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Rickent

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Any one had any experience with these inverters ?. 1500w modified sine wave from Go Outdoors, thought it might be better than a chinese jobby off ebay but the first one stopped working after a couple of days and the replacement went pop tonight as we headed out for a couple of days. First time it had been plugged in.

20180803_194737.jpg

Edited by Rickent
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Not that exact model but it looks to be the generic Chinese model.  Some work, others.......

Have you any idea what went wrong? They will normally not fail due to overloading, the protection kicks in, same with overheating.

Biggest failure mode is when they get land line mains poked into them, they don't like it up 'em.

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I gathered it must be a generic model but might be slightly better than the ones off ebay as it is being sold by a big retail outlet.

Turned it on as we left tonight and within 300 yards heard a popping sound and the red fault light was on.

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Mmmm, full refund and find another supplier methinks.

I know I will get piloried for this but Sterling sell lots, and back them up with good service, you should get far better from them, even on line. Not crazy costly either.

Are you aware of anything you have done that could cause the failures? Wrong battery voltage, bad connections to the batteries? Did it blow the fuse in the battery lead?

Popping would suggest that the mosfets have failed in sequence, nasty smell or smoke?

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1 hour ago, Boater Sam said:

Mmmm, full refund and find another supplier methinks.

I know I will get piloried for this but Sterling sell lots, and back them up with good service, you should get far better from them, even on line. Not crazy costly either.

Are you aware of anything you have done that could cause the failures? Wrong battery voltage, bad connections to the batteries? Did it blow the fuse in the battery lead?

Popping would suggest that the mosfets have failed in sequence, nasty smell or smoke?

Taking it back tomorrow, full refund and look for something better.

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25 minutes ago, Rickent said:

Just the fridge. 

The compressor motor won’t be keen on modified sine wave and will run hotter and have a shorter life. As others have said, pure sine wave is the only way to go these days. 

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14 minutes ago, WotEver said:

The compressor motor won’t be keen on modified sine wave and will run hotter and have a shorter life. As others have said, pure sine wave is the only way to go these days. 

My Cheapo Argos Freezer seems quite happy running on my 1800w Sterling Quasi Sine Wave

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Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

My Cheapo Argos Freezer seems quite happy running on my 1800w Sterling Quasi Sine Wave

Betcha the motor is hotter than your neighbour who’s running his on PSW.

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FWIW - there's all sorts of Quasi sine wave kit around. There were some photos of one model - on here I think - with a waveform that looked like the shard (just a spike with a slight shoulder (useless), better quality ones look like a tapered office block - better but not perfect. I reckon the cheaper variety  produce an output like the first example. You've no way of knowing (until it's too late)...

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15 hours ago, Rickent said:

Any one had any experience with these inverters ?. 1500w modified sine wave from Go Outdoors, thought it might be better than a chinese jobby off ebay but the first one stopped working after a couple of days and the replacement went pop tonight as we headed out for a couple of days. First time it had been plugged in.

20180803_194737.jpg

Top quality inverters such as Mastervolt or secondly Victron are the way to go. Yes they are much more expensive but they are much much better. I keep my eye out on the small ads as it were and have bought and used several second hand ones over the years. For instance a Mastervolt 1200 bought off Gumtree for 80 quid with 50 quid delivery from Scotland it worked faultlessly for the three years I owned that boat and was still perfect when I sold the boat. Last year I bought and have as a spare a Victron combi 2000 watt with 60? amp charger brand new in the box with bill of sale a chap had bought, same old tale fitting a boat out that never happened and he needed shut of it so I made a silly bid to him on gumtree of 300 quid and bought it. I sold a forum member another mastervolt brand new in box I acquired that was ideal for him at 500 watts. They are out there and even if you go for secondhand the quality stands them in good stead. edit to add just looked on gumtree and a bloke is selling a new victron 1200 watter for 395 quid but they always take less so at 300 quid? its way better than any cheapy jobby and if you keep checking you will get one for less.

Edited by mrsmelly
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The problem is once you factor in the cost of the inverter, that 240V fridge doesn't look brilliant value compared to a 12V fridge. And I also wonder if the telly has a "power brick" which converts 240V to............12V. If not, then other TVs do, indeed you can buy a 12V TV. 

 

I know it doesn't answer the question posed but what happens if the replacement inverter "blows up" again? What happens if it blows up just after you leave the boat, etc; and how long (in days) would it take before you could get another replacement inverted etc etc

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If you're looking for something affordable but reasonably reliable, perhaps go middle of the road. I had a 1800w MSW Sterling inverter that was over 15 years old until I accidentally killed it. I replaced it with a PSW Sterling 1600w inverter. (SIB121600)

 

https://www.ebcmarine.com/sterling/sterling-pure-sine-inverters/sterling-1600w-pure-sine-inverter-sib121600-12v-dc-to-230-vac

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45 minutes ago, Paul C said:

The problem is once you factor in the cost of the inverter, that 240V fridge doesn't look brilliant value compared to a 12V fridge. And I also wonder if the telly has a "power brick" which converts 240V to............12V. If not, then other TVs do, indeed you can buy a 12V TV. 

 

I know it doesn't answer the question posed but what happens if the replacement inverter "blows up" again? What happens if it blows up just after you leave the boat, etc; and how long (in days) would it take before you could get another replacement inverted etc etc

A good quality inverter is great as it means all stuff onboard can be mains/domestic there fore readily available and much cheaper than 12 volt kit and the range/size/quality of fridges alone is immeasurably better. My Inverter is on 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year and draws next to nowt when not actualy powering anything. We have mains telly again cheap and millions for sale in millions of locations and other kit all of which always work due to the quality of the inverter. Once purchased the quality inverter makes life much better and simpler all round unless your name is Fred and Wilma or Barney and betty. Of course not so important if a hobby boater but as a full time liveaboard they make life much easier and better.

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5 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Once purchased the quality inverter makes life much better and simpler all round unless your name is Fred and Wilma or Barney and betty

Wot about Pebbles and Bamm_bamm! 

Edited by rusty69
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