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Old 10-05-2012, 07:21 AM   #1
jimmy2
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Inverter

i have been looking for a long time at solar system for my monty but there is one question that keeps me scratching my head is that when it come to the inverter every one i talked to about this all put a 2000w inverter in there unite but why so big. can any one help me with this. would i need a 2000w inverter i don't known what i would run with this right now all i use my 1000w inverter for is to run my TV/DVD player
 
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Old 10-05-2012, 07:52 AM   #2
Jolu
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I put in a 2000 Watt inverter because my wife wanted to run her 1800 Watt hair dryer. That is my simple answer. There are other benefits for 2000 Watts which can vary with each system.
You can run lesser watt inverter if it covers your usage needs.
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Old 10-05-2012, 08:29 AM   #3
H. John Kohl
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I went with 2500 so I had the capability if I needed to use it. It did require heavier wire and the overhead current draw is higher. I may change once I have some experience under my belt. The Ice Maker may be one of those items that is a luxury. The critical thing was ensuring I had a PURE SIGN WAVE device. The first one was modified sign wave and it turned on the washing machine as others have commented happening with some of their generators. Yes my inverter powers the complete trailer when turned on.

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Old 10-05-2012, 09:52 AM   #4
7.3Ford
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If you don't want to run the microwave... 1000 watts is plenty. TV and sat receiver are arund 150 watts. My SunFroce inverter started send 134 volts after 2.5 years, so I just replaced it, see tag line.
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Old 10-06-2012, 02:01 AM   #5
lasater
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I use my inverter to run a 5 cuft freezer, 2 computers, the coffee pot, and several lights at the same time (hard to get the DW to turn them off). Just to allow for future add-ons, I went with a 3K inverter and am happy that I did.

It all depends on your individual usage plan.
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Old 10-06-2012, 02:38 AM   #6
1retired06
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We have a 2000 watt inverter in ours and find it sufficient for everything to date.
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Old 10-06-2012, 02:44 AM   #7
Gkerlin
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Its all about what you can live with and what you might need. We have a 2000w inverter. I also have a 600w that is currently disconnected.

We have a Kurig Coffee Maker. It pulls 1400watts. I can turn it on - make a cup of Joe - turn it off - and will have used about 5ah DC

If you don't need that much power you might want to stay with the 1,000w and upgrade later if you need to. A general rule is that if you run small loads all of the time a larger inverter will be more wasteful as they usually draw more standby power and are more efficient inverting at the higher end of their power curve. I know that some people actually have two inverters - one for small loads and just run the big one when they need it. I may go that route as well once I have put my whole solar system thru its paces a bit longer.
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Old 10-06-2012, 04:48 PM   #8
Alwims
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What is the consensus of running a 1000 watt pure sine inverter and a 1000 watt modified sine inverter? I already own the Sunforce 1000 watt pure sine and am considering adding a 1000 watt modified sine to run some things that don't need pure sine. I'm also now running 4 6 volt batteries run in series and parallel to create 12 volts and solar to charge.
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Old 10-06-2012, 08:50 PM   #9
Sinterior
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We have a 1750 watt modified sign wave inverter, 4 6V deep cycle batteries and 2 75 watt solar panels, and have no problem running the built in vacuum, Keurig coffee maker for 2 cups, microwave for short reheating periods or Terry's curling iron or ac compressor, but 1 at a time for short periods.
I also wired an on/off switch from the inverter in the basement, to inside Monty.
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Old 10-07-2012, 02:02 AM   #10
Gkerlin
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If you already have a pure sine wave - why even bother to buy a msw of the same size? Not sure that I understand the benefit of doing that.
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Old 10-07-2012, 04:28 AM   #11
Alwims
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Gkerlin

If you already have a pure sine wave - why even bother to buy a msw of the same size? Not sure that I understand the benefit of doing that.
To run both at the same time to give me 2000 watts of ac. I would run the sensitive items on the pure sine and the not so sensitive on the modified sine. Does this make any sense or should I just learn to live with the 1000 watt pure sine?
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Old 10-07-2012, 04:37 AM   #12
7.3Ford
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Alwims

What is the consensus of running a 1000 watt pure sine inverter and a 1000 watt modified sine inverter? I already own the Sunforce 1000 watt pure sine and am considering adding a 1000 watt modified sine to run some things that don't need pure sine. I'm also now running 4 6 volt batteries run in series and parallel to create 12 volts and solar to charge.
Stay with pure signs. I just replaced my SunFore 2500 watt with 2000 watt (see tag). It only draws 800ma when not in use. The SunForce drew 8 amp without load.
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Old 10-07-2012, 05:35 AM   #13
Gkerlin
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Alwims

Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Gkerlin

If you already have a pure sine wave - why even bother to buy a msw of the same size? Not sure that I understand the benefit of doing that.
To run both at the same time to give me 2000 watts of ac. I would run the sensitive items on the pure sine and the not so sensitive on the modified sine. Does this make any sense or should I just learn to live with the 1000 watt pure sine?
Ok - I see what you are doing now.

I agree with John regarding staying with the PSW vs the MSW but I know that sometimes cost might be a limiting factor.

I think that running two, all the extra wiring etc - perhaps it might just be better to bite the bullet and go with a bigger inverter vs running two. That's just MHO.

How do you plan to wire the 2 separate ones into the coach? Are you running extension cords from the two? Will they be hard wired?

I wired my inverter into a separate sub panel. That panel powers most of the outlets in the coach, the Fridge, Microwave. I left out the real high drain items like the A/C units & water heater.

Doing it that way I have less to worry about power management, and don't have to worry about forgetting to turn off the a/c when I unplug and having it run while I'm going down the road, parked at home or whatever. Just a personal choice.
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Old 10-07-2012, 10:31 AM   #14
Alwims
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No extention cords, been there done that and not again. I'm running into a manual transfer switch hard wired. I'm running 4-0 wire from the batteries to the inverter. The 2 inverters would be mounted side by side with the 4-0 wire ran to both inverters.
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Old 10-07-2012, 10:48 AM   #15
Gkerlin
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So then the output from the inverters are going to different circuits? The MSW output is being directed to one sub panel and the PSW to another?

I'm not sure how you are wiring the output of each so that you can run them at the same time. You'll need to keep the output from the two isolated from each other otherwise you'll be out of phase between the two and make them very very unhappy.

Just my opinion - but it seems like a lot of wiring... I'd really just go for a larger PSW inverter when you can.


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Old 10-07-2012, 11:57 AM   #16
Alwims
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Gkerlin

So then the output from the inverters are going to different circuits? The MSW output is being directed to one sub panel and the PSW to another?

I'm not sure how you are wiring the output of each so that you can run them at the same time. You'll need to keep the output from the two isolated from each other otherwise you'll be out of phase between the two and make them very very unhappy.

Just my opinion - but it seems like a lot of wiring... I'd really just go for a larger PSW inverter when you can.


Correct. Wiring is no problem as I've been working with wiring all my life, but I'm over budget by about $600 after having to buy an MPPT controller. I'm just flabergasted by the small size of wire, dc and ac, that Montana put in these rigs. 6 gauge for dc, give me a break? I didn't bother to look at the ac size, but it looks like 16 gauge. I may at least replace the factory 6 with 4 gauge from the batteries to the fuse box.
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Old 10-07-2012, 02:56 PM   #17
Alwims
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jimmy2, my apologies. I didn't mean to hijack your thread. My question was on the similar subject as yours, but I certainly didn't mean to hijack your thread.
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Old 10-07-2012, 06:21 PM   #18
jimmy2
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lol that is just fine this is why i love moc when the info come it comes in buckets
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Old 10-09-2012, 03:50 AM   #19
7.3Ford
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Back from the beach (forgot my laptop). Put the Xantrex PROWatt 2000 Inverter (about $400) Pure Sine Inverter in just before we left. We travel with the inverter on and the fridge on AC, which pulls around 26 Amps from the batteries. Normally I get enough Sun on the panels while traveling to power the inverter and charge the batteries, (since fridge isn't running all the time).

Although you can run Microwave off the inverter, it will deplete your battery pretty quick. The Microwave will pull 150 to 175 amps on the battery, so we don't use it for more than a minute or two to warm up something.

The Xantrex PROWatt 2000 Inverter appears to run very well in 300-400 Watt range, with much less overhead vs the SunForce I replaced, and still has the extra watts when you need them.


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