Inverter/charger revisited

[Pete]

I have a Trace 2.5KW modified sine wave inverter/charger that was installed by the previous owner. It is now 22 years old, and operates like new. For those not familiar with Trace, they were among the early brands and produced what is generally recognized as lab quality units in their time. They were bought out many years ago by one of their lesser quality competitors.

I have been waiting for the Trace to quit and give me an excuse to upgrade to a pure sine wave unit. But, I am beginning to think the Trace will outlive me, so I may pull the trigger early and offer the Trace to a boat museum as how they built them in the old days.

Thus, my interest in the current inverter market, and what those with newer inverters think, especially those currently offered in the market. Interested in your experiences, thoughts on quality, and after the sales support. I am a 12 volt boat and have been drawn to the Outback (Made in USA) 2800 vented unit, but certainly remain open to other options. I suspect that inverter technology has moved ahead rapidly in the past 20 years.

And in case you are wondering why am I looking to upgrade, this is a boat and that is what you do. I have no really good excuse.

Thanks

Pete

 

[Boatsb]

I've been selling victron for years with the fewest failures of any units out there. They have also been great for technology oriented people.

I can set up on a Wi-Fi network and control them from anywhere in the world. I can look at the condition of the systems and add solar, wind and other items as the system grows.

 

[Pete]

Scott, thanks, I will look them up on the internet.

Pete

 

[Boatsb]

Or call me.
Pm sent

 

[Scarlett]

You will be glad to hear that Outback products were designed by some of the guys who left Trace when Xantrex bought them. I agree with the Victron comment but have also had the same great results with the Outbacks. I used to tell customers when there old Heart units, which were what Xantrex is now also, failed that they could pay x dollars for another Heart or Xantrex or pay 1.5 x for an Outback and probably never have to worry about it again. The Outback charge protocols are completely different from the normal bulk, accept, float and seem to keep the batteries in great condition with very little water loss. John

 

[SEVEN]

X2 Scarlett. I have an Outback and it is a fantastic unit.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Why would you want to replace something that works? On boats, enough things break that you can spend time and money replacing things that DON'T work.

 

[Seapig100]

I installed a magnum pure sine wave. It's brand new so can't speak on the longevity, but will say I am happy so far.

 

[GJH]

I had outstanding performance and customer service from Magnum, using one of their MS4024 units for the entire time we owned the boat. We spent months living full time on moorings, and anchored out
when cruising. Thousands upon thousands of hours. Since then, they have been absorbed into another company so cannot comment on what their current customer service is. They are US owned, made, and with US customer service (so is Outback) and that's important to me.
The remote control integration with their battery monitor system as well as their automatic generator control system is really slick .

 

[Pete]

Jim, I fully agree with you and to add to the thought, in my case as proven over and over, when I disturb something the job usually turns into a bigger job than expected.

So, why would I think about this? If you come across my other post today, you will notice that I need to replace batteries, five 8D's. This is a once in 10 year event, perhaps my last, but hopefully not. It requires some real take apart activity in the engine room. But once the batteries are out, access to the inverter is beautiful, just sit there and everything is at eye level, with full access. I am convinced that to replace the inverter due to a failure would require the same take apart and battery removal. Thus, decisions, decisions, do I bet on the Trace going 32 years or do I put a new unit on while it seems easy, and risk experiencing an early life failure, or lesser quality product? To compound the situation further the Trace sits on a welded aluminum shelf attached to the starboard aft engine room bulkhead. There is no other reasonable place to locate its replacement, and the Trace is not a large unit. Add to that everything except 120 volt light dimmers work great, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, even pieces of the navigation system.

That is my story and I am sticking to it. Decided a picture was in order:



Items, from left to right one black battery box lower left, gray shelf a couple of inches above, engine room AC left with outlet center top, white unit side is Trace inverter, and finally the DC starboard panel. For dimensional reference the AC outlet elbow is 8" diameter. Long answer to a simple question.

BTW, the white fiberglass cover under the Trace belongs on the Gyro-Gale stabilizer control unit. I like to watch things work with the covers off.

Pete

 

[Boatsb]

There's no reason to not have a pure sine wave inverter.
32 years is long time for them to last.

I'd be looking at how big of a unit you need and add a little just in case.

A 120 volt Victron can take down to 90 vac and still charge.

It also can assist the shore power when it's low and you need A few more amps.

As I said I see less failures of their gear than others and they have configurable charge profiles to take care of the batteries. They support every battery in type including LiFePo and are system based for full integration.

I also believe they can be more cost effective than almost any other one.

 

[Pete]

A quick update on the inverter decision making. IMHO, there are three class leaders, in no particular order, Outback, Victron, and Magnum. These are also close in at least advertised prices. Actual pricing may vary for HOF members, as we have a member who is a Victron dealer, and Magnum has a very strictly enforced MAP contract with their resellers, not only advertised price but also selling price. Defenders selling price is just 5% under MAP. With some real internet digging I was able to get 10%. And Outback appears to be a committed user of MAP pricing, but I did not dig deep enough to make an affirmative statement on this. Reason I stopped digging quickly, and focused on Magnum is it is the only unit that fit my required dimensions, so a more informed technical decision was not an option. As an aside, if it interest you, dig into the level of today's computer controller competitive price real time modeling, used by all large merchants and offered as a service to the small business folks.

Chose a Magnum MS-2812, 2.8KW, 12 volt, 125 amp charger. Also, is an easy drop in for the inverter topology already setup on my boat. More manual switching, when choosing shore versus generator, versus inverter power. One thing I did learn was just how far inverters have come with advanced features. As an example, a common feature today is for an inverter to sync with the incoming shore power and add to the total capacity available to the boat. Pretty slick, especially for anyone with 30 amp service that handles two larger AC units on one line. Sounds like it would make that on the edge adequate power situation go away. At least in theory, since I have not tried it. But, there are features galore these days for those that like automatic things as opposed to the manual intervention folks.

That's where I landed, now all that is remaining is installation, a minor undertaking for most.

Pete

 

[Boatsb]

The supplemental power is great but finite depending on the bank for how much extra you can use.

Short term a great solution to a common problem.