Which inverter to get

Terence1983 said:
I have a Dynex (also known as a Ceil) 1450va 24v pure sine inverter running off 2 Royal 1250 batteries. I run 2 laptops, 2nd screen and wifi off it, doesnt drop less than 25v (20% discharge) in a 2 to 3 hour load shed. At night i run wifi, 40 inch tv, a led light and sometimes an external hdd and also less than 20% discharge over 2-3 hours.
Replaced my batteries end of June and still running perfectly considering all the load shedding sessions we have had since then. So this whole LA batteries dont last is hog wash if you look after the batteries and dont go below what the designed to discharge.

I am looking to add a solar charger and 1 or 2 220w-300w panels to keep the batteries charged up during the day if we start getting more load shedding sessions per day.

Currently use less than 7kw per day so if i can scale up to a 3kw inverted and 2000w of solar panels, i recon i can run off grid easily. Just battery storage will cost quite a bit, would prefer lithium for long term.
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They are killed by being disharged and charged too fast or not being recharged fully on every discharge. Dept of discharge does not play such a big role.
 
wingnut771 said:
Are all the life cycle charts lying?
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Only the LA ones, specifically the LA deep cycles batteries that are being sold to use in a standby UPS where a high cycle battery is better suited.
 
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Koosvanwyk said:
Only the LA ones, specifically the LA deep cycles batteries that are being sold to use in a standby UPS where a high cycle battery is better suited.
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How many cycles will you get from a deep cycle battery if you use 100% capacity, ie; take it down to 100% DOD vs 50% DOD vs 20% DOD assuming all are using the same discharge and charge rate?
 
wingnut771 said:
Specs and price?
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It's a 50Ah, 100A peak, it would be interesting to prove that it can indeed handle that, they are generally rated for 40A, this one has has some few hundreds added on for the extra juice.

I will be loading something heavy on it as soon as I get home to see what it can do.

R3895 each, compared to R3595 for the 40A one.
 
TheChamp said:
It's a 50Ah, 100A peak, it would be interesting to prove that it can indeed handle that, they are generally rated for 40A, this one has has some few hundreds added on for the extra juice.

I will be loading something heavy on it as soon as I get home to see what it can do.

R3895 each, compared to R3595 for the 40A one.
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Are these the communica ones? Just make sure you have dik cables.
 
wingnut771 said:
How many cycles will you get from a deep cycle battery if you use 100% capacity, ie; take it down to 100% DOD vs 50% DOD vs 20% DOD assuming all are using the same discharge and charge rate?
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Fail to see the relevance of this question as in practise one would never encounter this scenario.

I can only comment based on my experience.

A single Deltec 76Ah battery lasted 7 years. It powered a 12v fridge in my vehicle. The control unit was set to cut off at 30% SOC which it frequently did when the vehicle was not driven for 3 or more days. Load on the battery was never more than +- 3 amp (the firdge draws between 0.5amp and 3amp) and charging was done by the alternator with charge current limited to 4amp + load. It lived in the engine bay where it was exposed to a high ambient heat. I did 240,000km in this vehicle with this battery.

A pair of Deep Cycle Deltec 100Ah batteries lasted just short of 12 months. It did duty on a 12V 600W pure sinewave LF inverter. They were hooked up to a victron battery protector which was set to disconnect then at 50% SOC. Load was normally about 35amp when in use and charge setting was 20amp.

A pair of cheap Probe 100Ah High Cycle batteries replaced the Deltecs, hooked up to the same inverter powering the same devices using the same settings. They were used for just over 2 years until the inveter became redundant about 2 years ago. The one now does duty in the vehicle powering the 12V fridge while the other is used to power a 12V Jarvis Walker trolling motor a few times a year. Both are still doing fine after 4 years service.
 
Koosvanwyk said:
Fail to see the relevance of this question as in practise one would never encounter this scenario.

I can only comment based on my experience.

A single Deltec 76Ah battery lasted 7 years. It powered a 12v fridge in my vehicle. The control unit was set to cut off at 30% SOC which it frequently did when the vehicle was not driven for 3 or more days. Load on the battery was never more than +- 3 amp (the firdge draws between 0.5amp and 3amp) and charging was done by the alternator with charge current limited to 4amp + load. It lived in the engine bay where it was exposed to a high ambient heat. I did 240,000km in this vehicle with this battery.

A pair of Deep Cycle Deltec 100Ah batteries lasted just short of 12 months. It did duty on a 12V 600W pure sinewave LF inverter. They were hooked up to a victron battery protector which was set to disconnect then at 50% SOC. Load was normally about 35amp when in use and charge setting was 20amp.

A pair of cheap Probe 100Ah High Cycle batteries replaced the Deltecs, hooked up to the same inverter powering the same devices using the same settings. They were used for just over 2 years until the inveter became redundant about 2 years ago. The one now does duty in the vehicle powering the 12V fridge while the other is used to power a 12V Jarvis Walker trolling motor a few times a year. Both are still doing fine after 4 years service.
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I agree, deep cycle don't like high loads.
 
RedViking said:
Yeah, I am trying to understand now what is going on. Are we gong to buy random no name branded lithium batteries "just because lead acid". That makes zero sense.

Kind of proof my point. There is still a place for Lead Acid.
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a good quality flooded marine deep cycle battery can live its whole life at between 30 and 60 percent charge .BUT they take to long to charge fully and dont like high discharge currents over extended periods of time,so for regular loadshedding not ideal ,thats where lithium gets its foot in ,quick charge capability .
 
TheChamp said:
The no names have arrived, light as a feather, will soon find out how bad can they really be compared to lead acids.
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Does the voltage reading stay constantly lit up like that or can one turn it off? I know it hardly uses any power but that would drive my ocd nuts.
 
TheChamp said:
You can get a 50Ah lithium for R3500, or a 24V for R6000, it will be equivalent to a 100Ah due to the depth of discharge, it will have way more cycles than a lead acid, it can discharge way more current than a lead acid and it's lighter and more user friendly.

I know one might argue that a lead acid cost R3500 but the thing will be dead in 6 months, the savings it's just not worth it. It's just one of those decisions that needs one to be brave and take the right decision.
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Why would the lead acid be dead in 6 months if it doesn't discharge below 50% frequently? I don't think that's an accurate statement.
 
Park@82 said:
Does the voltage reading stay constantly lit up like that or can one turn it off? I know it hardly uses any power but that would drive my ocd nuts.
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Looks like it stays like that forever, I thought it got some shakes from being moved around and came on, but it has been on ever since.

It also bothers me a little but then I figured it is my problem since batteries and inverters were not really designed to be looked at admired, the thing is supposed to fulfill it's function hidden in some cabinet in the basement.
 
BrandonJ said:
Why would the lead acid be dead in 6 months if it doesn't discharge below 50% frequently? I don't think that's an accurate statement.
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Why wouldn't they discharge below 50% frequently with all this loadshedding?

As I said, it's perfectly fine if you still want to live the life of switching things off at 50% DoD and telling everyone to go to sleep because you are saving the battery, it just looks too uncivilized to me, it's one of those things you go through because you have to, but don't really want those who come after you to experience the same thing.
 
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