Inexpensive 48 Volt 2,000 watt pure sinewave inverter

[biggkidd]

Just ordered a CHEAP pure sinewave 48 volt 2,000 watt 4,000 peak watt inverter I will try and remember to report back how it works out. This is not a necessary item just a nicety. But for $126 delivered I couldn't resist. They had a make an offer and accepted my $120 offer.



www.ebay.com/itm/165396141435

[papaof2]

Good luck with that one. Best if you have a way to do measured load testing (KillAWatt with a hair dryer or heat gun) before you put it in place with a "Tested to XXXX watts" label.

I think it might be classed with the "4000 watt" Chiangi pure sine wave inverter I tested ($115.18 in January of 2021). I didn't expect more than 2000 watts (based on the price) and it could only handle 1500 watts. It overheated and shut down within a minute or so at 1650 watts (in 61F ambient temperature). I put a "1500 Watt" label on the Chiangi - its output waveform is decent up to 1300 watts or so and acceptable up to 1500 watts - our power co-op's sine wave isn't perfect, either.

I noticed this one has a time for that 4000 watt peak power: 0.1ms or 100 microseconds - not long enough that you would ever know it hit 4000 watts :-( The only "peak power" ratings I trust are those from the Outback series, such as the VFXR2812A (12 volts, 2800 watts) where they list the details like this:
Instantaneous Power (100ms) 4800VA (this is what most inverters call "Peak" and it's 1000 times longer than the inexpensive inverter.)
Surge Power (5 sec) 4500VA (this is the motor start power as it is there long enough)
Peak Power (30 min) 3200VA (when you need "just a little more power" for a short while)
Continuous Power Rating (@ 25°C) 2800VA

The VFXR2812A includes a 100+ amp charger, comes with a 5 year warranty and it's only $2000 ;-)

My inverters aren't from Outback, either. The dealer was reliablepower on eBay and I think they're now sold under the WZRELB label but they've seen backup service since 2017 so it's a reliable unit and it has a good sine wave output. My maximum load when on battery is 1350 watts, so well within the 2000 watts the inverter can deliver and with a bit of a cushion.

I have a plastic-cased, battery-powered 'scope specifically so I can check the waveform of generators and inverters. It can run for hours on a 5000mah powerbank.

Pure sine wave is important for some things - many of the 20-volt and up rechargeable tools have a "Do not charge on modified sine wave power" note in the user manual.

[biggkidd]

KillAWatt with a hair dryer or heat gun) before you put it in place with a "Tested to XXXX watts" label.

I can do that up to 1500 maybe 1800 watts.

My Aims inverters 2,000 watts can handle 6,000 surge for 20 seconds and I'd bet they carry more than their rated load. I know for a fact they can run our large microwave and the regular fridge plus deep freezer with lights & laptop all at one time. We both know that's well over 2,000 watts. Nothing but good things to say about my history with Aims inverters. I just can't afford another one right now.

[papaof2]

The "afford" part is why I have two of the reliablepower/WZRELB inverters at $280 each. This is short term backup power, not primary power for an offgrid location, although we could drop back somewhat in power usage and have solar as primary power much of the year - not a part of the original design, just a pleasant coincidence when I did the math...

[biggkidd]

Just remembered the cheapo inverter I ordered came in today. Really fast shipping. So another to do on my list. I want to get it hooked up and test it out soon. If it works as advertised I wouldn't be adverse to buying a couple spares at that price. I'm so dang tired I haven't even opened the package.

[papaof2]

I have the primary good 2000 watt pure sine wave (PSW) inverter and an identical spare. I purchased the much cheaper Chiangi PSW inverter to see how much power it could actually deliver, assuming that their "4000 watts PSW" was their calculation of (non-existent) "peak" power and that I might be lucky to get 1500 reliable watts of PSW power for that price. If you don't mind the fans running continuously at the 400 watt and higher level, the Chiangi can handle 1500 watts - although I didn't try that load for an extended period...

The original 2000 watt PSW inverters can handle a 400 watt load continuously with just occasional running of the fans (I consider a successful one hour test the equivalent of "continuous").

[techsar]

I quit the elcheapo inverters after two went out...the first one dropped voltage to 76 vac, the next failure let out the magic smoke and just quit. Bit the bullet and went with Outback Radians (8kw/48vdc) and haven't looked back. Plus, it's nice to have 240 vac available from the solar/wind/genset system.

Hope your $120 investment provides you with long service.

[biggkidd]

Running a limited test on this inverter. I have a measured 1450-1500 watt load on it. It's been running since about 1:50 and I'm attempting to let it run until 2:50. It didn't make it but 15 minutes before overheating with that load. About what I expected to be honest now I'll let it cool off and try a smaller load.


Started another test with 700 watts. Hard to find things that draw exactly this or that. lol

[biggkidd]

Okay it ran 700 watts for an hour twenty without issue I wanted to try 1,000 watts but I didn't have anything. It could only run 1500 watts about 15 minutes before overheating. It was between 80-85 in the building when testing was done. 123 volts and 59 HZ according to my kilowatt meter. It'll cover the basics if it has to gotta remember this is nothing much more than a spare for the spare...

[papaof2]

Good to have an idea of what the USEFUL load capability of any inverter is.

I have a heat gun at 550 and 1600 watts, an electric heater at 500 and 1000 watts, a "500 watt" halogen worklight at 400 watts and the better half's hair dryer with 3 heats and 3 fan speeds. Those were purchased for their intended purposes but they make a very good set of loads for testing inverters and generators from 400 to well over 4000 watts.

I know that the maximum load on the backup system's inverter during a power outage that's long enough for me to switch to backup power will not exceed 1350 watts continuous (startup of the freezer may take the total load up close to the inverter's rated 2000 watts continuous if everything else is on at the same time - fridge, central heat blower, etc, etc). The garage door openers are NOT on the transfer switch. If they're needed, I can shut the furnace blower off and run an extension cord to power one opener at a time (similar running power - 430 watts opener versus 460 watts blower - but more startup surge for the openers). (I could also run a "suicide" cord to power up the entire garage, but that has the potential to pick up something in the laundry room that wasn't turned off :-(

There's a guy who did a lot of YouTube videos on backup power of various types and his test load was a board with about a dozen porcelain light bulb sockets and enough 100 watt bulbs to fill all those sockets. Plug it in with all the bulbs screwed in and you have an instant big load or start with one bulb and keep adding to it until you reach the inverter's or generator's limit or you run out of sockets and bulbs. That's a great way to be able to test an inverter or generator in 100 watt increments - take the light board to its max, then add a known 500 or 1000 watt load and use the lightboard to up that load 100 watts at a time. The bulbs will also show you any glitches in the delivered power - if they flicker, the power isn't steady.
This link should help you waste many hours - but you might also learn something ;-)
www.youtube.com/user/knurlgnar24/videos