inverters

[Jon]

Can someone enlighten me regarding inverters? I am in southern cal and we are used to having a generator on the boat but I noticed most of the pacific northwest boats use inverters instead of generators. Why? Its about a $15k option that maybe I don't need??

Thanks,

Jon

 

[BobR]

Speaking of inverters, my 31 sedan scheduled for delivery in April has a ProSine inverter. A number of electtric gizmos like my Nespresso machine don't like modified sine wave inverters. The mirco processor gets upset at the square waves it seems. Has anyone swapped the inverter for a pure sine wave version? More money of course but no hassles with most modern non resistive devices.

 

[River Bank]

I just starting out new to boating last year so take this for what it might be worth.

I decided on an inverter and purchased a Promariner 1500 Modified Sine-wave inverter, close to $500 and it wouldn't run my small 700 watt microwave. Disappointing to say the least.

So I ended up scrapping this shiny new inverter and purchased a Xantrex 2000 Prowatt full sine-wave inverter from Marine West for under $400. Great price and a great inverter!

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=50550

I have it hooked up in the "Cave" back wall and use the teak lid to the cave to hold my microwave, coffee maker, toaster and ice-maker. All strapped down securely to the lid while underway.

I have no need to run any of these units at the same time, so I always stay well below the 2000 watt limit. I have a short power bar plugged into the inverter and up top to the teak lid to the cave where I have all my appliances.

I don't need inverter power to the entire boat just that one outlet. Keeps it simple and inexpensive.

Your boat may have different requirements, but the above works out perfectly for me.

I don't need all the power that a noisey and pricey generator produces and being in the PNW we really don't need an air-conditioner, we just open the window or a hatch.

Bob

 

[NewMoon]

Hi Jon,

We're primarily PNW cruisers, and don't have air conditioning or other equipment that eats up large amounts of 110V current for any length of time (but we do need to be careful not to have the electric part of the water heater turned on when the inverter is turned on). We decided to go with an inverter/charger, a very tidy setup.

For us, the main reason to have a generator would be so that we could stay at anchor, or tied up without shore power, for more than ~3 days at a time without running out of juice. Our house bank is only two g31 batts, so we generally can't go without some recharging more than 3 days. A bigger house bank could add days, but we don't have the space for it.

With our cruising habits, adding a generator did not seem worth the cost and complexity. We're also happy to do without the noise at anchor.

 

[Newtugnut]

Ideally, true sine wave inverter/charger conn to an outlets only.
With the charger portion able to bulk charge at 25% of the a-hr rate

Consider products from Magnum in WA

I have a lot more to say on this subject includ gen sets

Please feel free to email if more info neede

 

[knotflying]

Can someone enlighten me regarding inverters? I am in southern cal and we are used to having a generator on the boat but I noticed most of the pacific northwest boats use inverters instead of generators. Why? Its about a $15k option that maybe I don't need??

Thanks,

Jon

The inverter converts you 12 volt DC to 110 AC. However, you can imagine the draw requirement on your batteries. When using the inverter all large amp draw items must be turned off. Such as the Air conditioner, water heater and battery charger because you will not only drain the batteries quickly, but you will most likely burn out the inverter. We rarely use the inverter except when under way to use the microwave to warm something up. The generator will give you 110 volts without the need to use the inverter and then you can use the high amp items, but depending on how big the generator is you may only be able to use one at a time.

For our use, we have the solar panel and carry a Honda 2000 generator. And quite frankly I have used the Honda only 3 times in 3 years. We plug our computers and such into the cigarette lighter inverters and use them to also charge up phones etc. So hopefully this explains the difference between using the inverter and using a generator. A lot of times it all comes down to personal choice.

 

[Tugbuyer]

BobR -
On our 2011 R-29, I just replaced the original ProMariner Modified ("Quasi") Sine Wave Inverter (TruPower Combi 2500 QS) with the same brand TruPower Combi 2000 PS (Pure Sine Wave) version. These are both combination inverter/charger units. The 2500 QS unit was working as intended, however we have a full complement of installed electronic gizmos and as others have mentioned, it just wasn't doing the job with certain ones (Nespresso machine, etc.). The PS model is the same physical size/package and installation configuration, so it was a simple plug & play swap. The PS model is slightly less powerful (2000W vs. 2500W) but its charger is more powerful (70a vs. 50a), so there's a bit of tradeoff. It was a pricy upgrade, but so far, seems to work great with all installed electronics & appliances. I'm hoping to sell the used 2500 QS unit to help offset upgrade cost (around $900). I'll post if any issues arise.

Dan K (Tugbuyer)