quality inverter?
- Thread starter Ron
- Start date
offgriddle
"FOREVER BEGINNING"
Six years ago I bought a "Peak", 800 watt invertor off the shelf at NAPA and it's bulletproof. Like 99% of all consumer electronics, it's either assembled in the Pacific rim from parts made in the Pacific rim, or, assembled somewhere else from parts made in the Pacific rim.
Maast
Compulsive Tinkerer
I've been very curious about "Spartan" low frequency inverters. Anyone want to chime in? They claim they're made in China from a US design. Appear to be dropping out of the market though.
Steve_S
Offgrid Cabineer, N.E. Ontario, Canada
I researched Spartan a while back, did not find anything good about them, very generic and simple. As far as I could discover, they don't manufacture anything but are a VAR (Value Added Reseller) buying from primary OEM's in China who make a variety of specs for VARS to choose from. Think AIMS being fairly similar but AIMS has a dedicated company and actually adding value & facility to equipment and backing it.
Unfortunately Samlex America does not offer a 48VDC input model for North America... They intend to release such in 2020 with the next family of Inverter/Chargers.
As for "Junk", stick to Tier-1 products like OutBack, Schneider, Victron and the junk factor isn't there but the $$ is.
Tier-2 imported Quality products are cheaper an still meet specs and certifications and are backed with a credible network.
Tier-3 Value products, you take your chances... EP-Ever or Renogy ? Yiyen, Sigineer… some are better and some are worse. I would never personally buy anything Renogy - it's toss away stuff. but EP-Ever is better as is Yiyen (an OEM) & Sigineer (an OEM & VAR).
Bottom line, depends on your bottom line and the depth of your budget and how much risk you are willing to accept if your spending small... It's NOT a knock at all BTW, we all have to live within a budget and often that means a set of compromises which we gauge our risks & potentials.
Unfortunately Samlex America does not offer a 48VDC input model for North America... They intend to release such in 2020 with the next family of Inverter/Chargers.
As for "Junk", stick to Tier-1 products like OutBack, Schneider, Victron and the junk factor isn't there but the $$ is.
Tier-2 imported Quality products are cheaper an still meet specs and certifications and are backed with a credible network.
Tier-3 Value products, you take your chances... EP-Ever or Renogy ? Yiyen, Sigineer… some are better and some are worse. I would never personally buy anything Renogy - it's toss away stuff. but EP-Ever is better as is Yiyen (an OEM) & Sigineer (an OEM & VAR).
Bottom line, depends on your bottom line and the depth of your budget and how much risk you are willing to accept if your spending small... It's NOT a knock at all BTW, we all have to live within a budget and often that means a set of compromises which we gauge our risks & potentials.
Justin Laureltec
Bay Marine Supply Tech Support Manager
As big of a proponent as I am for Victron and Magnum inverters/inverter-chargers, I too have to confess that my fallback is a "CAT" 1kW inverter I bought at Home Depot like six years ago... it's what I keep in my truck for emergency AC needs and I've used the hell out of it and it's never let me down. Now, would I trust my life to it? No... I'd go with a Victron if I was considering absolutely critical needs. But for casual "aw hell I need an angle grinder for twenty minutes" usage, this thing has been great.
