I just purchased a Xantrax SW 3000, one of the older models, it is the best inverter i have used so far, it can run 6000W for 10 secs, and is way more powerful then my other 3000W eliminator inverter, it can start my big 20 Gal air compressor with out a problem at all, and has a .5 or lower draw with no load on it. great video btw, i love your geek vids!
That's a great inverter, don't let it go! The only real problem with them is that they're difficult to repair and I've seen a lot of broken ones for sale, so they do seem to fail more often than would be optimal for an inverter priced at that level.
thanks, Ill treat it well hope it last 10+ years, so far the power output is beautiful, had it hooked to a 1250Ah battery bank and 1000W of solar, ran 4500W for 10 mins without fail so far :D
You know, I didn't even consider that! Now I'm interested to know if the PW3500-12 is just a PW6000-12 without the aux board. If I were engineering these products that's what I would do. However this 'half inverter', while a nice one, isn't actually capable of 3500W...
Quick for those fuses: Ford started using those instead of fusable links in most vehicles (Taurus, Escape for sure) around early 2000s. They remotely mounted them in nice little weatherproof cases with threaded posts. My local junkyard lets me have them for a few bucks. Much higher quality than ebay cheapies.
I have a Aims 12,000 Watt 48V 120/240VAC PS Inverter Charger PICOGLF120W48V240VS and have had it for 5 years now with no problems I think you might of got a bad one but I never had any problem with mine
Knurlgar, You seem to be one of the best informed on these topics of the folks that I watch. Perhaps the thing that I enjoy about you reviews is that you do not present the "Look at what a genius I am for buying the Acme anvil/vegetable slicer/ solar panel/ metric crescent wrench that I got one hell of a deal on". My question is if you were to buy a 5000-6000 watt true sine inverter in today's market, which would you select? I MAY try to run this on a dedicated power breaker box now only used for emergencies with a Sun Force 2500 watt inverter. It works OK, but I have not maxed it beyond a couple of tests. I am also wasting my solar power once my batteries are at float. I have 2- 300 watt and 1 -1000 watt grid ties that I can put into both legs of house power off of the batteries, but I have to watch the battery draw. I have used mechanical timers with some success but still can milk down batteries with several cloudy days. Can you recommend an idiot proof device that will only dump to the grid if my batteries are charged first. I am using 8 NAPA deep cycle batteries and have 600 watts of solar, all 12 volt. I have a Trace C60 controller and am "over-cabled" with #2 welding cable.
I have this exact inverter, and the top is blown but the bottom is fine. You stated that you wanted to remove a few of the green resistors. How many did you remove? And what would happen if I didn't remove them?
Hmm. I don't remember a specific tool being required. If you'd point to to a specific time in this video I could take a look at it and refresh my memory.
mikep95133 The comment about not having the 'proper equipment' to test components relates to the snubber circuits that are destroyed on this board. I would need a decent oscope to verify that my replacement snubbers are working as required, and/or I would need to dismount and test the values of the snubber components on the still good board. That would require a decent LCR meter.
I just had a doxin 2000w 'solar power inverter' blow its battery charging side. needless to say it never did 2000w, it can do about 1000w, and i would not trust it for above 800w for long periods, but it was £99/$180. also the charging side says it chargers your pack at 20amps, no, no it didnt, 10amp maybe.. oddly the pcb was marked with 1000-15 which maybe means 1000w 15 amp charge, and i did find in the charging side only 1 of two mosfets fitted. will be doing a repair video soon
That's good info on a doxin brand inverter. I haven't seen one in person but what you describe is pretty typical of what I see in some of these low end units.
The higher battery voltage inverters are typically more efficient, but it depends on the design. Some 24V inverters are less efficient than 12V models. A well designed 24V inverter typically has an efficiency around 2% greater than the comparable 12V model.
Hi knurlgnar, ive been watching your videos and I am pretty impressed by your knowledge of inverter circuitry especially for someone that does this as a hobby .I have a tech question that i want to ask you but it involves me uploading a pic of the circuit board of a 2000W inverter, need help identifying the pwm I.C that drives the FET's on the DC side .Can you give me your email address or a site i can upload it .
I just purchased a Xantrax SW 3000, one of the older models, it is the best inverter i have used so far, it can run 6000W for 10 secs, and is way more powerful then my other 3000W eliminator inverter, it can start my big 20 Gal air compressor with out a problem at all, and has a .5 or lower draw with no load on it. great video btw, i love your geek vids!
That's a great inverter, don't let it go! The only real problem with them is that they're difficult to repair and I've seen a lot of broken ones for sale, so they do seem to fail more often than would be optimal for an inverter priced at that level.
thanks, Ill treat it well hope it last 10+ years, so far the power output is beautiful, had it hooked to a 1250Ah battery bank and 1000W of solar, ran 4500W for 10 mins without fail so far :D
@@GoingOffGrid101 10 years later… Did it last?
@@TechHowden I used UT for 4 years and sold it moved to 48v
Pretty decent salvage of a defunct unit. I like that. rc
Greetings. Where do you buy the components?. You know transistors and the other things.
I wonder if the fan not running all the time had anything to do with it, I noticed most inverters the fan is almost running constantly
you have officially turned a PW6000-12 into a PW3500-12
You know, I didn't even consider that! Now I'm interested to know if the PW3500-12 is just a PW6000-12 without the aux board. If I were engineering these products that's what I would do. However this 'half inverter', while a nice one, isn't actually capable of 3500W...
Quick for those fuses: Ford started using those instead of fusable links in most vehicles (Taurus, Escape for sure) around early 2000s. They remotely mounted them in nice little weatherproof cases with threaded posts. My local junkyard lets me have them for a few bucks. Much higher quality than ebay cheapies.
That's a good tip - lots of vehicles have those and they're probably not a high demand part at the auto recyclers.
I have a Aims 12,000 Watt 48V 120/240VAC PS Inverter Charger PICOGLF120W48V240VS and have had it for 5 years now with no problems I think you might of got a bad one but I never had any problem with mine
Also have an aims 5kw 48v msw for 9 years and still going strong.
Knurlgar, You seem to be one of the best informed on these topics of the folks that I watch. Perhaps the thing that I enjoy about you reviews is that you do not present the "Look at what a genius I am for buying the Acme anvil/vegetable slicer/ solar panel/ metric crescent wrench that I got one hell of a deal on". My question is if you were to buy a 5000-6000 watt true sine inverter in today's market, which would you select? I MAY try to run this on a dedicated power breaker box now only used for emergencies with a Sun Force 2500 watt inverter. It works OK, but I have not maxed it beyond a couple of tests. I am also wasting my solar power once my batteries are at float. I have 2- 300 watt and 1 -1000 watt grid ties that I can put into both legs of house power off of the batteries, but I have to watch the battery draw. I have used mechanical timers with some success but still can milk down batteries with several cloudy days. Can you recommend an idiot proof device that will only dump to the grid if my batteries are charged first. I am using 8 NAPA deep cycle batteries and have 600 watts of solar, all 12 volt. I have a Trace C60 controller and am "over-cabled" with #2 welding cable.
I am also interested in if you were to buy a 5000-6000 watt pure sine inverter which you would get/recommend as one of the best.
Well, if you find another one maybe you can make one good one out of the lot.
That's a good thought. These are pretty nice inverters (for the price) when they're working properly.
I have this exact inverter, and the top is blown but the bottom is fine. You stated that you wanted to remove a few of the green resistors. How many did you remove? And what would happen if I didn't remove them?
Did I understand right that you needed a specific tool to repair the 2nd board that was left out? Which tool?
Hmm. I don't remember a specific tool being required. If you'd point to to a specific time in this video I could take a look at it and refresh my memory.
Near the beginning, starting at 0:33.
mikep95133
The comment about not having the 'proper equipment' to test components relates to the snubber circuits that are destroyed on this board. I would need a decent oscope to verify that my replacement snubbers are working as required, and/or I would need to dismount and test the values of the snubber components on the still good board. That would require a decent LCR meter.
i did the same thing on a inverter like this pulled out the bad side and just ran the good side
I just had a doxin 2000w 'solar power inverter' blow its battery charging side.
needless to say it never did 2000w, it can do about 1000w, and i would not trust it for above 800w for long periods, but it was £99/$180.
also the charging side says it chargers your pack at 20amps, no, no it didnt, 10amp maybe..
oddly the pcb was marked with 1000-15 which maybe means 1000w 15 amp charge, and i did find in the charging side only 1 of two mosfets fitted.
will be doing a repair video soon
That's good info on a doxin brand inverter. I haven't seen one in person but what you describe is pretty typical of what I see in some of these low end units.
are the higher voltage like 24v more efficient?
The higher battery voltage inverters are typically more efficient, but it depends on the design. Some 24V inverters are less efficient than 12V models. A well designed 24V inverter typically has an efficiency around 2% greater than the comparable 12V model.
Hi knurlgnar, ive been watching your videos and I am pretty impressed by your knowledge of inverter circuitry especially for someone that does this as a hobby .I have a tech question that i want to ask you but it involves me uploading a pic of the circuit board of a 2000W inverter, need help identifying the pwm I.C that drives the FET's on the DC side .Can you give me your email address or a site i can upload it .