Inverter size and brand?

[frater secessus]

You'll be happy with the Renogy 700

My only complaint about the 700w is that the minifuses are soldered into the board. I am an idiot with a soldering iron. I haven't been inside the rest of the line to see if they have user-changeable fuses.

I've never blown an inverter fuse from overcurrent but years ago at an RTR I did smoke a non-Renogy PSW by overheating it. I didn't realize that sunlight was sneaking through a gap in the cracked-open side door, landing right on the poor inverter. When I turned the inverter on (with no load) the fuse immediately popped. The case was very hot to the touch form the sun. The fuse was soldered in and it was impractical for me to replace it.

This experience changed my behavior in two ways:

• Now I only consider inverters with pullable fuses. If the fuse is not externally visible I look inside the case and make sure I have spares on hand.
• I am very careful about where sunlight lands inside the camper

 

[Walt]

For the items you listed, you don't need an expensive inverter. If that is all you plan on doing you would be fine with a used/inexpensive inverter.
If you plan on electric cooking in the future, then you should get a 2000w (at least) Pure Sine inverter so you can run a convection cooktop (safest for inside a small space).
Cooking electrically is just a MUCH bigger deal than charging small consumer electronics or even running a small refridgerator. Those are REALLY easy tasks for almost any battery. Cooking is a BIG DEAL because it requires a huge amount of power and sustained loading.

 

[Benjamin Dejo]

I find the remote switch quite useful because my charge controller often briefly exceeds 16 volts which causes the inverter to beep loudly then shut down. The Renogy comes with a very long cord.

My propane heater would cause a fault if the voltage reached 14vdc and quit operating, requiring a manual reset. That was fine at night because the solar was not charging, but during the day it was a PITA. I remedied that by changing my charge controller to a quality MPPT that allowed charging to 13.9vdc and no problems thereafter. I do run LiFePO4 batteries.

 

[hugemoth]

Old thread but I thought I'd post an update on my Renogy 1000 watt inverter. 3 months out of the 1 year warranty it failed. The power light turns on but no 110v power is produced. Looking inside I see one MOSFET popped. I'll replace the part and see if it'll work or if there are other components that have also failed.

 

[INTJohn]

My only complaint about the 700w is that the minifuses are soldered into the board. I am an idiot with a soldering iron. I haven't been inside the rest of the line to see if they have user-changeable fuses.

I've never blown an inverter fuse from overcurrent but years ago at an RTR I did smoke a non-Renogy PSW by overheating it. I didn't realize that sunlight was sneaking through a gap in the cracked-open side door, landing right on the poor inverter. When I turned the inverter on (with no load) the fuse immediately popped. The case was very hot to the touch form the sun. The fuse was soldered in and it was impractical for me to replace it.

This experience changed my behavior in two ways:

• Now I only consider inverters with pullable fuses. If the fuse is not externally visible I look inside the case and make sure I have spares on hand.
• I am very careful about where sunlight lands inside the camper

I am only responding to this to describe a similar situation I experienced and my simple solution.
I too have an inverter that has fuses soldered to the board and I inadvertently blew a fuse - how I found out they were soldered to the board. I too thawt; oh shit how do I fix this? Trying to replace a soldered to the board fuse without destroying the board?

Simple solution: I scraped the plastic off the top of the blown fuse enuff to make an opening to simply connect a new fuse ; piggy back style. Following me? Basically turning the blown fuse into a fuse holder for the new fuse.

Sayin……..
INTJohn

 

[user 37446]

Don't have this inverter yet its fairly well reviewed and certainly fairly priced. There‘s even a warehouse unit for nearly $20 less.
if I needed one I‘d have ordered it.
Up to you to see if it has much of a no load draw, serviceable fuzes and the like. (Oh and the BT remote is being criticized by reviewers.)

https://www.amazon.com/kinverch-Inv...mzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840
$179 new, $154 warehouse

 

[FlipperFla]

Don't have this inverter yet its fairly well reviewed and certainly fairly priced. There‘s even a warehouse unit for nearly $20 less.
if I needed one I‘d have ordered it.
Up to you to see if it has much of a no load draw, serviceable fuzes and the like. (Oh and the BT remote is being criticized by reviewers.)

https://www.amazon.com/kinverch-Inv...mzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840
$179 new, $154 warehouse

9% on 1 star rating on Amazon. That pretty bad IMO. Read some I think you will think twice. POS

 

[user 37446]

Ahh, Amazon ratings… I usually dump the 5 and the 1 stars. Too many fake reviews and possible fakery from competitors. Sure there are valid 1’s and 5’s, I just find the 2,3,4’s better to look at.

A good 1500 PSW has rarely been found at that price, yet something is happening with solar panels and lithium battery boxes. The ravages of inflation don’t seem to be affecting these areas much. In fact, the same 1460 ish ah lifepo battery box I bought on sale 14 months ago for nearly $1,200 is now $899. Totally opposite what’s been happening in the rest of the economy.

I’d still be willing to try one if needed but my battery box has an 1800 watt psw inverter built in.

Maybe someone will try one and report in. All I am doing is seeing some things that may be of use.

Always good to be careful though.

 

[user 37446]

Maybe check out this guy: DIY Sustainable Living” on YT, he posted a 1 year review of a cheaper psw. He also links to a $156 1500 watt unit.

If a person is unsure, maybe try the 2 year electronic warranty for a whopping $18.99. I’ve used the warranty once and the rep on the phone asked for a description of the problem then credited me back the full price, not even wanting the item back. (Electric pressure washer).

Probably would have cost them too much to return but still, it was almost too easy to get a full refund almost a year later.

 

[Cajunwolf]

I like Gaindel and have a 24volt 4000 watt unit that has served me well so far 2-years in. It runs off of a 24volt 400 ah battery bank. 2000 watts of solar for charging. Gaindel has a nice 2200 watt 12volt unit that's nice.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D1LRKY5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Happy Camper]

Just agreed to sell a new 1500msw inverter tomorrow for a fraction of that. The deals are out there.

 

[bebewanna]

I bought a refurbished Cobra 500 watt inverter for like $45 on Ebay. I only needed the larger one for my oxygen concentrator battery charging and to run the asthma nebulizer I need to stay alive . I have now 5, 100 watt aluminum frame solar panels and plenty of power thanks to the blazing NM sun.

The inverter works great.

 

[user 37446]

I know theres a lot of discussion over msw vs psw inverters.

Many years ago (8 ish) a YT channel (“Knurlgnar24”, title was “pure sine wave vs modified sine -microwave test”) looked at the noise, cook time etc and while the results definitely favored using psw, it seemed msw would still work.

if you have “delicate” electronics, don’t risk it though.

Oh and one of our own members, MikeRuth had a thread for MSW vs PSW inverters back in 2019.