SageCrispin
Tully, NY
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Plug the wrong thing into a modified sine wave inverter and you'll be wishing you had stayed with the Xantrex. I have one inverter, a Prosine 2.0 pure sine wave, and never think about. My cell phone, or my wife's $2000 sewing machine-its all good.
Sage
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Flyfisherman128
Broadalbin, NY
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I have two little 65 watt cigarett lighter inverters. I can run the dvd player and the flat screen off of one..I was surprised as well. I use the other as needed to run the laptop or the canopy lights or the small bedroom fan. Everything else in my rig except for the microwave and the air conditioner runs on 12 volts or gas. Even with this small drain, in three days my batteries were pretty low. So I guess the main question would be ..What are you going to do with 3,000 watts?
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mknj235
NJ
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Joined: 03/26/2008
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How are you guys connecting the converters that have to be direct wired? My battery is out front on the trailer tongue and I wanted to use one for the TV/DVD player but there is no way I can easily wire it direct. There is the standard 12V outlet near the TV platform but I read that in some cases it will not power the converters due to wiring size.
Thoughts/suggestions?
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strollin
San Martin, CA
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I use 2 inverters in my TT, a 400W and a 140W. The 400W is mounted in the entertainment center at the front of my TT with a short run of 8 gauge wire to the batts mounted on the tongue. It's mostly used for a 20" LCD TV and DVD player but is also used to charge cell phones, laptop etc... According to the Xantrx website, the inverter uses .2 amps at idle but it really doesn't matter to me since I always turn off the inverter when it's not being used. The second inverter is plugged into the 12V outlet in the BR in the rear of the TT and is used to power a 15" LCD TV and DVD player. I don't know the idle current for the smaller inverter but don't care because I always turn the inverter off when it's not being used.
My point is that the idle current of any inverter becomes a moot point as long as you only turn the inverter on when it's being used.
A more important consideration to me would be the efficiency of the oversized inverter so that you know how much of your battery power is being consumed as heat rather than powering the items plugged into it.
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jauguston
Bellingham, WA
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Sage,
Scare tactics like that post are not helpful. If you have specific information regarding what is going to be damaged and why bring it on but vague threatening posts like that are not useful.
Jim
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Deen
Vancouver, WA
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We have a 2000 watt and have 4 - 6 volt batteries. For a 3000 you should have 6 or 8 deep cycle batteries.
Deen - Vancouver, WA
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Deen
Vancouver, WA
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jauguston wrote:Sage,
Scare tactics like that post are not helpful. If you have specific information regarding what is going to be damaged and why bring it on but vague threatening posts like that are not useful.
Jim He's right though. Some items don't like MSW power and need a full sine wave. Microwave ovens, laser printers, and laptops are some that come to mind. Our microwave/convection (GE Advantium 120) works much slower on the inverter than the generator or shore power. My laptop works but the power supply gets awfully hot.
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JohnnyT
Goshen New York
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SageCrispin wrote:Plug the wrong thing into a modified sine wave inverter and you'll be wishing you had stayed with the Xantrex. I have one inverter, a Prosine 2.0 pure sine wave, and never think about. My cell phone, or my wife's $2000 sewing machine-its all good.
Sage
The Xantrex XPower Inverter 3000 inverter is a modified sine wave inverter.
There are two factors to consider when evaluating the effect of a modified sine wave.
Reduced performance and potential for damage. Here are some specifics. The reality is that Some items are susceptible to being damaged but the list is pretty limited and relate to device with certain attributes. The other reality that Some devices will not deliver optimum performance.Again the list is fairly specific...
Our motorhome is all electric we have two 2000 watt modified sinewave inverters feed by 8 house batteries. We are in our 6th season with this setup... No problems no restrictions.
mudhutbob, The only concern I would have with your set up is the space taken by an inverter larger than you require... Aside from that the No load AC Draw is less than .6 dc amps. The setup and application pretty much parallels what a lot of over the road truckers use.
One thought while you will not need the full capabilities nor have the battery power to use them the larger inverter does give you the flexibility to use higher than normal use for short periods or to extend your capabilities by adding batteries.
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wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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Well, with a 3,000 watt Xantrex you might wish to consider doubling your battery system (Going to 4 gold car batteries0
2,000 is about the max for one pair
however xantrex is fairly good at power management, the only time they really test the batteries is on start up.. If it starts.. (in inverter mode) it will likely work
But I'd consider doubling your battery capacity
By the way... If that's a 30 amp trailer you could run your mains cord direct to the inverter's AC in and run the AC out direct to the distribution panel.> It puts out close enough to 30 amps as to not matter..
NOTE that A/C (Air Conditioner) Water heater and Fridge are not battery friendly. But you got the power to run 'em
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
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SageCrispin
Tully, NY
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Quote:Scare tactics like that post are not helpful. If you have specific information regarding what is going to be damaged and why bring it on but vague threatening posts like that are not useful.
Wow, sorry.
I didn't think I was being scary or vague. I was trying to give the specific recommendation of just sticking with one pure sine wave inverter.
I didn't look it up and just assumed the 3000 was PSW. I guess that explains part of the low price. So based on that, I guess I now go with the posters that said sell it and get something else. For me, a somewhat heavy electronic user (including a laser printer), worrying about what I can plug in when I'm on the inverter or when I'm on shore power, just isn't worth it.
JMHO
Sage
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