True sine wave inverter vs Pure sine wave any difference?

[RussN9ZP]

Strongly consider a used laptop computer, what you spend for the computer, you will make up for in electrical gear savings of not needing 300W of power to run it. Use flash drives instead of burning CD's

I hear ya Mike and thanks.Unfortunately what i run with my computer requires a modest gaming computer,probably close to 2k in the laptop world.

My initial estimate of 300 watts was a little high. The PC runs about 60 watts at idle and jumps to 150 watts when running the program or about 15 to 20 amp DC draw. This is only for play and learning for me, money savings is not the motive.

[Mike90250]

Strongly consider a used laptop computer, what you spend for the computer, you will make up for in electrical gear savings of not needing 300W of power to run it. Use flash drives instead of burning CD's

[RussN9ZP]

You can get into the Ball Park by Amps = [AC watts / Battery Voltage] / Inverter Efficiency.

So if your puter draws 300 watts from the inverter, the inverter efficiency is 90%, and battery voltage is 12 volts then [300 watts / 12 volts] / .9 = 28 amps. So the battery is supplying 12 volts x 28 amps = 336 watts. What it does not account for is the wiring losses and some inverter non linearity issues. But it is close.

For giggles and grins get you a 50 amp shunt and install it between the battery and inverter. You can then monitor the battery discharge current in real time with a volt meter. Something like this minus the shunt on the left..

Thanks!! Appreciated as always.

[Sunking]

You can get into the Ball Park by Amps = [AC watts / Battery Voltage] / Inverter Efficiency.

So if your puter draws 300 watts from the inverter, the inverter efficiency is 90%, and battery voltage is 12 volts then [300 watts / 12 volts] / .9 = 28 amps. So the battery is supplying 12 volts x 28 amps = 336 watts. What it does not account for is the wiring losses and some inverter non linearity issues. But it is close.

For giggles and grins get you a 50 amp shunt and install it between the battery and inverter. You can then monitor the battery discharge current in real time with a volt meter. Something like this minus the shunt on the left..

[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?

[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]

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]

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]

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?

[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.

[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?

[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]

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 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]

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.