The UPS/Inverter support thread

The_Traveller

The_Traveller

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I have neighbours who purchased Inverters from someone and they're all having problems.

It will be great if we can gather some info on companies / people who provide technical assistance ( Repairs etc. ) so that people wont need to reinvest on new systems every time.

Everyone's feedback will be quite valuable.

TIA !
 
The_Traveller said:
I cant really tell. I am not qualified to make an assessment but I just know they're having problems with the Inverters ( not Inverter creating problems to the appliances ).
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I don't understand. Your neighbour told you he/she are having problems with "the Inverters". You don't immediately ask what kind of problems?? You just said: "Oh, OK." turned around and posted on this forum?

Sorry but that doesn't make any sense. Unless Inverter is the surname of some new neighbours that moved in and are causing trouble? Do you live on Wysteria Lane?
 
MightyQuin said:
How is that a problem? Of course the OP was vague, thus my question to him initially. I bought a Modified Sine Wave inverter and battery and run my plasma, media player, DSTV and sound with it, no problem.
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First Google result:

2. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MODIFIED SINEWAVE (also known as Squarewave) INVERTER AND A PURE SINEWAVE INVERTER :

Inverters have either modified sinewave (squarewave) or pure sinewave output.

PURE SINEWAVE INVERTER :

This is the best output waveform you can get out of an inverter and all appliances are able to run off it without interference or overheating. Some of its advantages are as follows:

Output voltage waveform is pure sine wave with very low harmonic distortion and the same as the ESKOM supply
Inductive loads like microwave ovens and motors run correctly, quieter and cooler
Reduces audible and electrical noise in fans, fluorescent lights, audio amplifiers, TV, Game consoles, Fax, and answering machines
Prevents crashes in computers, unreadable print outs, and glitches and noise in monitors
It can be efficiently electronically protected in overload, overvoltage, undervoltage and over temperature conditions

MODIFIED SINEWAVE INVERTER :

The Modified sinewave inverter has limitations. These are some of the appliances that may experience problems when running off Modified Sinewave inverters:

Laser printers, photocopiers, magneto-optical hard drives
Some fluorescent lights with standard ballasts
Power tools employing "solid state" power or variable speed control
Some battery chargers for cordless tools
Produces sometimes interference in some television sets
Digital clocks with radios
Sewing machines with speed/microprocessor control
Medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators
Modified sinewave inverters are usually only protected by standard fuses which, under normal circumstances, are not always fast enough, therefore they are by far more vulnerable to failure.

It is definitely advantageous to use a pure sinewave inverter as a pure sinewave inverter can basically run any type of equipment in contrast to a modified sinewave / step square wave inverter.
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biometrics said:
First Google result:
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Congratulations, you managed to Google the difference between MSW and PSW. I also did that before I bought an inverter. Nobody that purchased an inverter to use it during load shedding, should even be thinking of using it for any of those problematic appliances on that list of limitations.

People may want to keep the TV and media player and internet on, and when doing that from a deep cycle battery, surges and unstable power is not really a concern.

On some TV's you may get a hum from the power unit, due to resonance caused by the "squarer wave" from an MSW inverter, but the newer MSW inverters provide a wave so close to a pure wave that most modern TV's do not have that problem. Mine did, but when I moved the inverter some 40 metres away, it stopped.
 
MightyQuin said:
Congratulations, you managed to Google the difference between MSW and PSW. I also did that before I bought an inverter. Nobody that purchased an inverter to use it during load shedding, should even be thinking of using it for any of those problematic appliances on that list of limitations.

People may want to keep the TV and media player and internet on, and when doing that from a deep cycle battery, surges and unstable power is not really a concern.

On some TV's you may get a hum from the power unit, due to resonance caused by the "squarer wave" from an MSW inverter, but the newer MSW inverters provide a wave so close to a pure wave that most modern TV's do not have that problem. Mine did, but when I moved the inverter some 40 metres away, it stopped.
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I've had my inverters for ten years and back then I was advised to get sine wave especially for digital electronics. Cost me quite a lot more but haven't had a single issue. Back then square wave inverters could make your PC reboot for example. I'm not familiar with modified sine wave inverters, maybe they're better.
 
MightyQuin said:
I don't understand. Your neighbour told you he/she are having problems with "the Inverters". You don't immediately ask what kind of problems?? You just said: "Oh, OK." turned around and posted on this forum?

Sorry but that doesn't make any sense. Unless Inverter is the surname of some new neighbours that moved in and are causing trouble? Do you live on Wysteria Lane?
Click to expand...

Is there something wrong with you ? If someone tells me there's a problem with their car, I will tell them go to a mechanic. If they tell me there's something wrong with their body, I say go to a doctor. If they tell me something wrong with their lights, I'll tell them get an electrician. I hope you get the drift ... I dont know how to assess Inverters/UPS systems to tell them what to do and who to contact... you fvcking wind-up merchant !
 
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The_Traveller said:
Is there something wrong with you ? If someone tells me there's a problem with their car, I will tell them go to a mechanic. If they tell me there's something wrong with their body, I say go to a doctor. If they tell me something wrong with their lights, I'll tell them get an electrician. I hope you get the drift ... I dont know how to assess Inverters/UPS systems to tell them what to do and who to contact... you fvcking wind-up merchant !
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So why are they telling you in the first place then and why do you then post some arbitrary pseudo question on this forum? Or do you expect us to look into our crystal ball and come up with some magic answer to a non existent question? That is not what this forum is for. Here people post real question so we can try and provide real answers.

What you wanted was a list of places that sell, repair and advise on inverters. That is what Google is for. And what would you have done with such a list anyway? Call these vendors, tell them your neighbours have issues with their inverters and then put the phone down, since surely the next question from the vendor would have been: " What kind of problems, sir?" At which you would then have felt severely hard done by and would have gone on to verbally assault the other person over the phone?

And it is MR Wind-up Merchant, you noob....
 
MightyQuin said:
So why are they telling you in the first place then and why do you then post some arbitrary pseudo question on this forum? Or do you expect us to look into our crystal ball and come up with some magic answer to a non existent question? That is not what this forum is for. Here people post real question so we can try and provide real answers.

What you wanted was a list of places that sell, repair and advise on inverters. That is what Google is for. And what would you have done with such a list anyway? Call these vendors, tell them your neighbours have issues with their inverters and then put the phone down, since surely the next question from the vendor would have been: " What kind of problems, sir?" At which you would then have felt severely hard done by and would have gone on to verbally assault the other person over the phone?

And it is MR Wind-up Merchant, you noob....
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lol
 
I noticed my 2kva Tedelex inverter is giving off some stink, so contacted Teljoy and they gave me the following company to evaluate the unit...

"Here is contact details*011 824 4470*please call Cooper power for support"



*
 
The_Traveller said:
I noticed my 2kva Tedelex inverter is giving off some stink, so contacted Teljoy and they gave me the following company to evaluate the unit...

"Here is contact details*011 824 4470*please call Cooper power for support"
Click to expand...

Could be transformers:
If it were MOSFETs it'd likely be more of a smoke situation than a stink situation.
 
Hmm why was my post deleted?? It was not offensive just a bit of light humor.
 
Hey guys
I have just bought a 1000va APC ups, thing is the fan is too loud for our lounge, so i need to put it in my outside office.
So i will need to run a 20M extension cable on the ups output if i want to power up anything in the house.

Will a 20m cable be too long, will it use up excessive energy etc.. ?
 
scud said:
Hey guys
I have just bought a 1000va APC ups, thing is the fan is too loud for our lounge, so i need to put it in my outside office.
So i will need to run a 20M extension cable on the ups output if i want to power up anything in the house.

Will a 20m cable be too long, will it use up excessive energy etc.. ?
Click to expand...

Assuming you are using 1000 watt which is almost certainly more than your UPS outputs you are at around 4.5 amps @ 220v (I'm using 220v because cheap UPS sold in SA generally output 220v and not 230 as it should).
Lets assume 5 amps for simplicity.

Just about any extension cord will not have an issue with that amount of power. So should be fine.

What is risky however is that you may have people plugging things into a UPS that shouldn't be plugged into a UPS. Like a vacuum cleaner. And when that happens, it will not be pretty. Not because of the extension cord but because of the UPS
 
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