Sigineer 48v inverter. 3kw, 120 ac

Anyone have experience with or a reasoned opinion on this inverter?


The price is decent and I like that it can go up to 9000 watts for 20 seconds supposedly.

I need to start/run dual 120v 3/4 HP motors. They can be staggered starts if necessary. 20 seconds maximum staggering.

This will be off grid use and I will not use the charger.

On my wish list is the 6KW split phase version...

There seem to be several of these low frequency inverters marketed under different brand names. Sungoldpower, ampinvt, are two that I remember off the top of my head. You can find these on alibaba too. AIMS makes a similar looking unit. They all have the same footprint. The minor details like the buttons and LCD change, but it seems to me that these all have the same DNA.

There are other big low frequency inverters, for example from Magnum and Samlex. However, their shapes are all different from these bread loaf units.

The only reason I did not buy one was because they are heavy and the shape is less ideal for my situation. I opted for a 4kw WZRELB.

I don't find reviews on youtube for units like these. I would have a lot more warm and fuzzies if there were some.... although, it sure seems like the resellers give a unit to someone who film plugging it in, and starting a saw and saying "yippee!". In other words, the warm and fuzzies are probably pure nonsense.

I don't buy the theory that we have evidence that these will last longer, except as a consequence of the fact that the low frequency inverters seem to have a lower part count in the high power items (the mosfets tied to the cooling fins). I am sure that all inverters can suffer a failure of some component that will kill the whole thing and if you can solder in a new part it will resume service. In other words, I don't see a whole lot of reason to believe this will outlast some high frequency unit that has a higher rated capacity but the same surge capability.

I have used WZRELB for years running electronic equipment but starting up induction motors is a whole different application and I think the WZRELBS would choke in a heartbeat.

The stated capacity to provide 9kw, for 20 seconds, is what’s important to me in this application.

I will poke around to see what I can find on the other models you mention.

Also, I do not believe Samlex makes a 48v inverter of sufficient output (3-9kw).

JoeHam said:

The stated capacity to provide 9kw, for 20 seconds, is what’s important to me in this application.

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I found that whenever the unit was low frequency, it would be 3000w and 9000w surge. The high frequency ones are 2x surge, the low are 3x. However, none mentioned 20 seconds of 3x. That seems like a typo to me.


Shows 20ms for a very similar looking unit.

The link is in my original message at the top of this thread.

I do not believe it is a typo as it is clearly stated in the specs tab and again on page 28 of the manual.

Page 28 makes it clear.

Also see page 4.

JoeHam said:

The link is in my original message at the top of this thread.

I do not believe it is a typo as it is clearly stated in the specs tab and again on page 28 of the manual.

Page 28 makes it clear.

Click to expand...

Yea, I noticed that too. It could be a typo spread from the original.

I would buy it. I have no problem believing it is a decent unit. I see no reason it cannot start up and run 2 3/4 hp motors (total about 1500watts when up to speed). I just don't buy that it will do 9kw for 20 seconds, and I can't imagine you have a load like that anyway.

But there is no way an induction motor is going to spin up in 20 milliseconds so I do not believe there is a typo here.

That is the reason for LF inverters IMHO.

Love my WZRELBs for the applications I use them for but their surge time is milliseconds.

I have no reason to think it is bad either but wonder if they are not the same ones spread all over Alibaba the fact that they are sold out on so many items makes me wonder

And each of the motors can individually choke out a 2 kw generator so the surge is definitely greater than 4 kw.

I agree on 1500w when up to speed but some estimate startup surge can be up to 7X !

That would certainly get me to 9kw.

johntaves said:

I found that whenever the unit was low frequency, it would be 3000w and 9000w surge. The high frequency ones are 2x surge, the low are 3x. However, none mentioned 20 seconds of 3x. That seems like a typo to me.

This product is no longer available.

This product is no longer available.

www.alibaba.com

Shows 20ms for a very similar looking unit.

Click to expand...

Not a typo.
20+ SECONDS of 3x surge wattage.
Quality LOW FREQUENCY inverters do indeed have large inductance surge ratings.

Yea, I agree that the 20ms surge has to be the bogus spec.

My air conditioner says it is 1600 watts, and that the locked motor amps is 50 @120v, so 6000watts at startup peak. My hope is that the WZRELB 4kw will start the AC motor because it says it can surge to 8000w. I would like to think that there is not much difference between a 4kw HF and a 3kw LF where the surge is 8k and 9k respectively.

I have a 2000watt HF Victron, and it spins up my 10" saws. They are clearly spinning up slower than when plugged into the house though. They say they are 14amp motors. That's 1600watts, which the victron should do, but I'll bet they draw more than 14 right at the start.

johntaves said:

Yea, I agree that the 20ms surge has to be the bogus spec.

Click to expand...

Sorry but I do not agree.

I think the 20 MILLI seconds is accurate for a HF inverter.

And 20 SECONDS is accurate for the LF inverter I linked at the start of this thread.

This is the significant difference between the two types.

JoeHam said:

I think the 20 MILLI seconds is accurate for a HF inverter.

Click to expand...

It came from the inverter referenced via that alibaba link above. It is certainly an LF unit. Also, it is the same bread loaf sized unit as the others I mentioned above (ampinvt, sungoldpower) and the signineer.

I don't see how 20ms would make sense for any inverter, now that my head has been adjusted in this thread. The HF jobs will start motors. They will surge, and 20ms seems rather useless for getting a motor spinning.

SO i have a 2000w Wzrlb and it spins my 10 inch saws as well But like the more expensive victron it does take a few seconds to get rolling. The 3500 watt one works fine. That all being said with the wzrlb the ac lights flicker they do not flicker with my samlex inverters. so there is something to quality. For a computer i would think less flicker would be better.

johntaves said:

Yea, I agree that the 20ms surge has to be the bogus spec.

My air conditioner says it is 1600 watts, and that the locked motor amps is 50 @120v, so 6000watts at startup peak. My hope is that the WZRELB 4kw will start the AC motor because it says it can surge to 8000w. I would like to think that there is not much difference between a 4kw HF and a 3kw LF where the surge is 8k and 9k respectively.

I have a 2000watt HF Victron, and it spins up my 10" saws. They are clearly spinning up slower than when plugged into the house though. They say they are 14amp motors. That's 1600watts, which the victron should do, but I'll bet they draw more than 14 right at the start.

Click to expand...

Unlikely the Hf inverter will start the load. It is possible, but more likely the 6KW inductive load will trip out the inverter.
The 3KW LF inverter will have no trouble starting the load.
My 1.2KW LF inverter handles all my vacuum pumps, chipping hammers, shop vacs, etc... no hiccups.
The 2KW Hf machine cant start the shop vac, or the large vacuum pump. It has no trouble with the chipping hammer though.

And don't get me wrong. I have two 48v to 120v WZRELB HF inverters. One 3KW that I have run for over 4 years with sensitive electronic equipment and another 1.5KW that I just got to run my home office. They are great for my applications in those cases. But to quote WZRELB themselves:

Attentions for inductive load applications:
If you need the inverter to run the inductive load (for appliance such as compressor, motor, water pump), please calculate the power of inverter 3 to 7 times higher than the rated power of your appliance.

I could not find the exact surge time for the WZRELB's but I recall it is VERY short.

So again, I love my HF pure sine wave WZRELB's for most applications but it seems like the Sigineer listed at the start of this thread is a much better choice for the application described there.

If anyone has a good suggestion for something else that works for my application I am all ears. This type of load is new territory for me.

Supervstech said:

Unlikely the Hf inverter will start the load. It is possible, but more likely the 6KW inductive load will trip out the inverter.
The 3KW LF inverter will have no trouble starting the load.
My 1.2KW LF inverter handles all my vacuum pumps, chipping hammers, shop vacs, etc... no hiccups.
The 2KW Hf machine cant start the shop vac, or the large vacuum pump. It has no trouble with the chipping hammer though.

Click to expand...

Craig said:

SO i have a 2000w Wzrlb and it spins my 10 inch saws as well But like the more expensive victron it does take a few seconds to get rolling. The 3500 watt one works fine. That all being said with the wzrlb the ac lights flicker they do not flicker with my samlex inverters. so there is something to quality. For a computer i would think less flicker would be better.

Click to expand...

Ugh! You two are killing me. I bought the 4kw WZRELB last night.

I will find out if I f'd up next week.

johntaves said:

Ugh! You two are killing me. I bought the 4kw WZRELB last night.

I will find out if I f'd up next week.

Click to expand...

I think you will be fine the 4k will be a sturdy workhorse.