Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter

Mike & Molly · 02-19-2014, 03:08 PM

Planning on installing a 2,000 to 3,000 watt pure sine wave power inverter this spring in our 2013 3010DS. Any suggestions as to ample wattage and better brand names. Costs ETC:
Thanks

garbonz · 02-19-2014, 03:34 PM

LOTS of new ones out there, at good prices, but havn't a clue which ones are best. Xantrex are surely good, but not the cheapest. Hope someone chimes in...

jimdaway · 02-24-2014, 02:32 PM

I bought a 3000W modified sine unit. All I'm really looking to do is to brew a couple cups of coffee from time to time in our single-cup Keurig machine when we're boondocking without having to fire up the genny.

I tried it over the weekend (solid battery clamps and 1/0 welding wire) but the unit tripped on low input voltage. My clamp-on DC meter said I was drawing ~130A when the coffee maker was heating the water and my voltmeter showed that the batteries dropped from 13.9V to 10.9V.

I bailed on the test right away as I didn't want to kill my cells. I'm hoping that because the unit has been in storage all winter that the batteries are low on charge.

Let us know what you decide on.

Happy Vibe · 02-24-2014, 03:24 PM

Just remember to drop 3 volts at 130A you only need 23 miliohms (0.023 ohms) of resistance. Deep cycle batteries are good at giving low current for an extended time, but they are not good at High current. The internal resistance of the battery is probably giving you the 3 volt drop.

**Herk7769** · 02-24-2014, 03:33 PM

Speaking as someone who had a 2400 watt inverter and downsized to a 1000 watt inverter. 1000 watts is plenty for TV and charging the phones/computer.

Even with two batteries (150AH total) and the 2400 watt inverter, the coffee maker was too much as it sucked my batteries dead before coffee was made in the morning.

Save the batteries for entertainment/lights/heat and use the cowboy coffeepot and gas stove for making your coffee.

jimdaway · 02-24-2014, 03:44 PM

That seems to be what my tests are telling me as well. I figured the single-cup brewing machine from Keurig would be perfect but even the 3 minutes of 1450 watts it demands to heat each cup sends my batteries into a downward spiral very quickly.

Thanks for the feedback!

**Herk7769** · 02-24-2014, 03:48 PM

I carry a Tassimo coffee maker for when we have electric (or the generator is running) but when on batteries (quiet hours) we use the Blue Ceramic coffee pot on the stove. I GOTTA have my Joe!

jimdaway · 02-24-2014, 03:58 PM

Absolutely agree on the java!! That's a must-have.

We love the single-cup Keurig system and think it'd be ideal for a quick cuppa when we're travelling. I came across this little beast and wonder what it'd be like? We still have to boil the H2O but that can be via the stove

Cafejo Hand Press with K-Cup Pod and Ground Coffee Adaptors

garbonz · 02-24-2014, 04:34 PM

Thanks for the link. I'm gonna keep one of these in the campers for when drydocked..

**Herk7769** · 02-24-2014, 05:21 PM

Now THAT is cool! We switched to the Keurig at the house, but I still have a ton of Discs for the Tassimo. When they are gone we will get a smaller K-cup unit for the camper.

I discovered that they make Cappuccino and Mocha for the Keurig now so the push to keep the Tassimo for that is going away.

Grove Square Cappuccino, French Vanilla, 24-Count Single Serve Cup for Keurig K-Cup Brewers: Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

jimdaway · 02-25-2014, 06:54 AM

I picked up one of the Cafejo units last night on the way home from work.

Of course, we ran a couple of cups through it (for testing purposes only!!) and it worked great in initial tests. We use both the older style solid plastic k-cup packets as well as the newer, more environmentally friendly filter-bag style pods.

The solid plastic cups worked very well and the coffee was as good as if brewed in our regular machine. The filter-only style k-cup gave us a minor issue in getting the unit to "close" because the rim is slightly thicker but once we did close it up, the coffee was just as good.

The unit brews a great 10oz cup without any issues. This should be perfect for those times in our 3050S when we don't have shore power and don't want to start the genny to brew a couple of cups of coffee. We can boil the water on the stove and press-brew!

**Herk7769** · 02-25-2014, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimdaway

I picked up one of the Cafejo units last night on the way home from work.

Of course, we ran a couple of cups through it (for testing purposes only!!) and it worked great in initial tests. We use both the older style solid plastic k-cup packets as well as the newer, more environmentally friendly filter-bag style pods.

The solid plastic cups worked very well and the coffee was as good as if brewed in our regular machine. The filter-only style k-cup gave us a minor issue in getting the unit to "close" because the rim is slightly thicker but once we did close it up, the coffee was just as good.

The unit brews a great 10oz cup without any issues. This should be perfect for those times in our 3050S when we don't have shore power and don't want to start the genny to brew a couple of cups of coffee. We can boil the water on the stove and press-brew!

AWESOME. If you want, I can copy your post to the "Product Review Forum, or you can post a thread there yourself!

Appologies to Mike and Molly for hijacking this thread from your Inverter question to coffee makers. Did your initial question get answered?

jimdaway · 02-25-2014, 07:56 AM

Too true, Herk. Sorry for the hi-jack! I'll head over there now and post this!

Anyway, back to the inverters. The only other item I can see that we'd like to power is the over-cap large TV for those rare times when we're stuck inside and might want to watch TV or a movie. For that, I'd need a pure sine unit and I'm paranoid about killing my batteries.

So, bottom line for us is that we're going to shelve the inverter plans for just now.

Mike & Dolly, let us all know how things pan out!

**Herk7769** · 02-25-2014, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimdaway

Too true, Herk. Sorry for the hi-jack! I'll head over there now and post this!

Anyway, back to the inverters. The only other item I can see that we'd like to power is the over-cap large TV for those rare times when we're stuck inside and might want to watch TV or a movie. For that, I'd need a pure sine unit and I'm paranoid about killing my batteries.

So, bottom line for us is that we're going to shelve the inverter plans for just now.

Mike & Dolly, let us all know how things pan out!

I had intended to buy a pure sine unit when my 2400 failed (my fault not the inverter), but everything including the big screen works just great with the cheaper modified sine unit. I just got a 1000 watt modified sine unit instead.

In case you want to know how I fried my inverter, I tried to use the same duplex outlet for inverter and shore power using a 3 wire w/ground Romex wire run from the inverter and shore power (Black for shower power and red for inverter power and a shared common white).

Turned out to be a bad idea as I fried the digital power meter. After I corrected the "dual use dumb idea" and used a duplex for each, the inverter "seemed" to work fine though the inverter display was inoperative.

While not quite sure why (without the internals of the inverter I am not sure what blew and the manufacturer declined to quote a repair cost), I decided to replace it to be safe.

So now, I have an duplex outlet that is inverter powered and an outlet that is Shore powered. I have a surge strip that I move back and forth as required to power my electronics and chargers.

jimdaway · 02-25-2014, 08:56 AM

Great setup, Herk. So a modified sine unit will run your boob-tube?

Our MH came with a 37" LCD flatscreen in cabinets built into the OH bunk area. I wonder if it would power that without making the magic smoke come out?

KMP44 · 02-25-2014, 09:03 AM

[QUOTE=Herk7769;549158]I had intended to buy a pure sine unit when my 2400 failed (my fault not the inverter), but everything including the big screen works just great with the cheaper modified sine unit. I just got a 1000 watt modified sine unit instead.

[QUOTE]

Glad to hear you are happy with the modified sine wave - I got a super deal on one and am waiting for the weather to improve to install it. I had good luck with a little 400W modified sine wave inverter, but never tried the tv on it. Price difference was too much to ignore.

BTW - That 1500KW inverter should run the coffee pot??

**Herk7769** · 02-25-2014, 09:12 AM

No discussion would be complete with out a talk on inverters and batteries.
Just posted here http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...tml#post549183

I drew that up while I was shopping to replace my 2400 watt unit (in photo) that I fried. I had planned on a 1500 watt unit to handle my Tassimo, but when I ran the numbers I would have had to add about 500 pounds of batteries to my camper. That would mean I would have to leave my wife and all her stuff behind to do it.

So, I now have a 1000 watt modified sine inverter that works great with my two OEM 70AH batteries (DeKa DC-24s) for 140 AH total.

Forget making coffee on inverter.

As to the TV, you can only try it. My Toshiba works just fine.

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