Community Forums

wonderer1 · 12-30-2012, 03:24 PM

my 2100 watt quasi sine inverter is acting up. i plan on installing app 600 watts of solar. want to boondock a lot. (if i need to replace mine). first question - sine or modified sine inverter ? second question - what brand (quality and cost efficent) are you happy with ?

scgator · 12-30-2012, 03:43 PM

My opinion, and only my opinion; for the overall costs involved versus your end results, I would just purchase a good quiet Honda Generator. Solar is enticing, but looking at what you can "really" depend on...........I wouldn't go solar unless I had a lot of money to use up. On a weekend with the generator, you might spend $30-$40 in fuel, and that comes out way better than the overall return on investment for solar.

wa8yxm · 12-30-2012, 03:58 PM

Sine, by all means SINE, not MSW.. I will explain.

For many years I thought that an MSW did a "More efficient" job of turning DC into AC.. Then I did research and found out that they both run within 1 percent of each other when running at peak effiency The Xantrex web site, (I compared two 2,000 watt inverters) listed the peak efficiency for MSW at 90, and for TSW at 89-90 percent.

Next...

With ALL inverters, no matter the type. if a device needs more power than the inverter can provide there will be no joy (It won't work).. But...

The Xantrex web site used to have a document that gave a list of things that might not work properly on MSW, it was a LONG list, included clocks, audio/video/television/radio gear, Microwaves, Electric blankets, Elecronic (Digital) Coffee pots and someone added night lights to that last here on the forum a while ago.. (LED type).

As I said it is a long list, they may work, proprely, or work, but differently, or not work at all, or .. Catch fire!!!!!.

True sine wave the list is much shorter.. In fact.. The list of things that might or might not work properly on a True sine wave inverter... Is a null list.

If it works on shore power, it works on a true sine (With the "All inverter" note at the beginning of this section).

And since my hobby is radio..... You should know that as a Ham Radio operator I'm used to talking to stations a thousand (or more) miles away where we are pushing perhaps 100 watts into the wire.. Think about this the next time you try to tune in a 5000 to 50,000 watt AM station that is perhaps 50 miles away.

We have very senistive receivers.

The Prosine (True sine wave) inverter in my RV.. Far as the radio is concerned, it's turned off full time, I do not hear it, I do not see it, (When running an audio signal analyzer (This computer) in digital mode) it's not there.

MSW. Would tear up the band from now to doomsday.

LandKinaMoho · 12-30-2012, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scgator

My opinion, and only my opinion; for the overall costs involved versus your end results, I would just purchase a good quiet Honda Generator. Solar is enticing, but looking at what you can "really" depend on...........I wouldn't go solar unless I had a lot of money to use up. On a weekend with the generator, you might spend $30-$40 in fuel, and that comes out way better than the overall return on investment for solar.

After 3 or 4 yrs ones investment is neutral. Consider noise pollution and inconvenience of lugging fuel and a genny :0)

okiejim · 12-30-2012, 05:14 PM

wa8yxm,
May I ask what wattage your inverter is? I too am a ham and going solar alittle at a time as I can afford it. I run a ft-847 I was into the birds before having to go full time. Now just wanna be able to do voice contacts from the boonies.
DE KD6VPE

JJH3rd · 12-30-2012, 05:37 PM

If you want to speak to some folks who have been doing alternative power sources for over 25 years, email, call, check out the site: homepower.com. Anytime I've emailed them a question, I've received hones,t reliable, fact-based information.

Gary RVRoamer · 12-31-2012, 05:34 PM

The only reason for using MSW instead of True (or pure) Sine is the dollar cost. TS used to be extremely expensive, but now the price has dropped substantially. Bottom line is "Buy the TS if you can afford the price difference".

Don't be too scared of the long list of "might not work" items - most things will be fine. The most likely failures seem to be electric blankets & heating pads and coffee makers. However, items that do not work on MSW are often destroyed by it. They typically have an internal melt down.

Ed-Sommers · 01-01-2013, 08:35 AM

When I switched to PSW some years back, the first things that I notices was that the Microwave cooked faster and even SOUNDED better. Also the Television produced less heat and I haven't lost another DVR since switching.

Also, IMHO, anybody advising using a generator over the quiet, and efficiency of solar, would push little ducks in the water. I paid somewhere around five bucks a watt for my solar bank, and the same is now closer to ONE dollar a watt, and will last a lifetime.

Ed
USN Ret.