Inverter/Charger Recommends

[ranger58sb]

We have a ProMariner TruePower Combi inverter/charger, the 110V/12V/70A pure sine wave version (#02012). Sterling offers the same unit.

Works fine, near as I can tell.

Some cheesy bits: the remote is labelled quasi sine wave (company tech told me it'd cost them more to make two different remotes), and it really isn't perfectly programmable. There are several pre-programmed profiles to choose from, and one or two of those can work fine... but the "user programmable" setting is actually not implemented (or not available, which only becomes clearer if you ask ProMariner how to work it, or if you look at the Sterling version of the manual).

But it didn't cost an arm or a leg, and like I said, seems to work as expected. No sine wave problems with microwave, etc.

-Chris

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

We have a ProMariner TruePower Combi inverter/charger, the 110V/12V/70A pure sine wave version (#02012). Sterling offers the same unit.

How noisy does it appear to be? It was among the few units that I can find real testing reviews on and in that it was marked down a lot on electrical noise (probably still better than my 17 year old Freedom). I was considering the ProMariner/Sterling units as I've installed 2 Sterling chargers on friends boats and feel the charging settings are close enough overall and the price is good.

[sailorboy1]

The more I research the more amazed I am of just the number of units and the price range. The price range is $549-$1700+! That's just insane for units that when you get right down to it are all basically the same. I'm also amazed at the lack of tech data provided for units, don't most buyers look at this stuff?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The more I research the more amazed I am of just the number of units and the price range. The price range is $549-$1700+! That's just insane for units that when you get right down to it are all basically the same. I'm also amazed at the lack of tech data provided for units, don't most buyers look at this stuff?

Not sure if I would say they are all basically the same unless you're comparing the same brand and model at different prices from different sources.

This is an area where I firmly believe you get what you pay for. I've looked at scope printouts from different "pure sine wave" inverters and generators and there can be a huge difference. Also the better units are usually rated conservatively so you aren't pushing them to the limits all the time.

And don't forget all those bells and whistles that you can't live without.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Not sure if I would say they are all basically the same unless you're comparing the same brand and model at different prices from different sources. No I'm comparing raw specs, i.e. 120V/12V 2000W pure sine wave with 50-70A charger

This is an area where I firmly believe you get what you pay for. I've looked at scope printouts from different "pure sine wave" inverters and generators and there can be a huge difference. Also the better units are usually rated conservatively so you aren't pushing them to the limits all the time. they all are going to be better than my 17 year old modified sine wave Freedom

And don't forget all those bells and whistles that you can't live without. yes it is hard for me to miss out paying for all those fancy transfer and other features I wouldn't be using

The current direct replacement on my Freedom that doesn't appear to have changed specs at all is $1300, but hey it will use the current remote panel. This freaking semi waste of metal charges at too low a voltage and decides to go to float at 10 amps and never gets the batteries fully charged. It really pisses me off when I'm running the generator for something and my charger just decides to nap! It's also suppose to be 100A but wouldn't supply 50A at 13.8V on the generator.

I expanded my mind and search and I found an AIMS 2000W Pure Sine Wave unit with PFC 70A charger than has selectable battery battery charge settings that match what I want that has 4.5 Stars. The unit only has a selectable time feature to switch from absorption to float, but it's changeable from 1 hour to 12 hours so that's OK with me and not any different than my alternator regulator (only issue with charging longer is having to water the battery every 2 months instead of 3). I read the whole manual and don't see any issue with it. Yes it uses dip switches instead on some fancy LED display to make settings, but that's not a big deal.

The unit off Amazon with a remote panel and battery temp sensor is $738 with free shipping. It is pretty attractive to me.

Anyone reading that has experience or heard rumors on the AIMS products?

[transmitterdan]

There are many differences related to quality of the sine wave, ability to produce rated output for extended periods, efficiency and other non-nameplate specifications. Then there are differences in features such as power foldback, generator parallel operation for starting big loads and charger output current. The best ones can be paralleled to double output power.

All good vendors publish detailed specifications. If there is one with limited published specifications then I would discard it from consideration. For a quality unit expect to pay $0.50 to $0.75 per continuous output VA. The inverter/charger units that sell for $0.25 per VA should be carefully studied or avoided altogether.

[3Days_at_a_time]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The current direct replacement on my Freedom that doesn't appear to have changed specs at all is $1300, but hey it will use the current remote panel. This freaking semi waste of metal charges at too low a voltage and decides to go to float at 10 amps and never gets the batteries fully charged. It really pisses me off when I'm running the generator for something and my charger just decides to nap! It's also suppose to be 100A but wouldn't supply 50A at 13.8V on the generator.

I expanded my mind and search and I found an AIMS 2000W Pure Sine Wave unit with PFC 70A charger than has selectable battery battery charge settings that match what I want that has 4.5 Stars. The unit only has a selectable time feature to switch from absorption to float, but it's changeable from 1 hour to 12 hours so that's OK with me and not any different than my alternator regulator (only issue with charging longer is having to water the battery every 2 months instead of 3). I read the whole manual and don't see any issue with it. Yes it uses dip switches instead on some fancy LED display to make settings, but that's not a big deal.

The unit off Amazon with a remote panel and battery temp sensor is $738 with free shipping. It is pretty attractive to me.

Anyone reading that has experience or heard rumors on the AIMS products?

I have an aims 3000w marine inverter charger. We use it extensively. It works well. I had the transfer switch fail on it after a year. It was a pain to get it out and ship back because it's crazy heavy, but they repaired it free of charge. Even when the transfer switch stopped working we were still able to use it as an inverter, we just could only charge the batteries by solar, which is what we did for the most part anyways. Other than that minor problem I like it. It seems to be built well. And the technical help was good and wasn't located over seas. They repaired my system and shipped it back 3 days after receiving it. I'm not sure if the problem with the transfer switch was related to the power supplied by the marina as it was working when I left the boat but was not when I returned, possibly a power surge?

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

How noisy does it appear to be? It was among the few units that I can find real testing reviews on and in that it was marked down a lot on electrical noise (probably still better than my 17 year old Freedom). I was considering the ProMariner/Sterling units as I've installed 2 Sterling chargers on friends boats and feel the charging settings are close enough overall and the price is good.

If by electrical noise you mean interference on other units, frequencies, etc... none that I've noticed.

If you mean fan noise, I've heard it occasionally, slightly... very unobtrusive. Can't recall noticing it except when everything else in the boat and external factors (waves, wind, etc.) are all quiet. Like maybe when I start coffee and oh-dark-thirty if weather is calm outdoors.

Maybe the price is good because they think it's OK to label the remote "quasi" when it's really "pure"... because it might cost them another dollar or whatevr. Or because they aren't bright enough to mention right up front that the whole user-programmable thing is vapor ware.

But like I said earlier, it seems to work OK.

-Chris

[jbinbi]

Originally Posted by fallingeggs

Have a Victron Compact 2000 watt inverter, 80 amp charger, 120 volts. It's great. But only have had it a year, but I expect it to last 15 years plus. As my genny is just a Honda 2k, the power assist feature of the Victron is really nice; allows me to pull 3k watts for short periods. May or may not be interesting to you. Otherwise, it should easily do everything else you need. I splurged on the GX Color remote for a remote control. This also connects to my Victron solar controllers and Victron battery monitor, for a one screen solution to my entire electrical system. They also sell a cheaper remote controller if you don't need the fancy screen. Victron has great customer service and continuously updated their products firmware.


Happy to answer specific questions.

The other big names that i almost went with are MasterVolt (also has power assist) and Sterling (no power assist, but cheaper and I hear excellent quality).

Thanks for this. I just purchased, but not yet installed two victron 100/20 solar controllers for my 2 285 w panels, and am looking to replace the factory 40A cristec charger with a victron 2k inverter/charger.

Wasn't going to get the GPX color, but rather just the remote and use my phone/tablet to check in on everything. Did you consider this, and do you use the GX to just monitor or do you use it all the time? Finally, did you do the install or did you have a marine electrician do it ( i am located across the sound from you)

[cgebluewater]

This may be a good time to consider replacing your inverter/charger with high quality separate units. Over 10 years, three boats and two different inverter/charger manufactures (Freedom & Magnum), I have had to disconnect, remove and ship from remote locations, the inverter/chargers back to authorized dealers to repair the units. While away for repairs I was out both inverter capability and charging capability. If I had separate units each serving their own function I would not be out both waiting to get up and running again. With separate units you are likely to get a better quality unit of each type and if you decide to replace one do to newer technology you can do each one separately. I realize it might not give you the automatic transfer when you change to shore power or turn on your genset but to me I am happy to flip a switch in exchange for having the benefits of separating the battery charger and inverter.

Something to consider !

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by 3Days_at_a_time

I have an aims 3000w marine inverter charger. We use it extensively. It works well. I had the transfer switch fail on it after a year.

Digging a little more into the unit I find a lot of failed transfer switches. To the point that I'm starting to think the $200 savings isn't worth it. Thanks for the real life review.

[jbinbi]

Originally Posted by cgebluewater

This may be a good time to consider replacing your inverter/charger with high quality separate units. Over 10 years, three boats and two different inverter/charger manufactures (Freedom & Magnum), I have had to disconnect, remove and ship from remote locations, the inverter/chargers back to authorized dealers to repair the units. While away for repairs I was out both inverter capability and charging capability. If I had separate units each serving their own function I would not be out both waiting to get up and running again. With separate units you are likely to get a better quality unit of each type and if you decide to replace one do to newer technology you can do each one separately. I realize it might not give you the automatic transfer when you change to shore power or turn on your genset but to me I am happy to flip a switch in exchange for having the benefits of separating the battery charger and inverter.

Something to consider !

Thanks for the input, but I have my 2 year old cristec charger. It works great. If the victron inverter/charger fails, I just rewire back the cristec.

It seems the wiring is easier to add a combo unit than to add just an inverter. Possibly.

[sailorboy1]

I finally gave up and ordered a ProMainer 2000W Pure Sine combo unit. It won out due a combination of features/price/rating/charger being 70A

I was a hair away for ordering a modified wave unit again, but I tried the microwave and it again on the inverter so just decided to not screw with the issue any longer.

Thanks for inputs!

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I finally gave up and ordered a ProMainer 2000W Pure Sine combo unit. It won out due a combination of features/price/rating/charger being 70A

I was a hair away for ordering a modified wave unit again, but I tried the microwave and it again on the inverter so just decided to not screw with the issue any longer.

Thanks for inputs!

How much, if I may ask?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by skipmac

How much, if I may ask?

$1,025.40 off Amazon

I found a better (great) price on the web but the company was in SE Asia and I just wasn't going to mess with it even thought the ProMarina pure sine unit was the same as others modified.