Entering The SCARY WORLD of INVERTERS...

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Latitude9.5

It doesn't draw anything at idle btw.

The specification sheet says it draws 2.0 amps no-load. This looks like a good inverter/charger BTW - it was on my short list but I decided on the Outback. Around 2 amps looks like the minimum no-load draw for this size sine wave inverter. I didn't find any much lower, but several much higher.

Mark

[Alan Wheeler]

it also draws less amperage for the same appliance then the old one did.

That is because the "real" power (as in Watts) is within the sinewave. (Ummm, how to explain that??) If you draw a sine wave on a piece of paper, the voltage is the peak of that wave at any given point. the frequency is the number of those waves in a given time. Normally per second. The power, or the ability to do work, is the area of the sine wave. A pure sine wave as a greater area than a stepped sine wave. So if you know draw a wave form via a series of square steps, you will now see that there is not as much area inside that waveform. So there is more power delivered via a pure sine wave than a square sign wave. It is easy to make a circuit that will produce a square sinewave. It becomes increaingly more expensive, the more steps you want to put into that wave.
The noise comes from the leading edge corners of each step. It produces a distortion that "rings" transformers and produces the noise.

[RaptorDance]

FWIW, we replaced our Prosine Charger and 3000 Watt "modified sine" Statpower with a Pure Sine Wave Magnum 2812 with remote.

Works great, love it. Charger works great too!

So we're another Magnum Energy fan.

[Latitude9.5]

I can actually turn it off from the remote panel, then it doesn't draw anything, when you have nothing connected it will draw the 2 amps because it stil puts out a small 120 volt power to the outlets, i think they call it the "search feature" or something to that effect, but when I actually turn the inverter off (say i'm leaving the boat for a week) I don't have any load from the batts... but I could be wrong.

My old xantrax used to drive the needle crazy on the ac voltmeter as it would put out power,, then with no load, then stop, etc, etc..

[Pblais]

when you have nothing connected it will draw the 2 amps because it STOL puts out a small 120 volt power to the outlets,

It can still be on using power without putting power out. Putting power to the outlets couldn't go anywhere. It puts out no power because it has no place to go. The excess power it uses is wasted as heat. It would use that even if you had a load on it. All inverters make heat since they are not perfect.

[RaptorDance]

The Magnum turns completely off from the remote panel. I've measured zero draw from the batteries with it off.

[DaveyJones]

Originally Posted by High Cotton

PM me with that if you can, I appreciate that!

One reason I think I want an INVERTER is because the "free-standing" ice maker that I purchased at COSTCO (EXCELLANT unit, by the way!) will not produce ice running off the generator.
It works fine at my house, and works while on a tugboat (my brother's a tugboat Captain).......... so I assume I need to check the generator for 60HZ?

You might want to get a circuit tester to check your outlets. You can get one at pretty much any hardware store that has three lights on it to indicate correct or incorrect wiring.

[hellosailor]

Cotton-
"Can somebody 'splain that last stateMENT?!?" Easy, they meant an AC mains outlet, not an AC outlet on your inverter being powered by the same batteries you are charging. Or, they have a perpetual motion machine.

As to checking your genset for 60Hz in order to keep the icemaker happy...That might not be so easy. What you can do is put the genset's output on an oscilloscope display to check both the frequency and the waveform. (See what you got into now?<G>)

Plain AC mains power has a fairly simple sinousoudal waveform, aka "sine wave". Many gensets don't produce a sine wave, they often produce a square wave, or some stepped-wave that approximates a sine wave, or a range of other wave forms.

A plain resistive load like a toaster or hairdryer works pretty well on any of them. Things with motors, can be more picky. Electronics, even pickier. So even if the genset is running at exactly 60Hz, it is possible the icemaker wants to see a real sine wave, and it isn't seeing one. Easier to call the genset maker and ask, if you don't have an oscilloscope onboard.

Incidentally, even some of the Honda gensets have problems in that area, there are warnings to use the 12 volt DC they produce for charging only--not running 12V devices--because their DC isn't so clean either. (Fair's fair, their manuals say it is only suitable for battery charging on the 12V side anyway.)

Makes you yearn for kerosene lanterns and simple questions and answers, doesn't it?

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Latitude9.5

I can actually turn it off from the remote panel, then it doesn't draw anything, when you have nothing connected it will draw the 2 amps because it stil puts out a small 120 volt power to the outlets, i think they call it the "search feature" or something to that effect, but when I actually turn the inverter off (say i'm leaving the boat for a week) I don't have any load from the batts... but I could be wrong.

No, you're right. When you turn it off, it won't draw any power. The no-load draw is when it is turned on and you have no loads connected to it. Then it will draw 2A. It also has a search mode where you leave it on, but program it to ignore any "small" loads (in which the definition of "small" is user adjustable). Then it will send out pulses to test for loads and turn fully on when a load is detected. In this search mode, the current draw will be much less - probably >0.5A. Until a load is detected, where it will draw 2A plus whatever is needed for the load. The Magnum is a good unit and performs efficiently.

Mark