Victron/ Sol-Ark/ Schneider/ Outback are a few in US with good reputation for reliability and customer service.
I've been using Sol-Ark 12k which is a 9kW inverter and have had no issues with it. I have talked to their engineers a few time to get help with correct configurations and they have always been very easy to reach to..
I am using an Aims w 120/240 inverter/charger. It isn't 'Smart' but is stone cold reliable. ATS works great and no issues in the 2 years I have owned. I have watts solar and if I get a few days of clouds and batteries get drained, it does a great job of 'refilling' off the grid and then flipping back to battery when 'full'.
Thanks. Good to see the "stone cold reliable". Anyone else have experience with AIMS?
I have 2 x 12,000w AIMs and they work. However, one of them reached 25,000hrs (~5yrs) and the control board started allowing erratic voltage. AIMS support refused to help. Repaired the control board thru a general repair shop (new capacitors mostly) and it works again - on to the next 5 yrs?
MPP Solar - There's a believable 8-9yr life span on youtube channel I follow and my own (in a camper) is 3yrs and counting.
Recent SGP 12,000w inverter (to replace AIMS above while being repaired) is 9mos and working great but it's only been 9 mons.
So, I can recommend AIMS, MPP Solar, and SGP as 'solid' performers but with a 5yr, 3yr, and 9mos qualifier. The trouble answering these kind of questions in a definitive way for me is the lack of price / hours of operation hard-data.
This is yet another area where You GET what you pay for. Reliable & Inexpensive don't usually equate.
Also:
-> What size (wattage) do you need/want to support,
-> do you need 240VAC or just 120VAC,
-> how many hours of "backup" do you "need" and would like to have ?
-> Do you want to charge batteries from Grid AC Power only, or possibly a Generator as well ?
* Appreciate that a W Inverter can only provide 120V/25A Max (uncorrected)
* An inverter should NOT pull more than 250A ax from a Battery Bank to service loads. (excluding paralleled inverters)
12V*250A=W, 24V*250A=W, 48V*250A=W (uncorrected for losses).
There are plenty of 20 year old Schneider, Outback, and SMA inverters. (Probably Victron too, I've just not read of any)
Don't expect the same out of a lower cost inverter.
Also, most of those lower cost inverters have higher idle energy usage.
typo fixed, was only 1/2 way through coffee #1
I see your coffee works better than than mine! Would have taken me at least another 1.5 metric cups of coffee. I read 140 volts did one of these ?? and moved on ?
I use Samlex which is also Tier-1 Quality Product, also used by Fire & Rescue, Militaries & much more... and you know THOSE GUYS don't mess about,,, They are very programmable, have built-in ATS for Grid AC & Gen AC and can even take some solar though their solar input port... They are not cheap but when you include the ATS + it all adds up quickly. These are Low Frequency and Low Power Consumption compared to a large majority of Inverter/Chargers.
Samlex EVO™ Inverter/Charger for RVs, boats, cabins, work trucks and backup power. Robust 3-in-1 power inverter, battery charger and transfer switch.
When it comes to long term durability, LF is the way to go. When it comes to the LF with the best software and lowest idle consumption, Victron and Schneider are the way to go. I would go with Victron personally.
I sort of agree that Victron software is far ahead of others in the field, but in my opinion, Victron's focus seems to be in the mobile and marine space, where the other LF vendors focus on commercial and residential.
I feel like SMA would have more success with their recent smart energy inverters if they also embraced existing 48V installed base. Their sunny boys are rock solid, and it seems the sunny islands are perfect for induction loads and AC coupling of existing grid tie systems.
My other problem with Victron is all the different components you need to buy to build a complete system. To many seperate piece parts and wiring.
The best part of the Chinese HF inverters is they are highly integrated, and very few if any extra components are needed. It would be nice if a US based company could put it all together in form like the Chinese HF inverters, but function like the rock solid LF inverters from the EU. (Is outback power origionally from Australia?)
I can't at this point recommend Sungold due to difficult support issues. I have the 10k48v inverter and it is working well but the issues I've had have been difficult to resolve/manage due to language barrier issues and timing as well as no support..
I can comment on MPP:
I have installed both MPP LV and LVXWP.
The LV's are rock solid. The WP's are very flexible, and have not failed me yet, but the interface is weird and not intuitive.
The WP firmware had issues that were actually dangerous when I first installed them (240V present on GEN INPUT port), and the new firmware that fixed that made the fans spin at 100% all the time. The settings sometimes change by itself, and the parameter page is missing at times in the Solar Power app.
The WP parameter settings at times have issues changing. IE, resetting bulk charge voltage comes back with an error in the app, and then magically works after 6 or 7 tries. (Its not my connections. It happens even when RS232 or USB direct connected to the unit).
Will saw similar issues during his very short review of the WP units.
The good news is the sales price for the WP units has drastically dropped since they were first introduced, and they do work, but If I didnt need the IP65 outdoor rating ( they are installed outside), I would have stayed with the LV's.
Along with the magnums from a few years back, another one is built in Minnesota with a long history is Dimension, you can find some of these low frequency inverters well over 20 years plus or older and still working flawlessly.
Now they are all under the Sensata Technologies umbrella, still manufacturing them here in white bear lake suburb of Saint Paul. I acquired a ARC remote for magnum and I wanted newer firmware within it, spoke to the local dimensions sensata office and they said come on over they exchange the remote right on the spot free of charge that same day
I have a couple of the magnums and they've got unbelievable build quality.
I have had my hands on many of the low frequency dimension as well over the years and the build quality is excellent, they were also branded under several different names mostly all for commercial applications.
Some of the vanner low frequency inverters are rocksolid as well, USA built
Along with the magnums from a few years back, another one is built in Minnesota with a long history is Dimension, you can find some of these low frequency inverters well over 20 years plus or older and still working flawlessly.
Now they are all under the Sensata Technologies umbrella, still manufacturing them here in white bear lake suburb of Saint Paul. I acquired a ARC remote for magnum and I wanted newer firmware within it, spoke to the local dimensions sensata office and they said come on over they exchange the remote right on the spot free of charge that same day
I have a couple of the magnums and they've got unbelievable build quality.
I have had my hands on many of the low frequency dimension as well over the years and the build quality is excellent, they were also branded under several different names mostly all for commercial applications.
Some of the vanner low frequency inverters are rocksolid as well, USA built
So why are those companies not making inroads in their field from a sales perspective? Good engineering and bad marketing? Cost? Their names are not well known. I never heard of Sensata or Dimension or Vanner. Are they still selling products?
So why are those companies not making inroads in their field from a sales perspective? Good engineering and bad marketing? Cost? Their names are not well known. I never heard of Sensata or Dimension or Vanner. Are they still selling products?
Sensata is a lot more than power inverters go check out their website they've been around for a long long time.
As for the inverter offerings both Vanner and dimensions have been around for decades they're not necessarily in the same market place of home solar.
Although both have offerings for RVs, majority of their products are either industrial, commercial or service oriented which includes medical, local governments, and military.
They are not in the marketplace to compete with low price cheap china high frequency products.
Maybe look up their websites and history.
And the average consumer here would find the pricing as sticker shock.
When it comes to sensata they're kind of like Johnson Controls, they have been doing a lot of acquisitions over the years. Including sensata purchasing dimensions as well as magnum.
But Johnson controls is in every type of marketplace more or less, very much diversified.
When it comes to sensata they're kind of like Johnson Controls, they have been doing a lot of acquisitions over the years. Including sensata purchasing dimensions as well as magnum.
But Johnson controls is in every type of marketplace more or less, very much diversified.
If Johnson Controls has the habit of ruining companies they buy then yea, allot like Johnson Controls. Allot of you might not know but there was a big meltdown when they moved manufacturing of the Magnum line to Mexico and there was issues with was once a perfect inverter. Zero help with warranty and customer service. Many dealers gave up and stopped carrying them. Not trying to bash the company, just repeating experiences that have been posted on here and warning those would be buyers.
I hope this changes cause I really like the inverter how it was. Time will tell. For now, I will keep an eye out for an old MS.
Magnum/Johnson? That is news to me, Johnson controls has nothing to do with Sensata.
It was basically a Johnson controls / Sensata comparison as to their acquisitions nothing more.
Sensata acquired dimensions around and I believe they acquired magnum someplace around
I have had my hands on a lot of dimensions inverters locally manufactured here in Minnesota over the last couple decades.
The vast majority of my purchases were from the secondary used market and most of those were installed into cabins, toy haulers, ice fishing shacks just for basic creature comforts and I've only done it as a hobby.
My current arsenal which includes a couple magnums.
One is the MSPAE and a "MS pre version/firmware 6" where they dropped the stacking option within the control board with that firmware. That was a business decision to differentiate the two models but for those that wish to have stacking which includes allowing split-phase120/240 to the v6 MS all you need to do is change out the control board or actually the EPROM to a version of 5.xx or dump the firmware and rewrite it.
My magnums are US-made, somebody please enlighten me with what hardware changes have taken place since magnum supposedly moved to Mexico? I would love to know what the actual changes are if any.
I suppose I could call the local sensata manufacturing and speak to somebody there since they've been more than helpful answering questions in the past as well as trouble free remote exchange.
If you know of the actual hardware differences between the same models please enlighten me how they've been changed since I don't have a product made in Mexico sitting here in front of me to do a direct comparison.
They've been rocksolid bulletproof and the only times I've contacted tech-support was to get a couple questions answered and have a remote exchanged.
The icing on the cake is it's not manufactured in china.
As for the acquisitions not all of them are created equal meaning new ownership doesn't necessarily mean they're going to continue on the same path, sometimes acquisitions are for the purchase of technology that may have been patented, sometimes to be used elsewhere.
I have zero understanding why Sensata purchased Magnum, I could only assume it's because they had success with dimensions and magnum was in direct competition with some of their lines.
Also if anybody knows which RV manufacturers that have been installing magnum drop magnum and for what reasons? Usually that data comes with a news release of some sort if you have a link please share.
I ask only because I don't follow that market.