quality inverter?

[Ron]

I guess this site was redone since my other inverter posts are gone. I still look for a decent 24v pure sine inverter, 2000 watts. i see nothing but Chinese inverters with bad reviews. Any recommendations?

 

[TCgreg]

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Samlex they make a 2000watt 24v unit. UL listed, commercial grade. Can be plugged into or hard wired. I'm pretty sure made in the USA. Unlike most of the Chinese cheep units a Samlex will run at its advertised max and surge without making smoke.

2000 Watt 24V Power Inverter | PST-2000-24 | Samlex America

Industrial Grade 2000W 24V DC-AC Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter. Converts 24VDC to 120VAC. Robust, heavy-duty power for tools, appliances and electronics.

www.samlexamerica.com

 

[Craig]

I agree with the samlex I have a 600 watt version and it works flawlessly

 

[Ron]

The reviews on amazon were good. The price was a bit scary. it makes you wonder what the difference is between this unit and the Chinese stuff. In 2019 you would think electronics would be figured out, even by the Chinese.

$715 on amazon. Sounds about right.

$235 will get you some chinese garbage. And it's not like you can't get quality out of china, but the factory needs close supervision.

Disclaimer: I have a $40 Xantrex 1000w I bought used at a pawn shop that I'm happy with for my needs at the moment.
This was after xantrex gobbled up other manufacturers and moved production offshore.

At least that Samlex had good reviews. I guess you get what you pay for with inverters. I don't get why the Chinese stuff is so bad. How complicated can a good inverter be to build?

 

[gnubie]

Probably won't be popular saying it but it comes down to the model. There are teardowns of Samlex units on youtube that show they aren't any necessarily anything flash. That goes right down to using what ever random FETs they could get their hands on at the time. Closely matched FETs matter, and I'd guarantee that they aren't.

 

[svetz]

The Magnum has a 3 year warranty at 2000 watts, The outback has a 5 year warranty, Samlex a 2 yr warranty, Xantrex 2.5 yrs, Schneider 2 years.

No clue who's best. Some of it's luck of the draw, but a long period with a short warranty always makes me feel better (30 page warranties always strike me as 30 pages worth of get-out-of-the-warranty-for-free clauses).

 

[svetz]

Xantrex is apparently a fairly dirty inverter: http://www.diysolarforum.com/index.php?threads/dirty-electricity.419/post-4520

 

[Ron]

They are masters at both communism, where everyone starves, and capitalism, where it's all about cutting corners.

"At least that Samlex had good reviews. " At least? Yes, reviews matter

Most reviews have a few good reviews and then a bunch of stuff about voltage issues and wiring issues like units failing. But the Samlex had all good reviews, at least what I read. I thought the Chinese steal plans for good stuff and recreate it?

 

[TCgreg]

Most reviews have a few good reviews and then a bunch of stuff about voltage issues and wiring issues like units failing. But the Samlex had all good reviews, at least what I read. I thought the Chinese steal plans for good stuff and recreate it?

A cheap Chinese knockoff is rarely recreating the same quality item at a lower price. Thankfully there are still some quality options despite many peoples willingness to buy a knockoff. As an old saying goes; better to apologize once for high price than forever for poor quality.

 

[Señor Quattro]

Hi Newbie here. Where can I find guidance on parallel connections of inverters to drive larger loads? I know it’s possible but it’s not just about simply connecting the outputs. I recall somewhere a year or two ago seeing how inverters (same models) can be linked to communicate with each other and that this is key to making them work. Two smaller inverters, I remember reading, is better than one larger - economy and redundancy. More research needed but I think I’m going to need more than a constant 3kW.

 

[Señor Quattro]

. Don’t really want to get into this kind of hack, a bit too complex for me. Are inverters available already that can operate in a synchronised way to share the load equally according to their specs?

 

[svetz]

The guy in the video is taking advantage of the output stage not being fully utilized so he's feeding the input stages from two inverters into one output stage. Obviously that won't work for everything.

I believe the inverters made to be paralleled talk to each other over a company proprietaty protocol; so no mixing/matching between vendors. A little better than generators a they generally have a "special" cable too. What they do is significantly different in the that phases are matched.

Search for "inverter parallel"; here's a couple to get you started: Magnum Energy MS2012 2000W 12V Inverter/Charger, and Outback Power FXR2012A 2000 Watt 12 VDC Sealed Inverter/Charger. They can usually be set up to either increase the current (same phase) or for put the phases 180 degrees apart to provide 240V. You can find the manuals on line to see how to parallel them.

 

[turbodave]

So would a Magnum energy ms2012 be a good choice? I'm designing an all electric campervan.
Thanks
Dave

 

[svetz]

My post was responding to @Señor Quattro regarding a particular feature known as paralleling that allows you to combine inverters for more overall power; he just wanted to know if the feature was available. In a campervan you'd probably have fixed power needs so that might not be important.

I don't have a clue what's best, but if anything I'd lean towards longer warranties as in my post above.

 

[turbodave]

OK Thanks

 

[Justin Laureltec]

Hi Newbie here. Where can I find guidance on parallel connections of inverters to drive larger loads? I know it’s possible but it’s not just about simply connecting the outputs. I recall somewhere a year or two ago seeing how inverters (same models) can be linked to communicate with each other and that this is key to making them work. Two smaller inverters, I remember reading, is better than one larger - economy and redundancy. More research needed but I think I’m going to need more than a constant 3kW.

Can confirm that Outback and Magnum both make excellent inverters capable of parallel operation; also Victron Energy makes both the Phoenix line of inverter-onlys or (for about $100 more) the MultiPlus inverter/chargers. I'm tech support at a Victron distributorship, so obviously I'm biased toward the Victrons, but honestly the Outbacks and Magnums are fantastic devices as well.

 

[b.james]

Well Ive had 3 inverters so far ,all 240 Volt. All Chinese made and bought on aliexpress or ebay.
One a little blue thing for $43 odd bucks was pretty useless . 500 watts I think and it would only just light a desk light. Would not run a 170watt TV. first try
Second a 500 watt cheapie at about $135 and it ran for 18 months and died .
Third a 1000 watt cheapie at about $141
Third (first try) This one was noisy rubbish when it ran my TV so I complained and they suggested I bought the better model for $175 and return the other which I did .
Third (Second try) Better One

The third is still running OK after about 3 months and I have had it running my TV , my dryer,my full size washing machine ,my small box freezer and my desktop computer which it is running now. No complaints so far except it shows the battery voltage at about half a volt down on true. There is probably an adjustable pot in there for that but I have not been in it yet to insect proof it.

I spray them with lanolin spray ,let it dry then spray some surface insect spray to stop the bugs getting where its warm and light.

I notice the Grid Tie inverters I have accumulated from Gumtree ,second hand, all work fine even though some of them are many years old so that's a proof of longevity for chinese made gear .

I think if you insect proof your inverters they will last much longer. I have even gone further and smashed led's that attract insects on smoke alarms and other devices running 24/7. This is a common problem with 5V power supplies running remote gear . They insist on putting in led's to show power on and there is no way to switch them off when you leave them unattended.

Heat of course is endemic and forever attractive in cold weather.

 

[b.james]

Perhaps you guys could take a snapshot of your inverters innards whenever you have it open and post it on here so we can have a look?

 

[Justin Laureltec]

 

[b.james]

What breed is that? Pos and neg terminals are a bit close! They need both to be moved to their alternative bolts.