Question about inverters

raykos · Jan 24, 2009

Hi all,

Don't know if I missed any posts about members using an inverter in their barns, workshops, in the field with their tractor, etc. but, has anyone had any experience with Harbor Freight inverters? Wondering if they fall into the catagory of "ya pays yre money and ya takes yre chance"? Or, is it one of the things from HF that are OK.

One of the things I'm thinking of doing is running my pond pump using an inverter. Its a Sequence 6600 external pump, and I'm also wondering if it will run off of a modified sine wave, or do I have to spend the extra bucks to get a pure sine wave type inverter? I tried contacting the manufacturer, but haven't gotten any response.

So, any input from anyone who may have had any experience with inverters would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray

Travelover · Jan 24, 2009

Ray do a search - this topic has been extensively discussed.

Goggling Sequence 6600, I see it is 457 watts - unless you have enormous batteries, an inverter isn't practical.

tommu56 · Jan 24, 2009

here is aome light reading

TractorByNet.com - Search Results

tom

RWolf · Jan 24, 2009

Also keep in mind that a motor, any motor will initially draw considerable more power when starting up. Also the inductance of a motor will in some cases fry an inverter. If you're going that route make sure that the inverter will handle motors. Also based on Travelover's comment about power you will need a large bank of batteries charged somehow every day to power your inverter. Discounting power factor in AC current you can use Ohm's law to figure the amount of DC current your purposed inverter will need. If I can do the math right; 457/120=3.8amps X 10 (convert to 12vdc) X 90% (effiencey of inverter "general") = 51amps drawn from battery. Battery setup will need to supply this amount for the time period of running the pump. Then comes into play is how long will it need to charge to regain full charge.

Again keep in mind that I've fudged some number for simplicity. If anything they will probably be on the high side.

So I tend to agree that an inverter would not be the best choice in thes senerio.

raykos · Jan 24, 2009

DARN!!,

So much for that idea; so, I guess its on to the next, whatever the may be!

"tommu":
Could you tell me what you searched on? When I clicked on your link it said no results? Maybe its because the results are only for the person who initiated the search?

Travelover · Jan 24, 2009

raykos said:
DARN!!,

So much for that idea; so, I guess its on to the next, whatever the may be!

"tommu":
Could you tell me what you searched on? When I clicked on your link it said no results? Maybe its because the results are only for the person who initiated the search?

You have got us curious now. What are you trying to do? There may be another way to accomplish it. I mean you have guys here who mount tires with a can of ether and a match, after all.

tommu56 · Jan 24, 2009

Sure look at the top of the page for the line

"Main Index | Search | My Home | Who's Online | FAQ | Log Out | Mark All Read"

click on search another window will pop up

In the "keyword" field type "inverter".

then click on the search now at the bottom of the field

there should be about 38 threads when it comes up.

tom

raykos · Jan 24, 2009

"tommu56":
Thanks.

"Travelover":
I'm thinking about venturing into the world of "alternative energy", and from just a cursory look, it seems like one of the common themes is to capture and then store the energy in batteries. However, once this is done, if you're not using DC devices, you have to convert DC to AC and I guess one way to do this is via an inverter.

As I said, I would like to run my pond pump and maybe some landscape lights using batteries and an Inverter. The reason I thought I could do this was while looking at Inverters on the web, I'd come across advertisements like this:

"The VR1500 connects directly to your 12 Volt DC battery to provide
13 amps of 115 Volt AC current whenever and wherever you need it."

Hmmm, sounds like that should be enough wattage to drive a pump, but since I'm new to this , only one place to go to find out for sure! And from the responses I've gotten, it appears that what I'm reading about inverters is just that, advertisment.

tommu56 · Jan 24, 2009

My cabin is off grid no power available
Home Power magazine is the bible.

I have outback inverter and charge controller and 250 w in solar panels and another 250 to put in when the weather breaks and around 1800 amp hours in battery's.

grundfus well pump running on the inverter.

link to Home Power Home Power Magazine: Solar | Wind | Water | Design | Build

Backwoods Solar Electric Systems

OutBack Power / Home

tom

quick calculations 13 amps at 120v move the decimal point to the left for 12 volts 130 amps x 16 hours (night load) 2080 amp hours lots of battery

then 130amps to keep it running and more to charge battery during the day 1560 watts running plus charge wattswhat ever that should be and at 125 watts panel at about $800 each cost will add up real fast.