Hello from Washington State. Looking for inverter recommendations(from Amazon).

[williamolyolson]

Hello all, new to the forum, working on my second auto-mounted Solar setup.

Several years ago I took 400w of solar and 4 lead acid batteries(12v system) down to California on a Datsun pickup to do some gold mining. I'm currently working on my next incarnation of that setup on a 1978 Toyota Ez-Rider(toyota dolphin style rv), this time starting with 800w(probably going to 1600w later) of solar panels and a 24v Lifepo4 pack built using 32 of the 55ah SAB batteries from batteryhookup(have 16 now, ordering 16 more this coming month will be 8s4p).

I was originally designing a 12v system for it and then decided to move to 24v for obvious reasons(mainly the expense in charge controllers to handle the panels, but the other usual reasons apply as well).

I'm now searching for a reliable brand of inverter, the catch being that I'd like to purchase from Amazon as I have a credit there for the 12v inverter I returned when I change my mind going from 12v to 24v.. Had a Renogy 12v but I can't find any Renogy inverters for 24v systems on Amazon.. Seems Giandel is fairly recognized in the forum any other brands on Amazon have a fair reputation?

I'm not looking for something to run a household of stuff, but I might use a 1000w power tool here or there.. Thinking about 2000-3000w rating. Again, 2000-3000w would be a good 2x what I expect to use on an irregular basis, and probably 10x what I expect to use on a semi-regular basis.

 

[Alice2021]

GIANDEL has 24V 2000,3000w,4000W pure sine wave inverter on amazon, all of their reviews are very good.

 

[Diysolar123]

well, if it was for a boat I would recommend a victron...because anybody with a boat already has deep pockets hehe

that said I have one of the giandel 24V units that that I have used for a very short time (not because there is anything wrong with it but because it is a backup in case my mppsolar decides to die). It worked fine right out of the box, scoped the power output and it looked ok.
It is a fraction of the cost of an aims or victron but here is the tricky part; you want to know how it is doing after it has been running for a year or two!
I had an aims charger/inverter than ran for years without a single issue (so old it had no settings that could support lifepo4). It was big and heavy (LF inverter) but did a good job.

I guess the TLDR (too long didn't read) is this:
1) its much much cheaper than the known "good stuff" and is not complete junk right out of the box
2)do not trust the reviews on amazon
3)keep asking here for someone that has actually had to rely on one for at least a year

 

[williamolyolson]

Yeah, thanks for the input, pretty much the response I expected so far. Seems I'm going to be rolling the dice on anything that isn't immediately out of my desired budget. After reading reviews here and there and everywhere it seems there aren't any sure bets in the cheap inverter market. Some folks have the cheapies fail out of the box, some run for years fully loaded at rated capacity. Cheap = Lack of QA at the factory, chances for under-rated internal components and high likelihood of faulty assembly. So I'll have to be careful when it arrives and crack it open to check for defects and potential issues before I power it up.
Given that, and the fact that AC power is probably the least important of my systems requirements, I guess I'll just find the best deal I can get while cyber monday is still in action.
Will keep you all posted, think I'll start a build thread here somewhere since I've yet to actually assemble anything and I'm still ordering some of the parts. Might be nice to chronicle it all from the start. Should be a fun one.

 

[Dzl]

Yeah, thanks for the input, pretty much the response I expected so far. Seems I'm going to be rolling the dice on anything that isn't immediately out of my desired budget. After reading reviews here and there and everywhere it seems there aren't any sure bets in the cheap inverter market.

This is my impression as well. Seems QA and cutting a few corners are part of how money is saved, meaning many people end up with a perfectly usable budget inverter, not comparable to a high end inverter but decent for the money, while other people lose the numbers game and get a dud or product that fails prematurely.

 

[Bvillebob]

The Samlex PST series of inverters are good quality high frequency pure sine wave inverters. Not as cheap as the no name stuff, but high quality for a little more money. I have their 1500 watt / 12 volt, it's a nice piece of gear.

 

[williamolyolson]

Yeah, there are quite a few better product lines out there I could choose from. Especially if I keep my usage needs down to a reasonable level. The more I think about it, I've not really "properly" spec'd out what my needs are for AC anyhow. I think I'll get a few devices and run some consumption tests on them and decide which ones I like/can live with first before I buy the inverter.. Properly informed decision making instead of dealing with the fallout of my impulse buying mouse finger... haha My item return trips are probably better served deciding what I don't want to try running off of an inverter(cheap or otherwise) anyhow.

 

[falgsc-al]

I have been relying on a 3500w Edecoa inverter off Amazon for about a year and a half now. No issues to report. Has a fan roar that can wake the dead, and will drop to ~60% efficiency when pushed hard but does not have voltage drop issues.

 

[williamolyolson]

I have been relying on a 3500w Edecoa inverter off Amazon for about a year and a half now. No issues to report. Has a fan roar that can wake the dead, and will drop to ~60% efficiency when pushed hard but does not have voltage drop issues.

Good to hear! Was looking at those guys, they seem to be built pretty decently, at least they appear to be well heat-sinked. Probably a fairly easy job to swap out the fan for something quieter with more airflow as well.

 

[falgsc-al]

Probably quite easily but I just moved mine where it could sing unnoticed. Ive been building out my off grid cabin and have used it non stop exc for some downtime days. Rats chewed my fridge wires, it didnt mind. Have overloaded it with a 2kw water heater and my coffee kettle... fans sang angrily but it eventually shut down. Ran 2 Midea inverter air conditioners all summer simultaneously. Harbor freight wire welder, saws galore.

 

[williamolyolson]

Wow, sounds like a winner to me! Will keep them on my candidate list for sure!

 

[redrockkevin]

Hello all, new to the forum, working on my second auto-mounted Solar setup.

Several years ago I took 400w of solar and 4 lead acid batteries(12v system) down to California on a Datsun pickup to do some gold mining. I'm currently working on my next incarnation of that setup on a 1978 Toyota Ez-Rider(toyota dolphin style rv), this time starting with 800w(probably going to 1600w later) of solar panels and a 24v Lifepo4 pack built using 32 of the 55ah SAB batteries from batteryhookup(have 16 now, ordering 16 more this coming month will be 8s4p).

I was originally designing a 12v system for it and then decided to move to 24v for obvious reasons(mainly the expense in charge controllers to handle the panels, but the other usual reasons apply as well).

I'm now searching for a reliable brand of inverter, the catch being that I'd like to purchase from Amazon as I have a credit there for the 12v inverter I returned when I change my mind going from 12v to 24v.. Had a Renogy 12v but I can't find any Renogy inverters for 24v systems on Amazon.. Seems Giandel is fairly recognized in the forum any other brands on Amazon have a fair reputation?

I'm not looking for something to run a household of stuff, but I might use a 1000w power tool here or there.. Thinking about 2000-3000w rating. Again, 2000-3000w would be a good 2x what I expect to use on an irregular basis, and probably 10x what I expect to use on a semi-regular basis.

If you have alababa wenzhou yika electric company has very good inverters shipping takes about 10 days prices are very good for the quality