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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">These cheapo inverters are nothing new;
we've had to sell against them for over a decade. <br>
Its all about longevity, and how bad life might be with a several
week outage.<br>
Weight is a great, simple place to start. The quality inverters
are transformer based, and weigh much more.<br>
Which one is going to last longer do they think?<br>
Rather than totally bash the cheapos, I ask what they're going to
do with it: live full time off grid, or just play around with it
in their car. I'll sell a cheapo here and there because they make
sense for low priority, temporary power. I have one in my truck.<br>
But if they're living full time on it, the cheapos will become a
door stop (literally) after a few years.<br>
Finally, guarantees don't cover being out of power for weeks.<br>
Last nail on the coffin: they usually are only available in 12
volt.<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760</pre>
On 8/9/2013 11:58 AM, Hilton Dier III wrote:<br>
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<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">What your customers
will find is that these auto parts store inverters only reach
their nominal ratings with resistive loads. When trying to start
a motor they exhibit a fraction of their rated power - too much
reactive load. Same goes for anything with a transformer or
power supply.<br>
<br>
Also, if you take the cover off of one you will be unpleasantly
unsurprised at the construction and workmanship. I've seen one
with a "heat sink" for the transistors that was a paper thin
piece of aluminum angle. You have to think that at $300 for 2500
Watts (supposedly) they used the very cheapest discrete
components they could source.<br>
<br>
Talk them down off the ledge.<br>
<br>
Hilton<br>
<br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Hilton Dier III
Renewable Energy Design
Partner, Solar Gain LLC
453 East Hill Rd.
Middlesex, VT 05602
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