which inverter and why? 3000 watt pure sine wave

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

I'm considering upgrading the MSW 2500 watt inverter.

Which 3000 watt (12 volt input) inverter would you pick and why?

I think the first answer would be how many and what type bstteties you plan to use., don't think you willget much AC use on 2 batteries.

BFL, the Samlex and Go Power units have a hard wire option. You have to go hard wire to go above 20A if I remember correctly.

PT, MEX said to me to get the heaviest inverter you can find. They'll be the one's with the beefiest components. Samlex and Go Power (same unit) are the heaviest you'll find that are standalone units. At least in my research.

Hi BFL13,

I'll continue to simply run the 30 amp female outlet in the shore power cord box.

On the receptacles, maybe it was where the inverter (PSW or MSW) had three 15a ones. So one would be limited to 15 x 120 = 1800 ? They are not like the Honda 3000 gen with a 23a receptacle and a couple of 15s.

So that would be where you would want the 120 side hard wired.

Hi greenrvgreen,

I have the DC wiring in place for 700 amps.

I agree 24 volts would normally be a good choice--but in my case I already have adequate 12 volt wiring.

greenrvgreen wrote:
For an inverter that size I would do a hard reassessment of whether I could not afford a conversion to 24V. The reason is that at 3000W you are now moving around a whopping load of amps at 12V, and just the re-wiring to accomodate this may exceed the cost of converting other small items to 24V.

Kettner, with his typical good sense points this out. I have a 2000w Prosine and it operates at the hard edge of 0000 ("four-ought") wiring. In fact, the Prosine manual considers 0000 to be a poor man's workaround, but acceptable. What in the world would be optimum for a 3000 inverter?

Oh, and I too would go for a Victron.

For an inverter that size I would do a hard reassessment of whether I could not afford a conversion to 24V. The reason is that at 3000W you are now moving around a whopping load of amps at 12V, and just the re-wiring to accomodate this may exceed the cost of converting other small items to 24V.

Kettner, with his typical good sense points this out. I have a 2000w Prosine and it operates at the hard edge of 0000 ("four-ought") wiring. In fact, the Prosine manual considers 0000 to be a poor man's workaround, but acceptable. What in the world would be optimum for a 3000 inverter?

Oh, and I too would go for a Victron.

Hi BFL13,

I would not change from my Cobra for another slightly larger MSW unit. It is PSW or nada! But thank you for the "heads up".

ISTR something about the three receptacles in the Can Tire (Xantrex) MSW 3000w inverter not each being able to handle 3000w.

Not too clear on all that. Maybe check with Xantrex tech support if their 3000w inverter/charger will do all 3000 on one. Maybe all 3000 watters are funny unless hard-wired to a sub panel. Worth some research anyway.

Hi westend,

Yes, including the air conditioner.

24 volts is, unfortunately, not a path I wish to take. That would require lots of extra items. I do know it works well for 20ldman.

What I do now, in low power situations, is run just the converter from shore power, and run the rest of the RV from the Cobra 2500 watt (who, lie about capacity sorta kinda, as it will do 2500 watts for 30 minutes--and then must have a rest). I'm uncomfortable running the roof air on the Cobra MSW even though it is rated for motor use.

When on the genny I can't run roof air and water heater at the same time--but due to the way my mods are I *can* run the converter, and air conditioner, and run the hot water off the inverter. That's doubly nice for it means the solar panels and alternator provide part of the load for the water heater.

My ideal inverter would be either 3600 watts or else "stackable" to get to 3600.

westend wrote:
Do you plan to use the inverter to power your whole rig?

I'm in the same boat and waiting on the Magnum Hybrid 2800w 12v inverter to be released next month.