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12 Volt DC to 120 Volt AC Power Inverters
Modified Sine Wave Filtered Power Inverters for all occasions. Turns your vehicle's 12-volt DC power into 120-volt AC household power or run your appliances in your house on portable Power Generators. Add them to a jump pack or booster pack and carry the power with you.
Unit’s features include:
- Powerful high-speed cooling fan
- Modified sine wave circuitry
- Durable aluminum housing
Built-in safety features include:
- Over voltage protection
- Low battery alarm
- Under voltage protection
- Overload protection and thermal protection
- Automatically shuts down when used improperly
Power your cellular phone chargers, laptops, small color TVs or any 120-volt electrical devices. Conveniently plugs into your cigarette lighter socket or any other 12-volt power port to provide reliable AC power. Larger units can be installed permanently in the vehicle to power other larger devices. Perfect for your car, truck, boat, SUV, RV and more.
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Modified sine wave and true sine wave compared
Waveform Basics
There are basically two types of inverters on the market today: modified sine wave and sine wave. The differences between these two types of inverters are subtle but significant in the way they operate certain types of loads.
Modified sine wave A modified sine wave inverter can
adequately power most household appliances and power tools. It is more
economical, but may present certain compromises with some loads such as
microwave ovens, laser printers, clocks and cordless tool chargers. Sine wave A sine wave inverter is designed to replicate and
even improve the quality of electricity supplied by utility companies.
To operate higher-end electronic equipment, a sine wave inverter is
recommended.
What do you mean when you say a inverter produces modified sine wave output?
The AC output
waveform for many Xantrex Technology Inc. inverters is called a
quasi-sine wave or a modified sine wave (MSW). It is a stepped waveform
that is designed to have characteristics similar to the sine wave shape
of utility power. A waveform of this type is suitable for most AC
loads, including linear and switching power supplies used in electronic
equipment, transformers, and motors. The modified sine wave produced by
the inverter is designed to have RMS (root mean square) voltage of 115
volts, the same as standard household power.
What are the practical differences between modified sine wave (MSW) and true sine wave (TSW) output?
Most AC products run
fine on MSW inverters. TSW inverters are about two to three times as
expensive per watt due to having more sophisticated design and
manufacturing requirements, and more expensive components. As a
result, most people prefer to use MSW inverters if their applications
allow it. We do not guarantee that your AC
application will work with an MSW inverter, and we advise our
customers to check with the manufacturer of your AC device as to
whether or not it will run with a MSW inverter or whether you
should purchase a TSW product for your application.
Can I turn an MSW inverter into a TSW inverter?
If you have an MSW
inverter and suspect you need a TSW inverter, please note there is no
‘filter’ or ‘retrofit’ you can apply to the output of an MSW inverter
to ‘clean up the output’ or ‘turn it into TSW’.
Here are a few pointers about which kind of inverter to use:
In general, any
device that senses either voltage peaks or zero crossings could have
problems when running from MSW. Devices such as these should be run
from TSW inverters. Ham radio and CB radio operators may notice RF
noise from MSW inverters; in that case do not run the radio and the
inverter at the same time. Electronics that modulate RF (radio
frequency) signals on the AC line will not work and may be damaged. You
may notice hum or buzz in the audio of TV’s, radios and satellite
systems used with MSW inverters. Audiophiles or professionals using
sophisticated audio, remote measurement, surveillance or telemetry
equipment should use TSW.
Examples of problem
devices are motor speed controllers employing triacs, and some small
battery rechargers that do not incorporate a transformer between the
utility power and the load. To help you visualize this, if there isn’t
a ‘wall wart’ between the battery charger (or the battery in the
device) and the AC plug, don’t use MSW.
Please note two other
common problem loads, electric shavers and emergency flashlights. Both
of these items have batteries in them but connect directly into the
wall to charge, without an external transformer. Don’t use items like
these with an MSW inverter. If you do use an MSW inverter with a
transformer-less charger, your product will likely be damaged. Garage
door openers, laser printers and large strobes used in photography have
all been reported as trouble loads for MSW inverters; they either don’t
work at all or stop working entirely, so don’t take a chance – use TSW.
As a general rule,
products operating through an AC adapter will work fine from an MSW
inverter. These include laptops and cell phone chargers, video games,
camcorder and digital camera chargers. Televisions generally work
well; some VCR’s with inexpensive power supplies run poorly. Consider
switching to another brand of VCR in that case. A potential solution
for RV’ers or off-grid cottagers is to purchase our smallest TSW
inverter (such as the RS400) to run TV, VCR and audio equipment, and a
larger MSW inverter (such as the XPower 1750 Plus) for the coffee
maker, hair dryer and microwave.
Customers frequently ask us about the use of inverters for medical
equipment. Unless specifically noted in the regulatory approvals for
the product, assume that no inverter has regulatory approval
for use with medical devices or life support equipment. If you use a inverter with a medical device it’s at your own
risk; this is also stated in the warranty for the products.
Inverter Selection WorksheetThis worksheet will help you determine the inverter and battery bank required to operate your specific loads:
|
Load
(Sample) |
Qty |
Wattage
(w) |
Conversion to DC Amps
(c) |
Actual DC Amps
(a) |
Appliance Run Time
(hours – h) |
Amp Hours Consumed Between Charge Cycles |
| |
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|
w / 12 |
c X 1.1 |
|
a X h |
|
19’ TV |
1 |
100 |
8.3 |
9.1 |
4.0 |
36.4 |
|
Coffee Maker |
1 |
1000 |
83.3 |
91.7 |
0.5 |
45.9 |
|
Microwave |
1 |
1200 |
100.0 |
110 |
0.17 |
18.7 |
|
Hair Dryer |
1 |
1600 |
133.3 |
146.7 |
0.17 |
24.9 |
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3900 |
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|
Total Ah |
125.9 |
Choosing the right inverter
When
sizing your inverter, calculate the total wattage required at any one
time and choose the inverter with a slightly higher power output.
(Start up surge should be considered for compressive loads.)
Determining your battery bank requirements
1. Converting AC amps to Watts: AC amps x 120 Volts = Watts
2. Convert Watts to Actual DC amps: (Watts / 12) x 1.1 = actual DC amps
3. amp hours consumed between charge cycles:
run-time of appliance (hours) X actual DC amps = amp hours consumed
4. Number of batteries required:
(Total amp hours consumed X 2*) / amp hour rating of battery = Number of batteries required
*Since
deep cycle batteries should only be discharged to 50% total capacity,
the total amp hours consumed between charge cycles should be multiplied
by 2.
Example:
amp hours consumed between charge cycle = 126
amp hour rating of battery = 90 (Group 27)
(126X2) / 90 = 2.8
(Round up to the nearest whole number.)
Therefore, the minimum number of batteries required is three with the above values.
|
Typical Battery Amp Hour Rating |
|
Battery Size |
Amp Hour Rating |
|
Group 27 |
90 |
|
Group 31 |
105 |
|
4D |
160 |
|
8D |
220 |
|
6V Golf Cart |
225 |
Battery/Appliance Operating Times Calculator
To estimate how long a battery/appliance combination will operate together, use this handy calculator.
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