Hi Allan;
That's amazing! I'll make a note of it for sure. I often work with tiny
systems in remote areas that are transported by helicopter and boat, and
even with many inexpensive inverters (for example Statpower) there's at
least a line of automotive blade fuses inside that blow and can be
easily replaced....one customer hit his output line with a snowplow,
just had to buy 12 new fuses.
I highly recommend the Morningstar SureSine. It's bombproof, even for
customers with no electrical knowledge. Just be sure to mount it in an
electrical box, as there are no knockouts on the unit to clamp down the
DC or AC wires.
Dan Fink
Executive Director;
Buckville Energy Consulting
Buckville Publications LLC
NABCEP / IREC / ISPQ accredited Continuing Education Providers
http://www.buckville.com/
[email protected]
970.672.4342 (voicemail)
970.373.1311 (fax)
Allan Sindelar wrote:
Wrenches,
A bit over a year ago I built a mini-system for a customer: One 135W
module, SunSaver-10, 104 A/hr Concorde VRLA, Tri-Metric monitor and an
Exeltech XP125 inverter. All but the module were installed in a plastic
picnic cooler. The customer was totally satisfied with the system for
this weekend getaway cabin system and used it well within its bounds - a
couple of lights, mostly.
Last week she called because the inverter had failed. I called Exeltech
tech support and was told that the XP125 lacks protection against AC
overload! There's no circuit breaker or internal shutoff protection, and
an internal fuse on the circuit board is included only to protect
against reverse polarity. And because the inverter has been in operation
for 15 months, this apparent failure isn't covered under the one-year
warranty. Send it in, under $50 to repair.
I wrote the customer about the load size and her (edited) answer is
below. Apparently it wasn't even an overload, just a failure, possibly
related to poor power factor in the cordless drill charger. But I still
have never heard of an inverter without some form of overload
protection, and it seems to me that a unit this small especially needs
it, given how easily its capacity can be exceeded.
I have long respected Exeltech, one of few domestic electronics products
left. But this incident is giving me pause. Morningstar's SureSine
claims extensive protection: "The SureSine has extensive electronic
protections that will automatically protect against faults and user
mistakes such as short circuit, overload, high temperature and low
voltage disconnect. Recovery from most faults is automatic." It's
looking better all the time.
Has anyone else experienced a similar failure?
Thank you,
Allan
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