stealman
lake tahoe
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Joined: 08/09/2006
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I am interested in one of these for my toy hauler. I am looking for input from others. Is it working well?
I am thinking about going with 2 6v. batteries and the freedom 458 1000w. Is the 1000w. enough? I want to be able to charge my batteries pretty fast. I would like to be able to run a small flat screen tv and dvd player or a coffee maker without using the gen. I would like to be able to add solar in the future. Is this the inverter charger for me. I would also like something that is not too hard to set up. Help please.
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BluegrassBill
Woodland, Wa. USA
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Joined: 05/24/2003
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A 1000w to 1500w should run the equipment you list easily. Be advised that the Freedom 458 is a modified sine wave model and some newer electronics don't like that. They have an excellent 3 stage battery charger. I have a 2000w freedom 458, It has a 100 amp charger. I have older tv, vcr, microwave etc and it runs them fine. I also have 4 agm Batts and 100w solar. I seldom have to run my genset. It has more exercise time than use time. You may be happier with a Pure Sinewave model but they are more $$$.
Bill
Bill & Kathy Francis
95 Itasca Sunrise 29RQ,P32 454 Chevy, Banks,ECM chip.Safe-T-Plus, Bilsteins, Super Steer Bell Crank, Stewart Stage 1 Waterpump, Severe Duty Fan Clutch, OilGuard Bypass Filter, Coolant Filter. Rear Tracbar. 1-5/8" Front Swaybar.
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Scrib
Maplewood
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Joined: 05/31/2007
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If you have a microwave, the 1000w is probably too small. We used the 1,500W Freedom with 2 6V's in our TT and it was a great setup. If the microwave's not an issue, than that 1,000W will be great!
Good luck!
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stealman
lake tahoe
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How much of an issue is the mod. sine wave versus the pure sine wave? It would be nice to be able to run a computer and charge a cell phone.
I think the 1000w. has a 50 amp charger. How well will that charge two 6v. batteries?
I'm not worried about the micro, but it would be nice to run my air cond. I'm not sure how many watts it uses.
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Scrib
Maplewood
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Joined: 05/31/2007
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It might make some wavy lines across the TV screen - ours did. It wasn't bad, though. It will be fine for the computer and cell phone, although it would be more efficient to use a 12V vehicle charging cable for the cell phone (you're always better off using straight 12V, when you can). The 50 amp charger rocks; it would bring our 2 6V's back up to around 90% in 1.5 to 2 hours, using a generator. It also has some conditioning logic that keeps the batteries up-to-snuff, if you can keep your RV plugged-in all the time. There's no effective way to run the AC off an inverter; you need a generator for that.
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stealman
lake tahoe
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So it sounds like for my needs there is not much of an advantage to go more than 1000w? How bad are the lines on the tv? Does this always happen when using modified sine? Can anyone else tell me if they have this problem or not? I saw xantrex prosine inverter charges are they worth the extra $? They look quite a bit smaller. Do they do everything that the freedom series does except the difference of sine wave?
I appreciate all the help. I am trying to get an idea of what I am getting before purchasing. I would like to get the right one the first time.
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Dune Hauler
Malibu Hills
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Joined: 09/06/2008
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If you can afford it go with a real sine wave inverter,your electronics will run cooler and not make buzzing noises. I had the 458 in my last trailer it was ok, now I have the prosine no hummmmm in my microwave, stereo runs cooler, cell phone chargers don't burn my hands anymore.
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kd5drx
Mosul Iraq
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Joined: 06/02/2008
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if you are ready for it the Trace or Heart are the 1 best true sign wave inverters that i have found over the years ran them in the big trucks and worked great. Specially for the chargers. And real quite to the others make some serious noise on your audio equipment if you have any and i was running a ham radio and it would really show up on certain freq. as bad noise levels. the trace and heart never did but like they say they are pricey but good.
1992 Ford F350 7.3 diesel Hypermax Turbo 5 speed,2008 Raptor 3712TS, His 1997 Road King Custom Hers 2004 Heritage Classic custom. And don't forget Chooch the scooter pooch
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nny12972
NY
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Joined: 10/25/2006
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No reason the 1000W shouldn't handle everything but the A/C---even the microwave by itself. Your battery bank is your weak link.
FWIW: I use the P-D 9160 w/Xantrex 400 in the TT, and P-D 9180 w/Xantrex 2000 in the TH for charging/inverting ...nothing better.....YES---pure sine wave makes a difference----if you're gonna' bother running a tv or PC, the interference will drive you up the wall after a short while........(some mod-sine-waves will do OK for laptops.)
But, you'll need more than two batteries to ever do the A/C or the microwave on a regular basis(I'd never run sensitive electronics off a genset)......I get 15-20 minutes of 1,100W A/C each nite to knock down the temp/RH without running down my four Trojan L-16s much, but they're more than four times what you have for battery.....and they're kept topped off with solar almost immediately.
(Are the Trojans/solar worth the $$$ ? My L-16s are 11 years old and still ticking about 85%..... T-105s are 5 years old and still nearly 100%........I keep them up w/ solar when using the Ts----and on the P-Ds at home. My total battery/solar/inverter investment to date works out to about $275/year over 11 years on the TT and 5 years on the TH. I know guys who spend more than that on just gas for the genset each year, and a few others who spend almost that much on batteries they don't take care of!)
J
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stealman
lake tahoe
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Well the prosines are expensive. How about this, a smart charger and a 400w or so pure sine inverter? What would you recommend for these items and will it save me money? I am ok using the generator for the micro, coffee pot and air cond. I guess all I really want to run off inverter is the tv, dvd, computer.
But I would still like something that I could add some solar panels to in the future and I want a good charger.
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