New cheap effective inverter

Arminius

Well-Known Member
Oct 30, 2019
1,061
Seattle
Boat Info
Bowrider 200 Select, 2003
Engines
5.0L MPI, 260 hp w/Alpha 1 Drive
I bought a "5000 Watt" inverter for under $200 and have found it to be surprisingly effective and reliable. I am curious if anyone knows anything about their operation. Seller was "Wish" which means it comes directly from China. Advertised as "pure sine wave," it operates my electronics unlike cheap electronic switch based inverters. My primary use is emergency power for my home's natural gas furnace whose blower has high starting amperage and which has an electronic circuit board that is allergic to square wave. I was surprised when the 12 volt side was still carrying a major charge a day after I had disconnected it. Substantial, it is too light to have a transformer inside. Don't know what makes it go but, so far, it appears to be useful for boats.
5000Watts Dual LCD Display Peak Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter US/Universal plug DC 12V 24Vto AC 220V/110V Home/outing Inverter
https://www.wish.com/product/5dad87...pOnL0AaFJvlQmm78-Ah7IBoC5x0QAvD_BwE&share=web
 
Thats a big inverter!!! What size/type battery bank do you have that hooker up to? How do you recharge it?

Even the major marine/RV inverters like Xantrex, Victron and Magnum have come way down in pricing. If you are not doing a system with solar and auto gen start or other craziness, there are a lot of those type inverters available. For a few buck more you can get an onboard charger to simplify things.
 
Thats a big inverter!!! What size/type battery bank do you have that hooker up to? How do you recharge it?

Even the major marine/RV inverters like Xantrex, Victron and Magnum have come way down in pricing. If you are not doing a system with solar and auto gen start or other craziness, there are a lot of those type inverters available. For a few buck more you can get an onboard charger to simplify things.

I bought it because we have occasional power outages and I needed to warm the house and cool the refers. The furnace is a residential gas appliance and requires pure sine wave while the refer compressors have high starting amps. My noisy 2-stroke generator would do the trick but I thought the only quiet alternative was a pricey Honda inverter-generator. I throw this under the hood and bolt the provided 2 ft, 6 Ga cables to the Jeep's jumper connections. The Cherokee's got to be in the drive for ventilation but a long heavy 110v extension cord is OK. Long 12 volt jumpers are not. I can just let it idle or restart as needed. The cut-off voltage of the inverter is lower than what is recommended for best battery life though. I didn't see any of those deals you mentioned but it could be relative. This lists for $182 but you'd have to take the 5000 watts with a grain of salt, I think.
5dad871a8f3ae57aea4f9621-large.jpg
 
That charge was from a capacitor that is used to help with surge requirements. The ratings on these things is usually based on that surge ability. Sustained output is usually much lower, like ~50% for the cheaper inverters.
 
Maybe you can use the inverter to power a lifting bow cover.
 
Maybe you can use the inverter to power a lifting bow cover.
OK, this isn't very marine unless you have a live aboard. Just my 2 bits regarding keeping the house warm if you have gas in the pipes but no electricity. I understand that many Texans have heat pumps which quit heating when it gets down to freezing and then switch to resistance heat, overloading the system. What impressed me was the "pure sine wave" which used to be pricey but seems to be required for the modern furnace. You can also get 240 volts out of these inverters.
 
I've used a inverter/charger for home use for years now. The inverter/charger is plugged into a wall socket which normally provides h/h power to its two h/h plugs (acting as an extension cord of sorts). On the bottom are two large posts for Pos and Neg 12vt battery connections to which I connect two deep cycle 12vt batteries. Plugged into the unit is my homes sump pump.
If the residential power is lost, an internal switch automatically provides h/h power from the inverter using the deep cycle batteries as a power source. It will continue to provide h/h power until the batteries are depleted. I can also connect our natural gas furnace to the unit electrically (using a plug) or the freezer, fridge etc, alternating as needed. Obviously, the batteries won't last forever so you really still should have a small generator and plug the unit into it to charge up the batteries. It's got a very good bulk absorption charger so it doesn't take too long to get the batteries back up and running.
The best feature of a unit like this is that it provides replacement power seamlessly so you don't have to be present for it to work.
 
Power during an emergency should go back into the household wiring through an automatic switch disconnecting the supply. You don't want to energize power lines and electrocute an utility worker or shock him off a high ladder. I wired my gas furnace through a plug and receptacle at the utility box it was formerly hard wired into. This modification probably doesn't meet code and will have to be eliminated before the house is sold.
 
In the olden days we always had an inverter generator for emergencies. Then, our disastrous "October Storm" put us out of commission for 6 days. No problem - right? Wrong! The gas tank lasted about 12 hours, but the gas stations were out of power too, so the supply didn't last long. We ended up sucking the cars dry to keep the food from going bad.

One month later we threw out the **** inverter and had a Whole House natural gas generator installed. Best investment I ever made, and it really didn't cost that much. Now we can take the boat on vacation and if disaster strikes at home, our house is well protected.
 
Sounds great! I am a fan of natural gas and was surprised at the delivery problems Texas recently experienced. The WA Post today reports that a state official claims that the pumps that deliver the gas are electric. I can't see this being a problem outside of Texas or in the Zombie Apocalypse:
"Natural gas failures under wraps
Members of the Texas Railroad Commission .... told lawmakers that more than 99 percent of residential customers did not lose natural gas in their homes during the storm, and that transmission lines transporting natural gas to power generators performed well.
“These operators were not the problem, the oil and gas industry was the solution,” said Craddick, a Republican and one of three elected commissioners on the agency .
She added that any delays in delivering natural gas “could have been avoided had the production facilities not been shut down by power outages” — pointing the finger squarely back at power generators and ERCOT, responsible for managing power outages during emergencies."
 

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