Inverters

[richard waters]

Chuck,
I have a TC40 and PortaWatz 800 from Statpower. I bought them as refurbished
units last Spring.

The PortaWatz is a modified sine wave inverter IIRC. I run a 25" TV, VCR and DVD
player. The TV and DVD player work just fine. The VCR (a very cheap one) has a
slight buzz in the audio. It seems the better quality electronics work better
with the cheap inverters.

I have the inverter wired to all the AC outlets in the coach. I added a few
extra AC outlets to handle the VCR and TV. I have a relay that I got from
Grainger to automatically switch from the inverter to shore power or the Onan. I
installed the inverter in a empty compartment by the Onan in the rear. I have
the remote on/off switch to control the inverter. It's a good setup for me.
Richard Waters '76 PB, Troy, MI

> Good morning all:
>
> Went to the Statpower site to check out their good deals, and they do have
> some nice prices with the C$ going furthur into the tank, good for US bad for
> u. The refurb inverters are modified sine wave inverters.
>
> Question: Are the modified sine wave devices okay for CD players, DVD
> players and TVs?
>
> Thanks
>
> Chuck D
> Stillwater Mn
> 40 something windy and cloudy (must be the weekend)

 

[david l greenberg]

On Sat, 13 May 2000 18:42:39 -0400 Richard Waters
writes:
I run a 25" TV,

Double WoW! Where do you place this big TV? On second thought how about
making it do double duty..it could be your dining room table too! I tried
a 19" between the seats up front and jan compalined she had to shoe horn
herself into her seat and she is a wee girl!

David Lee Greenberg
GMC Motorhome Registry
200 MacFarlane Drive
Delray Beach, FL 33483-6829
http://www.gmcss.com/registry.htm

 

[henry davis]

>Good morning all:
>
>Went to the Statpower site to check out their good deals, and they do have
>some nice prices with the C$ going furthur into the tank, good for US bad for
>u. The refurb inverters are modified sine wave inverters.
>
>Question: Are the modified sine wave devices okay for CD players, DVD
>players and TVs?

Chuck,

The modified sine wave products will power pretty much any piece of AC
equipment that consumes less power than the inverter is rated to produce.

Whether or not they are "okay" for audio and video equipment depends.
First, as a general rule better equipment uses better power supply
circuitry so that electrical noise is rejected before it gets into the
audio or video circuits. (The modified sine wave inverters generate what
looks like electrical noise relative to 60Hz). However, this is not always
the case. Some cheap Chinese imports reject noise pretty well, while some
expensive equipment does poorly. So, it all depends on your individual
piece of gear.

Also, what is okay for one person may be objectionable to another - I may
not be able to see the interference on your TV while it may be very
noticeable to you.

I chose to use a 12V auto stereo/CD player in our GMC. IT's much simpler to
filter DC than it is to correct a poorly performing AC powered product. I
use a PC with a DVD player to play movies - also no noise problems there
since the sound and video cards are designed to work in a noisy
environment. TV is displayed on an LCD display driven by the PC.

Henry

 

[richard waters]

David,
Sorry, I was tired when I wrote that. Actually, (I just went out and
measured) it is a 20" or 21" screen. Not quite the 25" that I said I had.
That must have been wishful thinking on my part. Max Pardy at Buskirk told
me he has a customer that is having a 60" or so projection TV installed in a
stretch GMC.

Yes the TV takes up much of the space between the seats. I do enjoy the
bigger picture and it is really not that bad for my wife to navigate in order
to take her seat.

The bigger screen makes it much easier to watch DVD movies in letterbox
format.

Richard

> On Sat, 13 May 2000 18:42:39 -0400 Richard Waters

> I run a 25" TV,
>
> Double WoW! Where do you place this big TV? On second thought how about
> making it do double duty..it could be your dining room table too! I tried
> a 19" between the seats up front and jan compalined she had to shoe horn
> herself into her seat and she is a wee girl!
>
> David Lee Greenberg
> GMC Motorhome Registry
> 200 MacFarlane Drive
> Delray Beach, FL 33483-6829
> http://www.gmcss.com/registry.htm