Inverter recommendation

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dark_jeff

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Hi,

I’m planning on getting an inverter + charger + battery combo to power my PC during load shedding.

I’m thinking about getting one of these Devel SPT1000 for R3500 which is a 1000 watt, pure sine wave inverter with a built in 35 A charger (I’m looking at the 12v version). My only problem is that I’ve never heard of the brand before.

My pc uses about 200 watts while working/browsing the net and around 450watts while gaming. I wanted a 1000 watt inverter so that I could charge my laptop and maybe a few lights.

Have any of you guys had any experience with Devel or do you recommend another inverter?
 
Looks good, could possibly take Solar panels too.
Did you look at the INVEREX units? Very good, should last 5hrs.
 
Everyone needs to invest in Hybrid inverters now. No point wasting on power backup systems.

Back to the topic, that inverter has a 35A charger, so make sure you get a battery that's maximum charge current doesn't fall under that (200Ah +). Unless you can set the charge current level on the inverter, you're going to damage your batteries.

Also contact [email protected] for a quote. I have only good things to say about their products
 
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The_Traveller said:
Everyone needs to invest in Hybrid inverters now. No point wasting on power backup systems.
Click to expand...

I agree there. That is why I'm still shopping around and waiting for the market to mature a bit. Grid tie systems sound good, but the Inverters are ridiculously expensive. A decent size Hybrid where you can expand the load and batteries later on and connect to solar makes more sense.
I like the Axpert Range.
 
Compton_effect said:
I agree there. That is why I'm still shopping around and waiting for the market to mature a bit. Grid tie systems sound good, but the Inverters are ridiculously expensive. A decent size Hybrid where you can expand the load and batteries later on and connect to solar makes more sense.
I like the Axpert Range.
Click to expand...


I swear by prostar, because the guy is legit and gives support from beginning to end. Don't quote me on this but my uncles setup, which costed Around R45k , was post paid. I mean which company supplies products without getting money first? Perhaps because I am a returning customer, but still ...
 
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The_Traveller said:
I swear by prostar, because the guy is legit and gives support from beginning to end. Don't quote me on this but my uncles setup, which costed Around R45k , was post paid. I mean which company supplies products without getting money first? Perhaps because I am a returning customer, but still ...
Click to expand...

Mind posting his setup?
 
Just a note the price went up buy quite a bit, to R4015 for the Devel SPT1000
 
I just bought a 1kva pure sinewave UPS + 2x102AH batteries from www.tescom.co.za for R7100ex. A little steep but should give 5hrs+ backup for the essentials without destroying my equipment with extended use.
 
Yes, saw that, looked good - but couldn't find any good specifications on the battery on their site:
All I could see was: "We offer one year battery lifetime guarantee. However, the battery lifetime is close to three years under normal use."

Which didn't make me feel very confident. So opted basically for a smaller one, without the extra batteries, then possibly will add batteries later.
 
JayM said:
I just bought a 1kva pure sinewave UPS + 2x102AH batteries from www.tescom.co.za for R7100ex. A little steep but should give 5hrs+ backup for the essentials without destroying my equipment with extended use.
Click to expand...

Which model is it ? did you check the ups efficiency ? 1kva is not equal to 1kw so don't be surprised to get less than 5 hours ( obviously all dependant on what/ how much you load ).
 
You dont need pure sine for computer electronics. You can buy a 2.2kva modified sine for 2 grand. Rather go that way.
 
JayM said:
I just bought a 1kva pure sinewave UPS + 2x102AH batteries from www.tescom.co.za for R7100ex. A little steep but should give 5hrs+ backup for the essentials without destroying my equipment with extended use.
Click to expand...

Unless you have an electric motor you wasted your money. Extended use of modified sine does not damage most computer electronics.
 
Problem with all these small spec setups is that it escalates into something bigger quickly. On Friday I bought a 1000W PSW inverter to power the lights in my home. It could not handle all of them (about 120 globes). Not that all will be switched on at the same time, but you never know. So then I went back to Communica and got a 2000W MSW. This worked fine until I tried to switch the garage lights on. The inverter bombed out on the fluorescent tubes. It could not handle them. So back I went and exchanged that for a 2500W PSW. This handles all the lights and 3 ceiling fans.

So the wife was happy, until Sunday morning, when we had our first loadshedding and the kids had to do homework. Quickly I had to include the whole house's circuits to power PCs and TVs too. Not part of the brief she gave me on Friday. Fortunately, with a bit of discipline, they can now power whatever they want, excluding the stove and geysers.

The point is, rather go big from scratch. No use having your PC running, but you bump into stuff in the dark. Upgrading is going to cost you more in the long run.
 
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ghoti said:
You dont need pure sine for computer electronics. You can buy a 2.2kva modified sine for 2 grand. Rather go that way.
Click to expand...

It is always better to buy the proper stuff.

Its not all about modified / pure sine wave, its what else that the unit can control. For example, most top end UPS systems will have surge control, some will have auto detect of the Hz and adjust accordingly, some will have a true AVR. The cheap ones that you want people to buy will surely not have those features.

But If the cheapy system works for you, then great.
 
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ghoti said:
You dont need pure sine for computer electronics. You can buy a 2.2kva modified sine for 2 grand. Rather go that way.
Click to expand...

anything to back this up? i thought that sensitive electronics would need "clean" power
 
D3x! said:
anything to back this up? i thought that sensitive electronics would need "clean" power
Click to expand...

Most PCs, TVs etc have their own power supplies which "cleans" the power it gets, so no need for PSW. What hates MSW inverters is things with motors like swimming pool pumps, ceiling fans, fridges, fluorescent tubes etc. Also, dimmable lights does not like MSW.
 
Lord Farquart said:
Problem with all these small spec setups is that it escalates into something bigger quickly. On Friday I bought a 1000W PSW inverter to power the lights in my home. It could not handle all of them (about 120 globes). Not that all will be switched on at the same time, but you never know. So then I went back to Communica and got a 2000W MSW. This worked fine until I tried to switch the garage lights on. The inverter bombed out on the fluorescent tubes. It could not handle them. So back I went and exchanged that for a 2500W PSW. This handles all the lights and 3 ceiling fans.

So the wife was happy, until Sunday morning, when we had our first loadshedding and the kids had to do homework. Quickly I had to include the whole house's circuits to power PCs and TVs too. Not part of the brief she gave me on Friday. Fortunately, with a bit of discipline, they can now power whatever they want, excluding the stove and geysers.

The point is, rather go big from scratch. No use having your PC running, but you bump into stuff in the dark. Upgrading is going to cost you more in the long run.
Click to expand...

How much did your setup cost and how long can you run it for ?
 
D3x! said:
anything to back this up? i thought that sensitive electronics would need "clean" power
Click to expand...
Back in the olden days the power supply for devices were inclusive of a transformer.

90% of modern electronics make use of switch mode power supplies (as an example, compare the weight of a modern cellphone charger to a 10 year old one). It contains no transformer and produces almost no heat. This is the switch mode power supply.

All your electronic devices contain at least one of these. They are much more efficient at producing clean power to the internal circuitry of the device.

So your usage of the word "clean" is correct. The only difference is that the power supply panel beats the wave form into the shape it wants regardless of what you put in.

The use of pure sine wave inverters are thus no longer as important as it used to be ten, even 5 years ago - its more fear mongering / a marketing ploy.

As an aside. The power supplies of modern electronics are designed to be the first to fail since its the cheapest component to replace
 
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