Small Inverters

[ChrisR]

Is there anything which generally won't run properly from a cheap inverter?

What would be the most efficient type of lighting to use with one, 2D's, straight flourescents? This is for a lockup garage so don't need a lot.

 

[NuttallsSpark]

All depends on the output the inverter is rated to. If its cheap it will be a low output and therefore only low watages appliences will be used otherwise it will be overloaded.

Just check the info that comes with the unit, or call the company who makes them and ask the technical advisors for advise..

 

[andy]

i have a fairly cheap trust 600 UPS. deliveres 480W. seems to work OK with computer and a 70W striplight

 

[plugwash]

by far the most important thing is the output waveform. there are basically 3 classes.

1: square wave, ok for loads like lighting but suffers from the big issue that its peak:rms ratio is 1:1. This means either its peak will be too low affecting electronic loads (the usual case) or its RMS will be too high affecting resistive loads.

2: "modified sinewave", simple to generate and gets the peak-rms ratio right but also has large gaps in which there is no current flow at all (which may cause problems for some designs of SMPSU

3:true sinewave, should run almost anything, unfortunately generating a true sinewave output efficiantly from DC requires complex electronics which makes true sinewave inverters expensive.

afaict pretty much anything will work on a true sinewave inverter, most stuff will work on a modified sinewave inverter (which i think most current ones are) and most stuff beyond simple heat lamps won't work on a squarewave inverter

 

[horndean]

one thing that wont run off a modified sine wave inverter is a worcester boiler, although my old radiant one will, i'm using a 1000w msw but suspect that need only 500w. also i haven't tried flouorescents but read in a lot of places that they wont either - but maybe just need a factor of 6 or 7 x ? seems from andys post. fridges as well need this amount of over cover

 

[horndean]

one thing that wont run off a modified sine wave inverter is a worcester boiler, although my old radiant one will, i'm using a 1000w msw but suspect that need only 500w. also i haven't tried flouorescents but read in a lot of places that they wont either - but maybe just need a factor of 6 or 7 x ? seems from andys post. fridges as well need this amount of over cover

 

[horndean]

one thing that wont run off a modified sine wave inverter is a worcester boiler, although my old radiant one will, i'm using a 1000 w msw but suspect that need only 500 w. also i haven't tried flouorescents but read in a lot of places that they wont either - but maybe just need a factor of 6 or 7 x ? seems from andys post. fridges as well need this amount of over cover

 

[horndean]

one thing that wont run off a modified sine wave inverter is a worcester boiler, although my old radiant one will, i'm using a 1000 w msw but probably need only 500 w. also i haven't tried fluorescents but read in a lot of places that they wont either - but maybe just need a factor of 6 or 7 x ? seems from andys post. fridges as well need this amount of over cover

 

[horndean]

one thing that wont run off a modified sine wave inverter is a worcester boiler, although my old radiant one will, i'm using a 1000 w msw but probably need only 500 w. also i haven't tried fluorescents but read in a lot of places that they wont either - but maybe just need a factor of 6 or 7 x ? seems from andys post. fridges as well need this amount of over cover

 

[horndean]

i cannot run my worcester 28cdi combi off a 1000w modified sine wabe inverter but my older radiant combi will run. also i think you need about 6 or 7 times power factor for fridges to start up. i have read somewhere that you cannot run fluorescents off them but andys' post suggests otherwise. maybe it's the 7 times power factor