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Old 18-02-2017, 20:00   #1
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Best inverter charger

Yes I did look in for past posts in the search option, but didn't see the answer I'm looking for. I don't need a whole diatribe of blahh blahh blahh tht usually happens on here. I know everyone has there own opinion. Bottom line from personal experience, what do you think is the best new to the market inverter charger. I'm charging 3 8D's for a house bank and a starter battery. 51ft sailboat. I'm going to add wind and solar this year. Thanks. My old Heart Inverter Charger just took a crap.
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Old 18-02-2017, 20:02   #2
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Re: Best inverter charger

I recommend a Victron Quattro.
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Old 18-02-2017, 20:17   #3
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Re: Best inverter charger

Quote:
Originally Posted by Idylles15.5 View Post
Yes I did look in for past posts in the search option, but didn't see the answer I'm looking for. I don't need a whole diatribe of blahh blahh blahh tht usually happens on here. I know everyone has there own opinion. Bottom line from personal experience, what do you think is the best new to the market inverter charger. I'm charging 3 8D's for a house bank and a starter battery. 51ft sailboat. I'm going to add wind and solar this year. Thanks. My old Heart Inverter Charger just took a crap.


I had a xantrex die this winter and put in magnum.

http://www.magnum-dimensions.com/
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Old 18-02-2017, 20:59   #4
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Re: Best inverter charger

Victron or Mastervolt - I have great experience with Victron charger/inverters, but you will hear different opinions

You might want to consider a stand alone charger for the start battery. I use a 20A Mastervolt

Consider a by-pass circuit around the inverter from shore/genset, as everything is wired through the inverters switching diodes. If the switching diodes die, you will have no power
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Old 18-02-2017, 21:05   #5
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Re: Best inverter charger

I have a dedicated circuit breaker straight from shore power for certain outlets, so that is covered.
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Old 18-02-2017, 21:30   #6
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Re: Best inverter charger

There has been some recent threads on this subject, and the last link is from a poster with a similar question like you: What is the best inverter?
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ct-175112.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-a-169994.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...er-171654.html

For others who may not know, an 8D battery of a reputable brand is Trojan, and their 8D size is (20 hours) 230 Amp/hrs as listed here: 8D-AGM | Trojan Battery Company

For CF members to answer your question more succinctly, maybe you could clarify the equipment you would like to run (ie Wattage and type), sine or modified sine requirement, and maybe 12 or 24 Volt. But I guess it is 12 Volt as you listed an uneven number of 12 Volt batteries.

I have an older Xantrex and a new Rich, both 3000 W, both pure sine, both working very well.

As been said above, other good brands are Victron and Mastervolt, and I concur. I considered them recently. I have had in the past also an Kipoint, nearly identical to Rich, and that was the main reason I went with Rich.
I have personal and good experience with the brands I mentioned.

Regarding a separate charger for engine starting battery: I think many inverter/chargers now have 2 charge outputs: a large one for the ship’s batteries, and a small output ie, 4 or 8 amp for the starter battery.
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Old 18-02-2017, 23:20   #7
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Re: Best inverter charger

Thanks for the info. I may be wrong, but I could of sworn that a read in the past that Mastervolt had issues. Something along the line of Panda gensets. To much crap in to small a space that got really hot. Am I wrong about the Mastervolt or did they have issues in the past?
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Old 18-02-2017, 23:23   #8
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Re: Best inverter charger

The Victron looks nice, oooffaa time to break open the wallet. Who bought Heart, Xantrex? My Heart lasted a long long time. I guess they got bought or just don't exist anymore, to bad. Was a great unit. 15 years until this week.
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Old 18-02-2017, 23:47   #9
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Re: Best inverter charger

Xantrax bought heart. The older xantrax stuff was still good. The new stuff is crap

The magnums are the best for the money. Ie ms2012 or 2812. Add the bmk kit

The victrons are nice but more $$$
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Old 19-02-2017, 00:47   #10
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Re: Best inverter charger

I recommend a Victron Quattro.
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Old 19-02-2017, 00:49   #11
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Re: Best inverter charger

I did the same research a couple of years ago and decided to buy the Studer XTM 2000/12.
It is a 2000 watt inverter which can max out at 4200 watts for some minutes. Charges at 100 amps and with the optional remote is FULLY programmable.

Here in Norway all of the cell repeaters use Studer.

So far I have been very pleased with the unit.
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Old 19-02-2017, 03:52   #12
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Re: Best inverter charger

Victron, Magnum, Outback are the three brands that have a good reputation. Heart-Freedom was the leader a few decades ago but since being bought by Xantrax gone down hill in reliability.
I have a small victron inverter at nav station and for rest of boat have magnum charger/inverter, both running well for past decade.
A point not many know, Victron has lowest EFI rating in the industry, thats why I use it at nav station for laptop so wont interfere with SSB
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Old 19-02-2017, 03:57   #13
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Re: Best inverter charger

I spent many hours researching this subject and decided on a Victron MultiPlus 3000
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Old 19-02-2017, 05:55   #14
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Re: Best inverter charger

I have a Magnum MS2800 in my motorhome and it isn't a bad unit like the Xantrex units are... but it is clearly a budget restricted option when comparing to a Victron.
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Old 19-02-2017, 06:32   #15
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Re: Best inverter charger

I have a Victron and love it. The power boost is a nice extra feature.

When I installed it I took the cover off to look inside. It is assembled like a work of art.

My only complaint, when trying to program my Multiplus I could not get the the charging voltage settings to change using the DIP switches. I repeated the several step procedure a dozen times and nothing. Called tech support and they could tell me nothing beyond using the same step by step I had already tried.

Finally bought the ethernet adapter, downloaded the free control software and it worked perfectly and gave me control over a number of other features as well. I also highly recommend the remote panels for the models that can use them.
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