Cheap way to get pure sine inverter?

dartmouth01 · May 9, 2016

I saw this deal pop up in my daily deals newsfeed and it came to my mind, could I potentily modify the system to work off my house batts instead of the built in batt? In my mind, all that would be required to do this would be to run some thick guage wire from the contacts in the inverter to the house batts. What do people think?

Yes, I know I could get something more rv specific, but Im definitely in the penny wise pound foolish group of people.....

dartmouth01 · May 9, 2016

Sorry I cant edit on mobile, here is the link:

http://slickdeals.net/f/8727219-1000va-600w-cyberpower-pfc-pure-sine-wave-mini-tower-ups-system-with-lcd-panel-for-104-99-free-shipping-newegg-com?p=84729923&utm_source=dealalerts&utm_medium=em-i&utm_term=18&utm_content=u1705494&utm_campaign=tu14&src=da_si_v2_14936390

oldjohnt · May 9, 2016

Dartmouth, Okay, as that unit obviously uses a battery to power an internal Inverter SURE you can use your RV house batteries instead PROVIDED they are the correct voltage and capacity and connected right with enough cable ampacity so there's no excess voltage drop.

HOWEVER 1: You of course need to correctly wire and tap into its relay and control circuitry so your house batteries power its inverter WELL DUH

HOWEVER 2: While its price is good, you may want to shop around for a regular 600 Watt PSW Inverter as its installation would be so much easier and they aren't all that expensive.

HOWEVER 3: That unit is designed to normally operate off utility power and utilize stored battery energy if power goes off for x hours,,,,but I wonder what its duty cycle is or if it can work for hours on end and reject the heat and any relays are 100% duty rated. JUST A LOT OF UNKNOWNS

While it can work if your house batteries are the right voltage it will require some time and work and re wiring (and hope you get it right) so Id check 600 watt PSW Inverters then make an informed and wise economic decision. YOUR MONEY YOUR CHOICE NOT OURS

John T

pugsly · May 9, 2016

I'm not sure what the duty cycle / service life is on an inverter like that, but I'm pretty sure it is going to be less than what you want.

Yarome · May 9, 2016

While its price is good, you may want to shop around for a regular 600 Watt PSW Inverter as its installation would be so much easier and they aren't all that expensive.

but I wonder what its duty cycle is or if it can work for hours on end and reject the heat and any relays are 100% duty rated.

I'm not sure what the duty cycle / service life is on an inverter like that, but I'm pretty sure it is going to be less than what you want.

And that would be the kicker. Battery wise, that unit uses a 12v 9ah SLA battery so using your house batteries 'might' be doable, but the inverter is only rated to run at full power for 3 minutes and minimal for 9 minutes. I can't imagine that the inverter would be over engineered in a unit like that to be able to provide continuous operation since it would be so far outside of the units performance specifications.

You didn't mention what types of loads you were wanting to power, but, as John said, a little 600watt PSW workhorse can be had quite reasonably these days.

Samlex PST series inverters are long standing, well known, no-frills workhorses that can be had for right about $190-$210 for a 600 watt unit. I have little personal experience with Kisae inverters (other than to have popped the hood on one to check out the guts), but they spec out right up there with the "big boys" and deals can be had. At the moment, someone has one of their 1000watt SW-1210 units on sell on ebay for $139 + free shipping. THAT might be a deal!

Jack Mayer brought those Kisae's to my attention. He's pretty finicky about power systems so I would certainly consider giving them a good hard look.

On edit: I probably should have said "bigger boys" in that class of inverter.

Jack Mayer · May 10, 2016

On edit: I probably should have said "bigger boys" in that class of inverter.

Yeah, well, I would not consider a 600 watt to be a "big boy".....

Both the Kisae and the Samplex wold make a good "casual" unit for smaller loads. I would not hesitate to use either, assuming they meet your load needs.

Yarome · May 10, 2016

Yeah, well, I would not consider a 600 watt to be a "big boy".....

"big boy" in the sense of playing in the same sandbox as more mainstream, reputable (aka expensive) manufacturers.

No matter what you pay, it's always nice actually getting what you're paying for. It wasn't too many moons ago a fella was showing me what a great deal he got on his inverter. $95 new for a 2000 watt PSW. Turns out though it would only surge to 2000 watts for a fraction of a second, would run continuous @ 1100w for 10 minutes, then would shut down for cooling before the unit would power back up again.

Bottom line.. there is no industry standard on how inverters are "rated" by their manufacturers. Read the specs sheet to know what you're actually paying for.