Inverter questions

[cdog]

Looking at the magnum 4024 or outback 3524 true sine inverters.

They both appear to need the remote to operate properly.

Any opinions on the better of the two machines?

I really only need a bare bones rig with no charger or remote, but these are all I can come up with that have a good reputation, any options or opinions?

Thanks as always,

Cdog.

[bob g]

which is best???

neither!

exeltech mx series for me  

bob g

[cdog]

OK, sounds good, I will take a look.

I am really after

an able true sine inverter, no frills(less than 2 grand,lol!)

Thanks for the tip,

Cdog.

[cdog]

If I were to use 4 of those to get my 4000 watt dream, I would be up to nearly 4 grand.

Is there a "bang for your buck" brand out there?

Cdog

[Dave B]

 Too bad you want true sine wave. I have a Xantrex 3624 modified sine wave inverter / charger. It has long been the iron horse of inverter / chargers and it runs anything I have connected it to. Computer and accesories is one of my continuous uses, no problems.

 These can be purchased used for under a grand and new or like new for maybe a couple hundred more. It's no light weight, 3600 watts means 3600 watts continuous and check the specs. for intermittent peaks. Unless you have a very specific need for a true sine wave these inverter / chargers are built like a tank. Just my opinion if you're looking for the best bang for your buck.   Dave B.

 

[cdog]

Thanks, I will surely look into this.

My main concern is everything I read says electronics, and especially motors(fridge is my goal) should really have the real deal?

Thanks for the help,

Cdog.

[Dave B]

 I have run my fridge and furnace blower motor no problems. I was a bit concerned also especially with electronic equipment. My computer, printer, monitor and modem all work just fine. I have an old digital clock that strobes when powered off the inverter and a florescent light that will not trip the inverter on by itself when in the power saving load seach mode.

 I would not hesitate to try to power anything off of this inverter. I have a feeling that as pure sine becomes less expensive that some of the newer modified sine inverters are not built as well as in the past. I think it's those much less expensive units which are more picky as to what they will run. This is a great marketing ploy that almost forces one to think that pure sine is the only real option any more. If you want a real inverter that is what it says it is I'd look for a Xantrex DR series. Good luck with what ever purchase you make.  Dave B.

[cdog]

Thanks again, it makes sense what you are saying.

I have seen many 3000 watt rated modified inverters that weigh under 20lbs, this is over 40, that tells even an electro-ignorant like myself something!

If this were for my house I would spring for the real deal, but it is for my camp.

I just didn't want to "almost" buy the rite inverter again, the buy once/cry once comes to mind, but I think you have me convinced, thanks again,

Cdog.

[MattB]

I can't speak for the other options mentioned, but I've been happy as a clam with my Outback 3524. I do not have the remote. I think that's mostly for charger settings.

Early failures, likely caused by lightning, were repaired promptly and covered under warranty.

I'd say it's a workhorse. My fridge has been running for almost 4 years straight now.

[dlenox]

My vote would go to the Xantrex XW line of inverters, it would appear that your system is a 24v, so the specific model would be XW-4024.

This inverter can handle 4k watts nominal, and short bursts of up to almost 6kw, and is built like a rock.  I am using the XW-6048 (48v nominal) for the past 2 yrs and it is completely solid.

I like the XW over the Outback because the inverter has about everything built in that you would need/want.  The only other purchase would be a system control panel (SCP) so that you can change settings, as well as a dongle (computer adapter $125) so that you can connect your computer to it to do monitoring/logging.

It seems with the Outback products there is a pletora of accessories that you have to sort through to see which of them you need and don't need.

Dan Lenox

[dlenox]

Unfortunately you can not purchase either a Xantrex 3624, nor Xantrex DR series of inverters any more, they are discontinued.  So your only choice with these is to buy used - and take your chances.

The XW is the flagship inverter for Xantrex.

Dan Lenox

[hydrosun]

Xantrex now makes a TR series of inverters which are essentially the DR inverters in a new box and few new whistles. I installed one last year and seems to be working well.

 I've just encounter a problem with a DR3624 that won't run the relay that ignites the furnace in one house. Once started by manually pushing the ignite buttom it runs just fine. I assumed that the relay is some kind of SCR or thyrister that doesn't like the modified square wave that the DR produces. So there are some things that won't work with those types of inverters. I told the owner to check with the furnace people to see if they had a different type of relay board. Does anyone know where to look to find  a fix for this problem?

 I ran my house for years on a modified square wave inverter. The one problem I encountered was the small motor on the timer switch on the washing machine would sometimes stop. Strange type of motor. I later had a similar problem with the timer on the Staber washing machine until I changed to the Outback sinewave inverter. I actually liked the sensitivity control for the search mode on the DR inverters better. I could adjust it just right to be able to use the bread machine without anything else on and it would keep on time. The Outback inverter I  always have to defeat the search mode to work properly.

Outback has the best service of any of the major inverter makers. They have always been prompt with answers and repairs. Building their product in the US means they also repair here. When I have a question on Trace equipment I call Outback first because some of the engineers at Outback designed the Trace inverters.

Trace SW inverters were workhorses and have few major problems. I did have one that the fan stayed on continuously so I cut out the faulty thermo sensor on the transistor board. One annoying fault was they lost memory of special setting when they lost power.  That was one thing the Outback inverters improved. There are many options on Outback inverters so you only have to buy the features you need. I agree it is sometimes annoying to have to spend over $200 just for a remote that is only used to set equalize or search mode functions. On many systems I just program the inverter with my mate and not leave a controller on the inverter. The Outback is a good choice for a system that doesn't need 240 volts or 4000 watts.

 I've looked at the Magnum inverter specs and they seem to have a good product. I might consider it for a system that needs both 240 and 120 volts and a large 4000 watt inverter. I don't have any personal experience with them.

Chris

[hayfarmer]

I went with the 240 volt  4400 watt magnum sine,the remote is well worth it for me cause inverter/battery string in shed and from inside home I can see battery soc,temp ,solar/wind charge into battery /or out .the nice thing is the midnite solar breaker box it mounts to condenses the breaker space ac & dc buss bars ,if you have a inveter problem you throw a bypass switch and send in you inverter to a shop for repair,with out rewiring your circuits. also made in USA.

http://www.fieldlines.com/images/scimages/16067/buss_bar.jpg

[bob g]

check out this auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/Exeltech-MX2B-A-1P-4600-Chassis-Modules_W0QQitemZ260575890479QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ
LH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3cab888c2f

you will want to see if they will sell you the lower unit, it has the control modules in it, they are used to produce the drive sync signals for the power modules.

i bet you can buy the lower unit for about 600 bucks, that will be a base unit, a control module and two 1kwatt inverter modules and it looks like the case can handle

4 more inverter modules as well.

i have bought over 60kwatts of these from various sources, and have yet to get a dud

exeltech will repair any repairable failure (i guess lightening strike that leaves a molten puddle don't count) for something like a 100 dollar flat fee.

each of those modules are 1 kwatt with a surge to 2.2kwatt for 3 seconds and they have the cleanest sine wave on the market today, mean time to failure is in excess of 20 years.

i would jump on these units, but i am flush with enough for both myself and my biz partner.

with a little dickering i bet you can get your 4kwatt system for around a 1200 bucks or so.

btw, these are 48volt nominal units

bob g

[Ronnn]

All I can tell you is the army used the non vented version of the outback in iraq. I have the 3524 VFX, built like a tank and never a hicup in 6 years. I was told it will work without the mate but it's much better to have it. Set up is difficult w/o one. I had a xantrex and sent it back. The wire lugs on the unit I had were like something out of a car electrical system. And the whole assy moved too much when tightening wires. This was before I got the outback so much could have changed with xantrex since then.

Ron

[cdog]

I will look into this, thanks again!

Cdog

[cdog]

Trying to understand this, it looks like the rack has 6 inverters in it besides the lower module?

This is getting quite fancy for a hunting camp, but the entire unit would be wow for a house?

Cdog.

[bob g]

i use the term rack incorrectly

the rack contains several chassis's,

each chassis contains in this case 2 inverter modules, (it looks like they

will take up to 6 inverter modules and also have room for the control module)

the lower chassis is the only one listed that has the control module in place

on that example on ebay.

every so often you will see the inverter modules come on ebay for 125-200 bucks each

if you have a chassis to start with, it is easy to fill in the vacant slots and increase capacity.

hope that clears things up a bit

bob g

[RandomJoe]

For the Outback inverters, the Mate is only required if you need to change settings.  As long as you are happy with the defaults, you don't need it at all.  There is a jumper across a couple of low-voltage terminals that you can remove and wire a switch to for remote start/stop of the inverter.

If you do want/need to change some settings, you just need the Mate for as long as it takes to change them, so one possible option is just to borrow one for a bit.  (Assuming you know someone who will loan it to you, of course!)  The inverter will keep the settings after that.

I decided I'd rather spend more up front for the true sine inverter than have to worry about damaging or shortening the life of other items run off it.  I also like that my CFLs are quieter!  Haven't tried a larger mod-sine, but the small ones I have make CFLs buzz/whine audibly which drives me nuts.