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Madness

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Joined: 08/10/2011
Location: Australia
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Posted: 02:36pm 03 Nov 2013

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I am considering buying a Trace SW4548E Inverter Charger. Price is okay however for not a lot more money I can by a new Taiwanese inverter of similar size but with not as many functions such as auto generator start and generator support mode. I already have a 24 volt version of the Taiwanese inverter which works quite well, however I want to upgrade to a larger 48 volt system.

The unit is working however it is obsolete and no longer supported by the manufacturer. Has anybody had experience with these, particularly with parts and repairs. Boards are no longer available apparently but if I did have a problem is there anybody who can repair at a component level?

Thanks

Gary

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Downwind

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Joined: 09/09/2009
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Posted: 09:59pm 03 Nov 2013

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We live in a throw away life style, so to expect to buy an inverter and have it repaired after 2 years than you are dreaming, unless its a well supported brand name, or a local made product.

I have not heard of the inverter you list, so no help there!

Is it a transformer based inverter? (i expect it will be with being a inverter/charger)

Its always a trade off, a product at a higher price but good support, or take the gamble on a budget price inverter of no name.

The problem is by the time the no name inverter fails the product is no longer on the market, so all is not reported.

Good luck.

Pete.

Sometimes it just works

Madness

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Posted: 11:14pm 03 Nov 2013

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Well in this case the high price product is the Trace which has no support due to it being obsolete. However it is a very high quality product it has a transformer and weighs over 70KG.

The cheap Taiwanese does not use a transformer, I had an issue with the one I have and received very good support. It had a main board failure which may have been my fault however the company still sent a replacement part at no cost. Who knows how long the company will be around. One plus is I could buy 6 of them for the price of a new one with good support. But then how long will the company with the higher price product be around also????? At the moment I can't afford a new expensive inverter.

Trace Engineering was bought out by Xantrex, it is a well known product as far as inverters go.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

brucedownunder2
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Joined: 14/09/2005
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Posted: 10:01am 04 Nov 2013

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Why not buy one of those "Power-Star W7 " type for 400-500 Dollars and do the conversion ?. There are thousands of them around ,their only draw-back is the high standby of some 200-300 watts.

With the allready proved and fully documented conversion ,they are reported to have only 30 watts standby approx.

As respected member Oztules has stated ,they are build like a brick and you can get parts..

A bit of work on your part to do the mod ,but it's all fun .

Bruce.

Bushboy

Madness

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Posted: 09:28pm 11 Nov 2013

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Yeah I have seen some of those dodgy mods where people are trying to use plastic insulated wire on transformers. Will be interesting to see how long before they go up in smoke.

Those Chinese inverters (and the Taiwanese) lack a lot of the functions of the trace, particularly interfacing with a generator. May not worry some people but for me it would be beneficial.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

graynomad

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Joined: 21/07/2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 122

Posted: 10:20pm 11 Nov 2013

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I've got a Trace 24v 3300w inverter/charger, used it just about every day for 13 years it's never seriously failed. It did have a non-show-stopper fault and I had that fixed by a mob in Brisbane, that was about 4-5 years ago and I think they were obsolete at that point.
Edited by graynomad 2013-11-13

Rob Gray, AKA the Graynomad, www.robgray.com

Madness

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Posted: 11:05pm 11 Nov 2013

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Hi Rob,

Any chance you could recall who you had fix it?

Gary

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

graynomad

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Joined: 21/07/2010
Location: Australia
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Posted: 11:46pm 11 Nov 2013

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I think it was

ENERDRIVE
Unit 11, 1029 Manly Rd
Tingalpa, Brisbane, QLD
07-3390-6900

I don't have documentation any more but I had a look on Google earth and it looked familiar.

Xantrex now own Trace AFAIK.

If it's them I'm sure they could advise on the support or lack thereof for these units.

BTW, my control panel was easy to make remote form the box simply by adding a ribbon cable.
Edited by graynomad 2013-11-13

Rob Gray, AKA the Graynomad, www.robgray.com

dwyer
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Joined: 19/09/2005
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Posts: 574

Posted: 11:58pm 11 Nov 2013

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Hi Madness
L just look at e-bay and found this as they might able to help you where you can fix your inverter as their inverter has been repair before selling on e-bay as l am just trying to help

Dwyer the bushman

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Trace-Engineering-Xantrex-SW4548E -Sine-Wave-Inverter-Charger-/251367431256

Madness

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Posted: 12:51am 12 Nov 2013

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Thanks Rob,

I have been in touch with them, even though they are listed as the service agent on the Xantrex web site, they no longer touch Trace and just want to sell some other brand they have now.

Hi Dwyer,I am actually looking at buying that one, however they are not very forthcoming about who fixes them. Maybe they have not had it fixed.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

graynomad

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Joined: 21/07/2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 122

Posted: 01:06am 12 Nov 2013

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Quote they no longer touch Trace

Looks like I'm an orphan then :(

Rob Gray, AKA the Graynomad, www.robgray.com

Madness

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Posted: 01:12am 12 Nov 2013

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Surely there is somebody out there that knows these and still fixes them.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

dwyer
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Joined: 19/09/2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 574

Posted: 10:49am 12 Nov 2013

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Hi Madness
did some searching on www.xantrew.com from USA Xantrex Authorized Service Centers all over the world is longer in Australia just what graynomad gave this are no support Authorized Service Centers in Australia
ENERDRIVE
Unit 11, 1029 Manly Rd
Tingalpa, Brisbane, QLD
07-3390-6900 however there one is in New Zealand

Advance Trident
383 New North Road
Kingsland, New Zealand
Ph. 64-9-8455347

or other company call Rainbow power company www.rpc.com.au just give them a call

Dwyer the bushman

Madness

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Posted: 11:26am 12 Nov 2013

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As I have mentioned above Enerdrive do not service Trace or Xantrex any more at least that is what they told me over the phone. They did want try to sell me another product for $4,000 that they said is the same but turns out is quite basic compared to the Trace inverter.

I will try RPC today, shipping an inverter that weighs around 60KG to NZ would not be my first option.

Getting circuit diagrams etc would be good.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Madness

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Joined: 08/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 2498

Posted: 03:13pm 18 Nov 2013

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SI Clean Energy service and repair Trace Inverters

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

graynomad

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Joined: 21/07/2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 122

Posted: 02:22am 19 Nov 2013

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Thanks for that, files in case I need them one day.

Rob Gray, AKA the Graynomad, www.robgray.com

Madness

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Posted: 02:29pm 10 Dec 2013

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Found some information about repairing these if anyone needs it Trace repair

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

graynomad

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Joined: 21/07/2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 122

Posted: 05:33pm 10 Dec 2013

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Thanks again, also filed for future reference, not that I'll ever need it :)

Rob Gray, AKA the Graynomad, www.robgray.com

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