Opinions on Mecer Inverter

BigEars

BigEars

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Feb 22, 2015
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533
fruitbat said:
This is another option...
I've just taken delivery of the ME-3000 WTU, that i bought for 5300.
its a pure sine wave ups, with 6x12v 9ah batteries. And the purpose of it is simply to power my LED tv + 1 light.

I've got it plugged in now to charge. Why did i choose this option?
Its sine wave and its all in 1 box, and there are as few wires as possible so my kids are less likely to #@% with it. And it sits on my bookshelf at the bottom where there is air and its out of the way.

Its currently charging.... So I'll test it out later this eve.
Click to expand...

Seems like a nice well priced 3KW True Sine Wave inverter.
The reason why you should never try and modify this unit (everything must stay inside the casing) is because all six batteries are connected in Series...around 82V on the battery cables. Screen shot below:

SINEWAVE INVERTER.gif
 
BigEars

BigEars

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Dan C said:
Imagine charging those 6 100ah batteries with 1 amp :)
Click to expand...

That's the next thing...I do not know of any Commercially available chargers that can handle more than four 12V batts in Series :)

Gotta stay in original casing though :D
 
Gnome

Gnome

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85% efficiency with 80+ volts input. Ouch, that is really bad, typically at 48v+ you are looking at 95% efficiency for a modern, high quality design...
 
BigEars

BigEars

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Built as is and designed to contain all six batteries...it should be fine and safe...

Old problem though arises...it never takes the batteries up to anything better than Float charge @ 13.8V each....so they never see 14.4V as a three stage charger does...it will just float, float, float.

A killer for batteries that are cycled.

My 2c.
 
F

fruitbat

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Feb 24, 2008
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Thanks for the heads up on the ME-3000 unit... not that i was going to open it up ever... but this will stop me from even remotely contemplating it!

:)

I'll do some testing and let you know... how long it lasts with my LED tv.

My original plan was to get 2 of these.. and this is why you test it first... but its quite noisy... the fan didnt seem to shut down. I think one of hte fans turns off after charging, but the other one was still running this morning. And needless to say - I won't be buying another one of these for that reason.

At least i didnt pay the full 5300... i got the vat + tax back so it came in around 3k. So not a bad price for an experiment..
 
Dimpie (COMPUTEK)

Dimpie (COMPUTEK)

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Apparently "Modified Sine Wave" like that of the Mecer unit is not recommended for TV units ... anyone willing to shed some more light on this rumor ??
 
N

Napalm

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Jun 22, 2006
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Some people say its not good for tv units... but i think it's mostly for plasma tv's or possibly the old CRT's.

I think the plasma tv's draw more power than LCD and LED draw the least power. It could also be the way the plasma's are wired, maybe they draw power almost directly from the wall socket (vs going through backup capacitors)

LED TV's and even older LCD TV's have power supplies in them thats closer to Computer power supplies. (LCD and LED TV's specially the bigger brands were designed to clean the power up a bit more. So that the LCD and LED's don't pop or cause the mosfets to pop.


But hey i could be wrong. I read posts where people are powering their LCD and LED's without issues.
 
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FlashSA

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COMPUTEK said:
Apparently "Modified Sine Wave" like that of the Mecer unit is not recommended for TV units ... anyone willing to shed some more light on this rumor ??
Click to expand...

Modified Sinewave Tedelex inverter runs 2x LCD (42 inch and 32 inch) without any noise or issues
 
C

catman37

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Apr 8, 2012
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From what I've read. Anything with a motor will not run properly on Modified Sinewave.

Can anyone confirm this?
 
Gnome

Gnome

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COMPUTEK said:
Apparently "Modified Sine Wave" like that of the Mecer unit is not recommended for TV units ... anyone willing to shed some more light on this rumor ??
Click to expand...

Depends on the TV. If the TV uses a transformer before rectification, then yes.

You'll hear it immediately because the TV will make a buzzing noise. If not, then you need not worry.

But any quality modern TV will almost certainly not have this problem. Especially LCD/LED TVs
 
R

recre8

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Jan 14, 2010
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I decided to buy this one in the end (600W Pure Sine OEM): http://www.geewiz.co.za/inverters/5868-600w-pure-sine-wave-inverter-battery-charger-ats-ups.html

Geewiz sent me mail over the weekend that they received new stock and I it was delivered today. I just hooked it up to a computer and a monitor to test it. Switch over from mains to battery is quick enough, no restart or anything. There is a fan in the unit, but it hasn't switched on with the small load I'm powering nor during charging. According to the manual:.

Load <40% or internal temperature < 30C, fan don't run
40% < Load < 60%, fan runs at 40%
60% < Load < 80%, fan run at 80%
100% < Load, fan run at 100%
Once inner temperature is more than 45C fan will run at 100%
Click to expand...

The datasheet states that the charger does 3 stages: Bulk/Absorption/Float charge

Only problem I have with it is that the low battery voltage alarm only starts at 10.8V and the load is only cut at 10.2V. I wish there was a way to change the cutoff because those voltages are a tad too low for my liking.
 
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BigEars

BigEars

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recre8 said:
Only problem I have with it is that the low battery voltage alarm only starts at 10.8V and the load is only cut at 10.2V. I wish there was a way to change the cutoff because those voltages are a tad too low for my liking.
Click to expand...

That is why there is a problem with a UPS handling frequent discharge cycles...when it starts quick beeping...you are already into deep discharge territory and beyond.

The setup needs to be monitored. You need to know what is potting when the UPS is running off the batteries.

You never want a UPS to ever do that.

Ag..this is hard to explain.

Look at my posts (non political ones)...all the info is there :)
 
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grim101

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Jun 25, 2013
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Thanks. They have a couple of great options. I like the already setup systems withe the mecer inverter.
 
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