wish list/recommends for inverter

[dirtclod]

Hi, hope all are well and safe. Installed lithium battery bank, installed lithium battery charger and now ready to start thinking about which inverter to purchase. Wish list so for is as follows,
2000-3000 watts
auto transfer switch
dual in and out 50amp capability
pure sine
battery charger not necessary
Any suggestions to list or recommends on inverter?

Thanks Mike

[boyscout]

Hi, hope all are well and safe. Installed lithium battery bank, installed lithium battery charger and now ready to start thinking about which inverter to purchase. Wish list so for is as follows,
2000-3000 watts
auto transfer switch
dual in and out 50amp capability
pure sine
battery charger not necessary
Any suggestions to list or recommends on inverter?

Thanks Mike

Look for posts by @DaveMatthewsBand who I believe has a very nice Magnum setup and lots of experience with it.

Victron is another brand that pops up here frequently... not sure if it's "pure sine".

[IDwanderers]

Any suggestions to list or recommends on inverter?

Thanks Mike

We really like our GoPower 3000 watt inverter/charger. Their tech support is great as well.

[dirtclod]

Thanks, will check Dave Matthews Band and GoPower. The GoPower inverter looks like it has potential, has 2 legs 50amp pass thru shore power.

[Blue Leader]

Another option is Go Power inverter/charger. It powers both legs from one unit.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

FYI on the GoPower.
I read this product review a while back and anyone looking at that inverter should take heed...

"The IC-3000 is marketed as the first inverter that will invert both legs of 50a AC service. The documentation originally indicated that both legs would work with “power sharing” feature so I purchased this unit. It turns out after repeated calling Go Power support this feature is ONLY available on hot 1. It also turns out that the controller should limit the shore power but it only limits power on hot 1. Hot 2 is pass through only but the UPS feature (prevent loss of power when shore power is lost) works on both hot 1 and hot 2. What does this mean for the average camper? You MUST rewire your breaker panel, everything you want to run in power share has to be on hot 1.

If you are staying at a location with limited power, it’s impossible to regulate the max shore power period. The manual is misleading suggesting divide the source by 1/2. I plugged in my camper to 15a shore power and I ended up melting my extension cord when hot 2 pulled more then 15a even though I had max shore power set to 10a.

If you plan to use this with a generator, you are going to run into all kinds of issues! When using the battery charger in ECO mode on my Honda EU2200i you get oscillation. I had to cut the charge rate by 50% or it will go into bulk and float mode repeatedly. With a 600a AGM battery bank this significant increases the charge time. I thought I would be able to quickly top off in the morning.

Running on generator you will also overload if you run anything on hot 2. You will also get oscillation on the AC side. I found the generator kicked in and out of ECO mode rather then maintaining a steady speed.

I also find it strange that unit has a voltage cutout, however it’s maximum is 100v. NEMA suggests no more then +/- 10%. I don’t want to be at a park with my AC or electronics running at 105v, that is brownout range and extremely hard on AC compressors. The lower voltage can cause a even higher amp draw from shore power.

The last issue is something happens when you are running in power share mode from time to time. The IC-3000 all of a sudden stops accepting shore power and only runs on the inverter. Keep your PJs on because in the middle of the night when you batteries die you may need to “cold boot” as GoPower tech support calls it. This is when you turn off AC main breakers, unplug the shore power, then disconnect the battery. Then you wait 60 seconds and start the process in reverse. When the battery is disconnected you will hear a loud click from what I am told is a relay. They man I talked to said it was normal but it seems like it’s not. The kicker is now your battery’s are completely discharged so your shore or generator will be at full blast and you need to limit your AC usage because you now have no power sharing since your batteries are dead.

Not unique to GoPower but the fans can be loud and will run just about anytime the charger is running. Suggest you install away from any areas you want to sleep. The compartment the IC is installed gets moderately hot, make sure you vent."

I recommend sticking with either Magnum or Victron.

My Magnum Hybrid 3000 watt inverter has a built in ATS (automatic transfer switch) and 125 amp charger.
(mine actually puts out 128 amps, but who's counting)
It is more robust and handles higher voltage for longer periods than the Victron but the Victron has Bluetooth functionality so you can monitor it using your smartphone. They're both high-end inverters but I went with slightly better electronics over the Bluetooth which I wouldn't use. I rarely look at any of the displays because I know I don't need to. The system just always works.
Anyway, this Magnum is the most expensive 3000 watt inverter on the market at $1700, (I paid $1900 for it 2 years ago) the Victron and GoPower both run about $1400. (less any sales going on)
Both have excellent customer service and warranties and both are pure sine wave.
Whatever brand you get, I recommend an inverter with “load balancing”.
The way this works is... say you're on shore power at a campground and you're running the microwave and roof air at the same time. If your inverter is capable of load-balancing, when your wife turns on her hair dryer (while all that other stuff is running) instead of blowing a fuse or tripping a breaker, your inverter will look for a 2nd source of power, your batteries, to supplement the shore power. I've seen this in action many times staying at various Thousand Trails resorts over the past 2 years of full-timing. There is no indication this is happening unless I happen to look at the display panel. It will say "Load Support AAC" and the number of amps it is drawing from the batteries that the shore power can't handle. The inverters with this feature cost a few hundred dollars more though. Here's a photo from the last time this happened to me. I was running the microwave, air fryer, and a convection oven at the same time. The display showed the inverter was pulling 73 amps from our batteries because the 30 amp shore power couldn't handle the entire load!



You can also change the setting on the inverter using the display panel. Say you're driveway surfing at your buddies house and he's run an extension cord to your trailer but it's from a 15 amp receptacle. Well you can adjust the setting on the inverter display panel (push in on the big knob) to 15 amps so it only pulls that much from shore power. This keeps you from tripping your buddies circuit breaker.


Sent from my iPhone 14 using Tapatalk

[dirtclod]

There is a common misconception that the GoPower inverter supplies both legs of 50 amp (at the same time) and it does NOT.

This has been proven several times and quoted directly from GP’s own tech support.

It supplies 50a to one leg or the other.

Both the Magnum and Victron do the same thing.

My Magnum Hybrid 3000 watt inverter has a built in ATS and 125 amp charger.

It is more robust and handles higher voltage for longer periods than the Victron but the Victron has Bluetooth functionality so you can monitor it using your smartphone.

My Magnum is the most expensive 3000 watt inverter on the market at $1700, the Victron is about $1400.
Both have excellent customer service and warranties and both are pure sine wave.
I recommend an inverter with “load balancing”.


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50 amps on shore power (pass thru) or while inverting? Thanks!!

[DaveMatthewsBand]

50 amps on shore power (pass thru) or while inverting? Thanks!!

Check my post above, I added more information.

[IDwanderers]

Interesting read above from DaveMatthewsBand but I am not an electrician so I can't say I really understand it all. We have had our GoPower 3000 watt inverter/charger for a year and a half. We use it boondocking (with solar and generator) and plug into shore power from 15 amp to 50. We have not had any issues at all. I suspect that may be a result of how much power you use. We dont use a lot.

[andrew]

We have a GoPower 2000 and I can confirm the info re power sharing from DMB. I was surprised to learn it only monitored Hot 1 for power also. To work around the design problem, I made a simple jumper for the cable from the panel that wires both Hot 1 and 2 to Hot one on the inverter output. All draw from the RV goes through Hot 1 and everything works for power sharing like you want it to. Jumper is only used when the power source is 30 amps or less of course. The reality in our case is we rarely use or need the feature though I am glad I have it and recommend getting an inverter with it if possible.