True sine wave inverter vs Pure sine wave any difference?

[RussN9ZP]

Is there a difference? I was looking at some xantrex pro watt inverters and not sure if they are pure sine wave or not.

http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/power-inverters/prowatt-sw.aspx

[billvon]

Just marketing terms. There are:

Square wave inverters (rare, old)
Mod-sine inverters (very close to square wave but slightly better)
Stepwise sine wave (old Trace SW series)
True sine wave (most good modern inverters)

The "purity" of the sine wave can be determined by its harmonic content into a given load. Most are pretty pure nowadays; generally better than grid power.

[Sunny Solar]

Yes there is a difference.. but its the same difference between 6 and half a dozen..

[RussN9ZP]

Thanks for the replies. I need it to run a computer tower and monitor.

[Sunking]

Thanks for the replies. I need it to run a computer tower and monitor.

Russ for puters use the best inverter you can afford. Towers use Switch Mode power supplies and MSW inverters are rough on Switch Mode power supplies and will cause them to over heat.

[RussN9ZP]

Russ for puters use the best inverter you can afford. Towers use Switch Mode power supplies and MSW inverters are rough on Switch Mode power supplies and will cause them to over heat.

Dereck, do you have a recommendation besides the xantrex im looking at?

[Sunking]

Russ the inverter you are looking at is OK and is medium quality. The Efficiency is fair, and THD is fair.

One thing I would caution you about is to fully use the inverter requires 150 amps service at 12 volts. I do not believe your battery setup can handle that, nor do I think you are cabled up for that much current safely.

Refresh my memory. Panel wattage and battery capacity you have?

[RussN9ZP]

Russ the inverter you are looking at is OK and is medium quality. The Efficiency is fair, and THD is fair.

One thing I would caution you about is to fully use the inverter requires 150 amps service at 12 volts. I do not believe your battery setup can handle that, nor do I think you are cabled up for that much current safely.

Refresh my memory. Panel wattage and battery capacity you have?

I have 145 watt panels x 3, 420ah of battery and a MPPT controller.

I need, according to kill-a-watt about 250 watts of continuous power.

And yes i know 12 volts is for toys LOL one day i will come to the 24v side.

[Sunking]

And yes i know 12 volts is for toys LOL one day i will come to the 24v side.

Not sure about that as your HF rig is a toy and will need 12 volts. It would be nice if the manufactures made 24 and 48 volt rigs. Perhaps they do and I am not aware of them? If they did could offer more than 100 watt amps. Max limit will always be 240 or 120 Vac.

Curious what CC did you go with?

[epsgunner]

I grabbed the Xasntrex ProWatt SW2000 for $330 shipped.. so far so good.. tested it today abit.. 0 issues..

Maybe look at Samlex or Cotek (same animal) or the Go Power (same animal).. most decent ones have a 2 year warranty.. The Xantrex is 2 years FWIW.. the higher end Xantrex ProSines are like $900+

Samlex/Go Power make 24v flavors of them as well.. pends on how many watts you need...

PoweBright makes a $290 inverter that looks the same as the Samlex PST-1000 model.. it too is Pure Sine.. though it only has a 1 year warranty.

[RussN9ZP]

Curious what CC did you go with?

I went with the Rogue MPT-3024 (http://www.roguepowertech.com/products/mpt3024.htm).

So for an inverter what would you suggest?

[Sunking]

Russ look at:

Samlex
Wagen
Xantrex
Tripp Lite
Powerbright
Schumacher
Outback

Be careful. I do not know if yours will be used as stand alone or part of your shack premisses wiring. There is a huge difference between inverters made for RV,Auto,boat and house wiring inverters.

[RussN9ZP]

Russ look at:

Samlex
Wagen
Xantrex
Tripp Lite
Powerbright
Schumacher
Outback

Be careful. I do not know if yours will be used as stand alone or part of your shack premisses wiring. There is a huge difference between inverters made for RV,Auto,boat and house wiring inverters.

Its all contained in the shack. None of my house is off grid. Basically i want to wire the inverter to the Battery bank and plug a computer and monitor in to the inverter.

[Sunking]

Its all contained in the shack. None of my house is off grid. Basically i want to wire the inverter to the Battery bank and plug a computer and monitor in to the inverter.

OK you need one made for RV, boat,auto. Nothing wrong with your current selection. There are better more expensive ones with better stats, and a whole lot of less expensive lower quality ones. Buy the best that you can afford and willing to part with the cash.

Look at THD, efficiency, idle power, frequency tolerance/stability, surge capacity, and voltage input range. You get what you pay for.

[RussN9ZP]

Dereck, what is the math to figure out how many DC amps will be drawn by the inverter given a load of say 300 watts AC on the inverter?