Cheap Inverters, Modified Sine Wave, Is it really cheap?

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Cheap Inverters,

Have you ever heard the old saying, “You get what you pay for”? Most of
the time this is a true statement. And the same goes for inverters. Most of
the time if it is cheap, it really is cheap. But then again, “If you don’t
buy nothing, you don’t have nothing”. So even a cheap inverter is better
then nothing. It will keep a light on in a black out by just hooking it to your
truck or car battery. How do you put a price on that?

I have bought a few inverters for personal use and the toughest work horse inverter at low cost
are the modified sine wave inverters by Husky. I say this because it has a very strong case and
is built for a job site. I would not want to use it full time for drilling, sawing or any other type of
device with and motor but as a backup or when there is no power at the job site modified sine
wave is better then drilling or sawing by hand. I have dropped it and banged it around some.
Even hooked the clips backwards and got a big spark but did not hurt it. I still have it setting on
the shelf for just in-case it is needed.

I as well have a 2000 watt modified sine wave inverter by Coleman inverters (looks a lot like the
Husky brand inverter to me, hmm?). I used it to power part of my home for about a year. I
bought a Xantrex Prosine 2.0 true sine wave with built in charger and transfer switch as a
replacement. So the Coleman was put back in the box and set on the shelf as a backup if
needed. Coleman inverters gets a big green check mark in my book for a good low cost
inverters.

One of the first inverters I bought was a 1200 watt modified sine wave by Power Bright, this
inverter was not what I had hopped for. I was thinking 1200 watt inverters would take care of
most needs. I was using it to run a small 150 watt fan to blow a breeze on me while working in
my little shop building and it just quit working. I got lucky and was able to send it back at my
expense and after a month or two I got a new one by UPS. This one did the same thing in less
then a months time. Just like the first one, It was pulling a small load and just stopped working. I
never could get a reply to my emails or find a phone number to talk to anyone to get this one
fixed and warranty matters are handled by the manufacture. Lost money on that one. Big RED
X takes this one and a Thumbs Down for power bright inverter.

Radio Shack inverters, I have a 300 watt Radio Shack inverter with Radio Shack stamped right
on the top of it. Cost about 30 dollars USD. Has been a great little item. No problems at all from
it. It runs my laptop in the truck and charges cell phones and has ran a fan and some lighting. I
later noticed that Xantrex was the maker of these inverters. Well Xantrex is a top of the line
brand name so now I understand. So I give that one a big green check mark. Made a good
deal on that one and still have it under my truck seat.

So when you start thinking about getting an inverter don’t buy the first one you see. Take a
little time and see if has a good brand in inverters. Not just something that someone found
over seas for low a cost if they buy a pallet or two of them. Really hard to get them fix or
replaced if you can’t find where they came from. Or you could pick a fight with the retailer
which will tell you to go to the manufacture for warranties.

For my recommendations. I like Xantrex inverters and charge controllers because they are one
of the top of the line brands in the field at fair prices. OutBack has a great product line
including inverters, but a little on the pricey side, however well worth the money. Using either of
these two brands you can’t go wrong. Oh yeah. Outback has about the best support you can
find. Answered my questions in seconds flat. Xantrex is not quite so easy to deal with but you
can at some point get your support problems taken care of. You can find my complaints from a
couple of years back in the Xantrex support forum on the internet about the lack of support
and questions I had on their inverters setup.

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