, and C Dory 25. I didn't have any problems with the inverters, but didn't use them a lot. (Two group 31 batteries, to keep the weight down). The reason I am hesitant to recommend products like Xantrex, (which I had) is that I have heard of problems with them, in the last few years.

My current Inverter is in the RV and I did a lot of research before I swapped out the Magnum MSW for the PSW. Failures seemed very rare. My micro convection oven is difficult to replace, as well as being expensive, that is one of the reasons I went with the PSW (as well as a plasma TV, and the satellite dishes).

I probably would go to the off the grid sights and see which inverters are most highly recommended. There is a good chance you can find one of the good MSW inverters which will be less than $400.

By the way, the 4 golf carts only give you a "usable" 220 amp hours (approx). But that is more than enough for a microwave.

Robert H. Wilkinson · Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 1:47 pm Post subject:

Dreamer · Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2015 6:15 pm Post subject:

Gene,

We used an Outback 2000w. They're very HD and used in the solar power world. It was very dependable. It was powered with 2 Lifeline 8D AGMs, 850 AH. It sat under the rear dinette seat and had some added vent holes added.

http://www.wholesalesolar.com/Outback-Power-Inverters.html?gclid=CJXC58rBx8YCFUxqfgodKegHHQ

jennykatz · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 1:23 pm Post subject: inverters

would a modified 1500 watt inverter be able to supply a/c elec to a 700 watt microwave .or should i look at a pure sign wave ?
Is amamzon a good place to look or home depot,Lowes etc

thataway · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 1:57 pm Post subject:

Modified sine wave inverters will run most microwaves, and 1500 watt should be OK for a 700 watt "Output". Microwave. Probably 1200 watt input. But the microwave will run a little more slowly and make more noise--if it is digital, the timer may not be precise--most of the MSW are pretty good.

I have run microwaves off both MSW and PSW inverters--I switched the one in my RV for a PSW because of the way the microwave sounded--but many run the same on MSW.

Where to buy--also what brand to buy? There are a lot of cheap Chinese units flopping around. I tend to buy from someplace you can get a warrantee, and good return policy.

Also read up on them on the off the grid and solar power sites.
I happen to use Magnum, but that may be overkill for the C Dory. Same with Outback Mastervolt and Victron. Xantrex some have had good luck with--There have been changes in the company thru the years.

Some of the C Brats have the less expensive MSW inverters, and can give you better info on these.

I think that Magnum