1750 watt inverter

Canadian tire has been selling these inverters for about a year now for
about $300.00 plus tax. My question is, Has anyone
out there tried one yet? I am sure the sine wave is not the greatest. But
all I want is something reliable, to run a fridge, furnace, lights and
television on (of course not all at the same time). I know this unit will
discharge a bank of batteries
quite fast.
thanks.
rm.

 

Hi Ross just to give you some info.

I have a 400 watt unit. It is a modified sine wave unit.

Here are some interesting specs about it.

Name 175W 400W 700W

Continuous Power 150 300 500
5 Minutes 175 400 700
Surge 300 600 1000
AC Frequenvy --------60 +/- 4Hz----------
Efficency ------------ 90%------------

As can be seen in the above table what they advertise as the power rating is
not
what it actually is. Buyer beware.

Overall it is a good unit for the price but the power discrepancy is a let
down.

 

Hi there, I am also using the 400W "Eliminator". So far it has powered my
meagre electrical needs without fanfare. This laptop, cell phone, portable
DVD player, AA battery charger, razor charger. I haven't actually tried running
a pump with it though (like a refridgerator). One thing that was pointed out to
me when I was first looking: although they are marketted as a "modified sine"
wave, they are actually modified square waves. Either way, they are kinda-sine
waves, I guess the distinction is technnical, but there it is. Additionally, I
was advised that, while these will probably work well enough to power most
things, a pure sine inverter would be a wiser choice for larger draws, or
devices (like, for instance, pumps or motors) that favour a clean sine wave,
as they will run more efficiently, using less power in the long run.
HTH,
Dan.

 

Although I don't have the canadian tire brand I have a 1500 watt inverter
that runs a 10 cu ft freezer fine, but not a 16.5 cu fridge, seems the surge
is to great, as always, buy more than you need.

 

Be careful running electric motors off a cheap inverter. Most of them
use a two step squarewave which means that the harmonic content is
around 10%. These harmonics generate rotating magnetic feild components
in the motor which the rotor cannot follow and so the energy in the
harmonic components is lost as heat. If the motor is normally 85%
efficient, the thermal dissipation could almost double when running from
the inverter. Get some specifications for harmonic content of the output
waveform first. If unavailable, run away.