Inverter failure.

[Keeping Up]

Have you considered a separate charger and inverter? When either one packs up, the replacement cost is a lot less because you aren't having to replace the fully-working other half.

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, Detling said:

You may find the standby current on the 3000 is significantly higher than the 2000. Not an issue if you switch it on and off as required but if you leave on 24/7 you could be adding 24 amp hours to your daily load.

The CombiMaster 12/2000-100 and the CombiMaster 12/3000-100 have identical specs for power consumption so that isn't an issue.

2 hours ago, Keeping Up said:

Have you considered a separate charger and inverter? When either one packs up, the replacement cost is a lot less because you aren't having to replace the fully-working other half.

Very true

[blackrose]

13 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

1) it was 14 years old.... thats why it failed!

 

 

Is that the expected average life expectancy of an inverter? I know people with regularly used inverters which are over 20 years old. Did they just get lucky? 

 

I guess build quality is one aspect of longevity, but is there anything in the idea that the more complex electrical items become the shorter their lifespan? More components to go wrong? I guess installation conditions play a part too. Whether it's installed in a nice dry space or a damp back cabin for example.

3 hours ago, Keeping Up said:

Have you considered a separate charger and inverter? When either one packs up, the replacement cost is a lot less because you aren't having to replace the fully-working other half.

And also when one packs up you can still use the other.

[WotEver]

7 minutes ago, blackrose said:

is there anything in the idea that the more complex electrical items become the shorter their lifespan?

I think it’s just luck of the draw. I’ve had a lot of desktop computers over the last 25 years or so and some of them kept going until retirement whilst others died for one reason or another. I’ve had cheap office computers die and I’ve had multi-thousand pound workstations die. No rhyme nor reason that I’ve noticed. 
 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by WotEver
Typo

[Jen-in-Wellies]

8 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

Is that the expected average life expectancy of an inverter? I know people with regularly used inverters which are over 20 years old. Did they just get lucky? 

 

I guess build quality is one aspect of longevity, but is there anything in the idea that the more complex electrical items become the shorter their lifespan? More components to go wrong? I guess installation conditions play a part too. Whether it's installed in a nice dry space or a damp back cabin for example.

And also when one packs up you can still use the other.

Luck mostly. It's all down to probability, the posh word for luck. The design has an influence, giving an average life, but individual inverters can vary wildly from that average in their life spans. The inverter is made of lots of components. Each component typically has a higher chance of failing early in its life as any manufacturing, or design defects kill some of them, then a low probability of failing for a period of time, then an increasingly high probability of failing as the component reaches the end of its life and various ageing effects kill it off. The more components, the more the chance that a single component failing, or a combination drifting out of spec will wreck the inverter. A single bad component may kill it early. If you happen to get one in the sweet spot, then all the components age slowly and the whole thing lasts decades. One persons experience with the same make and model can be very different from another.

 

You have no influence over early life failure, but installation and usage can make a difference to ageing and long term life. As a rough guide, each ten degree C rise in temperature halves the life of an electronic component. Installing the inverter in a well ventilated area allows it to keep cool. Humidity is a problem. A boat lived on and warmed all year round will have less humidity than one mothballed for months with the inverter in a dank cupboard. Powering up and down has a stressing effect on solder joints, eventually fatiguing them to failure.

Ideal would be in a cool but dry location, powered all the time, but with few heavy long term draws for large currents.

 

This sort of stuff was part of my job for a long time, so I can bore for England on the subject if required! ?

Jen

Edited October 3, 2020 by Jen-in-Wellies

[TheBiscuits]

22 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

This sort of stuff was part of my job for a long time, so I can bore for England on the subject if required! ?

 

Don't undersell yourself Jen.  We're pretty sure you could manage this on a whole range of subjects!

 

[1agos]

12 hours ago, Keeping Up said:

Have you considered a separate charger and inverter? When either one packs up, the replacement cost is a lot less because you aren't having to replace the fully-working other half.

We have a Mastervolt combi , it went back to Holland for repair because the charger side had failed it took 8 weeks to get it back(their website states 10day turnaround). If they were separate I could of just replaced the charger easily myself and saved myself £400