Hard to fathom why my 1200 watter handled this load with aplomb, and the 1600 watter won't even try. I was again considering the 2000, now that I have the PD, but this was way to frustrating. I've. Ever had an issue with the 1200, until it crapped out without warning the other day, but otherwise, it was a match made in heaven with the PD.
The 2000 was Hatfield and McCoy territory....
The answer is easy once you know what it is :-) It's a combination of power factor, poor regulation of small synchronous generators, and the PD converters having a weak output with less than optimum AC power, particularly the peak voltage of the waveform. The PD converters will supply their rated current with a 120 volt sine wave. Anything less, and they won't. The converter pulls almost all its power at the peak of the sine wave. When this poor load hits a small synchronous generator, the waveform goes "to the dogs", and particularly, the peak voltage goes down. The PD converter now operates at a reduced output and the little generator has the appearance of being on steroids. Run the same converter with an inverter generator that retains the waveform voltage peaks, the converter operates at full power, and the generator overloads. The WFCO 89xx converters will operate at full power with trashy AC power and I'd expect one to overload the same little generator that works just fine with the PD converter. With my Onan Microquiet, the PD converter will not operate at full power. If I switch on the water heater, the waveform improves and the PD's output increases. I posted some pictures a while back in a
converter discussion thread .
