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rayyy
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# Posted: 15 Sep 2014 06:41pm
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I have put up my solar panels and battery charging system but I am thinking about a 600 watt inverter to power up my T.V.set and it's antenna(about 300 watts)or my computer and satellite antenna (about 300-400 watts.) now it's my understanding that for sensitive electronic equipment like this I need a pure signwave inverter as opposed to a square or modified signwave inverter.What's your thoughts on this and what brand would you suggest?
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 15 Sep 2014 06:44pm
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Exeltech makes one of the very best. I had one of their 1100 watt for about 8 years in our old RV.
My second choice would be a Samlex.
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Bzzzzzt
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# Posted: 15 Sep 2014 10:29pm
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I've been considering this issue of late. I think I have thought up a way to purchase a cheaper inverter and still not mess up electronics.
APC UPS systems clean up power as well as provide a battery backup for a few minutes. You can get a small UPS like this one
http://www.amazon.com/APC-BE750G-Saving-Battery-Back-UPS/dp/B000Z80ICM
and plug your electronics into it. I don't know enough about the modified sine wave to know if this will work, but I think it may be worth a try.
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razmichael
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# Posted: 15 Sep 2014 10:54pm - Edited by: razmichael
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Quoting: Bzzzzzt APC UPS systems clean up power as well as provide a battery backup for a few minutes. You can get a small UPS like this one
In general the cheap UPS systems are Offline/Standby design - they pass through the main current as is and switch to battery when a voltage drop is sensed. Next step up will be line interactive design which will add or modify the voltage based on the main power and adjust for brownout and fluctuations. This capability is now much more common in even the low to mid range but you need to check. The best ones are Online or Double conversion. With these you are always running off the battery through an inverter so the switch over during a power failure never actually needs to occur. Much like an Inverter generator - and not cheap.
Do not assume all UPS systems put out pure sine wave. For example look at APC UPS and note the tech spec "Stepped approximation to a sinewave". Same for the model linked to above.
It does point to the fact that those of us with low to mid range UPS systems run many of our devices (during power failures) on modified Sine Waves - granted not the same as using a MSW inverter full time, but most stuff will run okay on these.
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Steve961
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# Posted: 17 Sep 2014 01:10pm - Edited by: Steve961
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rayy:
The first thing I would do is to get a Kill A Watt meter, about $20 at Amazon, and determine the actual wattage of the items I was going to use. 300 watts for a TV and antenna seems a bit high to me - my 22" Samsung LCD uses just 25 watts.
If you can get your watts below 300, you could get what I consider to be the best small sine wave inverter available - the Morningstar SureSine. It has one of the highest efficiencies, and lowest standby power of any inverter in its class.
Even if you can't get your current equipment to below 300 watts, you might consider buying newer more energy efficient ones. Lower energy use will save you money in panels, batteries, and inverter. Always look to reduce your energy usage before buying your solar equipment.
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