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Forum Index : Electronics : recommended inverters
| Author | Message | ||||
| brucedownunder2 Guru  Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Been following the home built inverter posts for a long time now , very educational. I considered having a go at construction ,but with my age, health and tolerance ,these days for stuff-up's, I think it wise for me to get something that can easily be given back to be fixed ,if necessary,lol. I see that Victron,the blue coloured stand alone units advertised on e-bay are fairly well the leaders in their field. I'm especially concentrating on the 48 volt variety. I'd be interested in owners or past owners posting comments either way ?. Thank You, Bruce Bushboy |
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sPuDd Senior Member  Joined: 10/07/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 251 |
Bruce, I've been using the MPPSolar inverters & chargers to run my entire house for about 9 months now. Have had zero issues. Works out of the box. Takes everything I throw at them. My forum post for my system. The eBay Seller. sPuDd.. It should work ...in theory |
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| noneyabussiness Guru Joined: 31/07/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 513 |
Bruce, Ive had 1 of these for years... again works out of the box and handles everything i throw at it. inverter I think it works !! |
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poida Guru Joined: 02/02/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1419 |
my Victron experience: I bought the Victron 3000VA 48V Multiplus back when they were $2,700. It has very low idle power loss and a 35A charger integrated in the unit. It ran well, handling continuous loads of around 300W to 1000W, with average loads of 500W. Short periods of 2000W on a daily basis. The fan ran once power got to 500-600W and it stopped when cooled down. (not like the Powerjack LF of mine that seems to start the fan then it remains on no matter how low the load is) I did not do stupid things such as extreme load tests. It has a high load cut-out and I saw it in action frequently, it works as expected. It ran for 25 months. I had a 2 year warranty. This resulted me growing angry enough to resolve to build my own inverter from now on. The running conditions when failure occurred were nominal room temperature, 500W load, no fan running nor needed, no recent high loads in past week, good battery voltage. Since repair would likely include cost of freight to and from supplier, plus parts and labour, I thought it's Tear Down Time. here is the post where I pull it apart The design uses 2 toroids, powering one under low loads, and then powering both when loads increase. This reduces idle power losses. The toroid core size is 147mm (OD) x 75mm(ID) x 40mm high. With 2 of these cores it unsurprisingly required the fan to run when delivering 1500W continuously. Victron's products are frequently found on boats. I think they used to be made in Holland but mine was made in India. The workmanship appeared to me to be first class. I now run my house using a self built inverter using an Aerosharp 3000VA toroid, with an extra primary winding I did myself, using the existing 230V secondary. The power board is a 12 HY4008, Chinese made board from Aliexpress, cost about $150US. I add a $20 E core ferrite choke, some wiring and a dual AC output socket. These run for 6 months or longer. I would rather build and rebuild my own inverter now. I costed the Victron as $2,700 and lasting 10 years prior to purchase. So I am OK with $270/year. Right now, I am probably coming in a little under that, maybe it's $70/year!! But I need to be able to rebuild a dead inverter board. When the Victron died, I bought a PowerJack LF 48V "6000W" unit via ebay. The seller said in the advertising it was Local Stock. Evidently, it is OK in Chinese commercial practise to stray from the truth. After funds cleared, I received the inverter 20 days later, with a consignment note showing source location as China and destination as my home address. I became further pissed off when running it. It needed 3-4x more idle power, the fan came on after 10 minutes of 350W and remained on for days. But I had an inverter. yay. If you consider a PowerJack, I would fit a primary choke, built using a large ferrite E core. And re-engineer the cooling of the toroid so that air can flow through the transformer, not just over the top and side. wronger than a phone book full of wrong phone numbers |
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renewableMark Guru Joined: 09/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1678 |
I was very close to buying two of these myself, but got encouraged to build an Oz. It would have saved a lot of blow ups if I had. Good to hear you are getting good results from them. Cheers Caveman Mark Off grid eastern Melb |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Thanks guys for the feedback .. Spud, mate, could you send me a pm on the model ,There are heaps of 5 Kw models on that list ,I just want to be sure that I am looking at the correct inverter . Mine will be stand alone ,possibly not grid connected ,as I already have a grid connected system that returns a 53 cent feed-in to- grid return and would like to keep that . My system would be , solar -32.3 Kw of 48 volt wired into regulators and charging my batteries.. I'd like something like your inverter that I could power ,on seperate house circuits ,my essential things ,like fries, hot water, lights ,Etc. So during the day ,most things would be free, but have the grid as a back-up. At night ,use my battery bank and maybe grid if required. Mark, been following your dramas, would love it if I was younger ,but these days ,sort of at that stage where the kids inheritance will have to contribute ,lol. Ok, so the Victron is out , and Spud,s idea is the front-runner . Marks DIY is encouraging ,but dunno!!. anyone have a good second hand unit worth considering ?? Bruce Bushboy |
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| BenandAmber Guru Joined: 16/02/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 961 |
I'm not promoting or saying it will be a good unit but Power Jack is getting ready to come out with a new one I here and it's supposed to address all the issues and be a lot better inverter then previous At least that's is what a guy that sells and repairs them it's saying on his YouTube channel who knows he should be getting a prototype any day now to try out last time this happened they went into production on it before he was even finished testing. Gentysolar.com youtube channel is the same be warned i am good parrot but Dumber than a box of rocks |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
I would like to thank the guys that replied to my post ---what inverter do I invest in ---- Got some very good advice ,. The important point I'd like to make is , Ask many questions on any subject (windmills, solar, electronics' Etc, as that is what will keep this "Backshed" forum going.. I've noticed that a lot of the old guys have moved on ,so ,really, it's up to you new fellas to ask questions and keep the interest ,,the old guys will tune ,but you new guys have got to have a go .. Typical good new members are Ben and Amber ,,love reading their posts. Bruce Bushboy |
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| hary Regular Member  Joined: 15/04/2019 Location: FrancePosts: 89 |
Could you give us link to that youtube channel. I can't find any Gentysolar channel myself. |
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| Mulver Senior Member Joined: 27/02/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 160 |
My biggest fear is this forum will just disappear one day!  Thousands of post id like to reference for the next 40 years or so.. |
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| poida Guru Joined: 02/02/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1419 |
Mulver, at the bottom of each page is a link "printable version" so hit that and once loaded, you can then print to pdf. I find this a good archive method. It does not retain the uploaded code zipfiles of course. But it does include the pictures. I have done this for all the interesting threads here. wronger than a phone book full of wrong phone numbers |
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| renewableMark Guru Joined: 09/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1678 |
Bruce I saw something for sale in Qld that might interest you, clean out your inbox its full. Cheers Caveman Mark Off grid eastern Melb |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Yes Mark, I,be been wiring up the panels ,sort of took longer than I thought. I wanted to make the wiring neat ,so I had to re,terminate a lot of the panels to dress the feeds in nicely. Plus a lot of pop riveting of cable clips and splices with heat shrink,Etc. She,s nearly finished,just a external wall: mounted fuse and disconnect breaker box of tricks ,then the 10mm cables to the regulator . I see you guys are gearing up for another inverter build with all those pcb,s now delivered,interesting times ahead,lol. Bruce Bushboy |
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| BenandAmber Guru Joined: 16/02/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 961 |
Thanks for the kind words made both of us smile be warned i am good parrot but Dumber than a box of rocks |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Ben and Amber, "Thanks for the kind words", Well, I say"Thanks for your participation in The Back Shed" nice to read your posts ,along with all the other friends that are having a go. Please keep us informed as to the "Power-Jack" new model that may be arriving ? Good luck ,stay safe around those power bits and pieces !. Bruce Bushboy |
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| Mulver Senior Member Joined: 27/02/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 160 |
Thanks Poida! Sorry I missed your reply, thanks for the info I hadn’t noticed that before! It’s something I’ll certainly be using! |
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Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
Yes, very useful feature. Wish had I known about it instead of using the print screen thing to save a copy for use in my work shed. Klaus |
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| BenandAmber Guru Joined: 16/02/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 961 |
I would like to take all the threads of several people on here and print them So much combined knowledge on here be warned i am good parrot but Dumber than a box of rocks |
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