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Small inverter *&^%$#


jjrbus

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I have been dragging a cheap  700 watt inverter around for 15 years and do not remember ever using it.  After having my final wireing hookup wihich should have took a couple hours dragged out for 3 days and numerous trips to different stores for terminal ends, i finally got er done!

The terminals are properly crimped,and shrink wrapped, the wires are the right size. I threw the switches and no smoke, no sparks, no tripped breakers, the battery did not blow up, the transformer at the street is still intact and life is good. The inverter is inverting the converter is converting, the battery is being charged.

I don't think about it but the fan on the inverter is running,  I go out this morning and the fan is still running. Loud, noisy and obnoxious, how can something that small make that much noise. The little piece of poop has a continuous fan in it.:o

Any recommendations on a 700 to 1000 watt inverter that does not have a continuous fan running?      Jim

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33 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

 

Any recommendations on a 700 to 1000 watt inverter that does not have a continuous fan running?      Jim

Cheap inverters leave out the thermal switch and the fans run all the time.  That fan noise drives me nuts.  An 800-1200 watt inverter with a thermally controlled fan will virtually never come on unless you are using it at near max load.   AIMs is a good choice and give you the option of with, or without the thermally-controlled fan. Like this.  

http://www.theinverterstore.com/1250-watt-power-inverter-12-volt.html

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I picked up this PowerTech recently. Haven't done much more that hook it up and verify that it does indeed work. Fan doesn't run continuously.

Nice that it includes battery cables, though I needed to mount it further away from the battery, so I ended up grabbing some 2 gauge / 6ft ones from Harbor Freight.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0131L8NLM

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Thanks for the responses,   For the little I will do I think 800 watts is the most I should ever need and can get along without the PSW.  At the most I will run a TV, the fridge, and make some coffee, anything big I will run the little genset.

Now I recall a discussion on small inverters and the AIMS was well liked,   So I will order an 800 watt one off Amazon and hope it shows up in time.  I do not see any with quick delivery. 

I guess I can take my trip with the one I have, I will dry camp at rock concerts in RR yards and next to runways, that should cover the noise of the fan:ph34r:   Jim

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11 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

guess I can take my trip with the one I have, I will dry camp at rock concerts in RR yards and next to runways,

While reading this I thought, that sounds like a cool trip.  Till I figured out what you meant.

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29 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

I guess I can take my trip with the one I have, I will dry camp at rock concerts in RR yards and next to runways, that should cover the noise of the fan:ph34r:   Jim

You could always disconnect the fan, it'll probably last a while... probably. :D

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6 minutes ago, Kale said:

You could always disconnect the fan, it'll probably last a while... probably. :D

For the next hair-brained idea...

For what it's worth, I picked up a 2000W inverter. Probably won't need that much, ever, but figured I'd rather be safe than sorry down the road. Couldn't tell ya if the fan is on all the time tho. I only hooked it up to see if it functioned and then shut it back off.

Edited by cdt5058
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3 minutes ago, Kale said:

You could always disconnect the fan, it'll probably last a while... probably. :D

I"m not an electronics guy, I have cartoon like visions of taking the last screw out and things flying all over the room :huh:

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53 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

I"m not an electronics guy, I have cartoon like visions of taking the last screw out and things flying all over the room :huh:

Just snip the blue wire....

 

No, I mean the yellow one.

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ITS ALWAYS the RED wire.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The new inverter arrived and I managed to get it installed.  Seems ok, time will tell.      I am surprised by the size of the new one, about half the size of the old one!

 

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  • 1 month later...

That 800 watt AIMs sounds defective to me.  But - I have no idea what sort of load you are running. I also have no idea how much these things change, over time.  I have four AIMs inverters.  Two modified-wave, 1500 and 2000 watts.  Also a 700 and a 2000 watt so-called "pure sine wave."  All have thermally controlled fans and I've yet to ever have any of them come on when being used.  That makes me wonder why your's comes on at all unless you are running that inverter at near max capacity.   My guess is - it has a defective thermal switch.  If it was mine, and was not under warranty, and not being used hard - I'd just cut the wires to the fan.

I have experienced some other "odd" issues but figure I cannot blame it on AIMs. I have two "pure sine-wave" inverters that we use when camping or at our off-grid cabin.  One is an AIMs 2000 and the other is a Ramsond Sunray 1500.  With either - I discovered some oddities.   One - if I try to use my cell-phone when using its AC converter for power - it is basically NOT usable since the screen-functions do not work. That is a Motorola Android Mini.  Two - this one really seems ODD!   I plugged in my  Dell laptop via the AC power-supply and the mouse will not work.  If I run the laptop off its own battery the mouse works fine. If I plug the same laptop into any of my cheap modified-wave inverters - it also works fine.  Will NOT work with either of my "pure sine wave" inverters.

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20 hours ago, jdemaris said:

That 800 watt AIMs sounds defective to me.  But - I have no idea what sort of load you are running. I also have no idea how much these things change, over time.  I have four AIMs inverters.  Two modified-wave, 1500 and 2000 watts.  Also a 700 and a 2000 watt so-called "pure sine wave."  All have thermally controlled fans and I've yet to ever have any of them come on when being used.  That makes me wonder why your's comes on at all unless you are running that inverter at near max capacity.   My guess is - it has a defective thermal switch.  If it was mine, and was not under warranty, and not being used hard - I'd just cut the wires to the fan.

I have experienced some other "odd" issues but figure I cannot blame it on AIMs. I have two "pure sine-wave" inverters that we use when camping or at our off-grid cabin.  One is an AIMs 2000 and the other is a Ramsond Sunray 1500.  With either - I discovered some oddities.   One - if I try to use my cell-phone when using its AC converter for power - it is basically NOT usable since the screen-functions do not work. That is a Motorola Android Mini.  Two - this one really seems ODD!   I plugged in my  Dell laptop via the AC power-supply and the mouse will not work.  If I run the laptop off its own battery the mouse works fine. If I plug the same laptop into any of my cheap modified-wave inverters - it also works fine.  Will NOT work with either of my "pure sine wave" inverters.

Thanks for the response,  load is only computer, charging laptop, cell phone all low draw. I do not believe the fan should even come on. I am traveling so warranty is hard to check with poor internet.  Jim

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My on-board inverter is "on" all the time when driving or when camping.  Never been an issue. The "stand-by" draw would take 10 days to run my batteries to 50% with no recharge.  A non-issue with the way I do things.  My main power-cord for the RV is plugged into the inverter. Subsequently, when "on" all our OEM AC outlets work.  It's how we watch TV, run lap-top computers, fans, microwave, etc.  My  overheat fan has never come on under actual use. Just on the initial start-up sequence.  It is supposed to come "on" for a few seconds just to let me know it's there and operational - and then it shuts off and stays off.  I've got three inverters that get used a lot, with automatic cooling fans.  A Harbor Freight 2000/4000 modified wave, a Ramson Sunray sinewave 1500/3000, and an AIMs sinewave 1500/3000. Some I have used pretty hard running big power tools.  Never had a fan come on yet with any of them.

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On September 8, 2016 at 1:28 PM, jdemaris said:

My on-board inverter is "on" all the time when driving or when camping.  Never been an issue. The "stand-by" draw would take 10 days to run my batteries to 50% with no recharge.  A non-issue with the way I do things.  My main power-cord for the RV is plugged into the inverter. Subsequently, when "on" all our OEM AC outlets work.  It's how we watch TV, run lap-top computers, fans, microwave, etc.  My  overheat fan has never come on under actual use. Just on the initial start-up sequence.  It is supposed to come "on" for a few seconds just to let me know it's there and operational - and then it shuts off and stays off.  I've got three inverters that get used a lot, with automatic cooling fans.  A Harbor Freight 2000/4000 modified wave, a Ramson Sunray sinewave 1500/3000, and an AIMs sinewave 1500/3000. Some I have used pretty hard running big power tools.  Never had a fan come on yet with any of them.

 

Everyone is free to do things the way that works for them. but my thinking is that if you forget to turn it off, 20 days later you could have fully discharged batteries.

better to turn it ON when needed in my experience, pretty easy to flip the switch on and off too, depending on where its mounted.

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2 hours ago, bicoastal eric said:

 

Everyone is free to do things the way that works for them. but my thinking is that if you forget to turn it off, 20 days later you could have fully discharged batteries.

 

Not possible in my case. I never park/camp for more then one night at a time and then drive with lots of charge going on.  Once home, my Toyota RV is plugged into a 10 amp dual-output battery maintainer.  So even if the inverter was left on - it would not matter.  Never going to happen though. It has a pretty bright light that comes on when "on."  Hard not to notice.

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Ever seen an inverter built into the dashboard OEM of a car?  I just drive older rigs, but this is news to me. No fan either!  Built into the dashboard of my 2004 Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe I just got.

IMG_20160913_182335285_HDR.jpg

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