Customer Reviews

Xantrex Technologies 813-1050 XPower Plus 1,200-Watt Inverter

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this inverter last year to install in our new Lance P/U camper for our trip of a lifetime to Alaska. Let me say the unit worked excellent. I installed the feed cables with #2 AWG after the first attempt with #8 left to much voltage drop to the unit. Like they tell you in the manual, DUH! Anyhow the unit worked flawlessly with our 19" Samsung HDTV, no retrace lines or any interference with the TV reception, something I was slightly worried about because of the "square sine" output of the unit. Using the unit for everyday AC uses, TV, laptop, digi camera and other chargers was perfect. We would often leave it on during our long day trips and everything would be charged when we got to our destinations. And while it did run our toaster and microwave, not at the same time, the unit would "whine" a bit while doing it. It does pull pretty hard on your battery according to your load. What I really like about the unit is the low amp draw in a no load condition, <0.4 A DC. Some other units pull at 1.5a or more in no load. My only wish was that it had a better remote shut off setup. The Xantrex remote SO setup only cuts off the output? Yeah shutin of your stuff does the same thing. But still I think its great.

This unit provides a "modified sine wave" which isn't very much like a sine wave at all. It works well for a limited number of load types and handles a lot of power. The built-in cooling fan does not come on very often and is not too noisy. It's a handy size for automotive or camping use.

I like the led bar graph which shows you what percentage of full power you are operating at and the numerical display that shows the input terminal voltage. It takes extremely little current when it's turned on but not energizing any equipment -- standby mode.

I noticed that the induction motors would run at a slower speed than what they do with true sine wave power from the utility power or a true sine wave inverter. Our refrigerator compressor would start fine with this unit but run noticeably slower. Our furnace blower motor would also run at a slower speed.

Right now this unit in in storage as a back up for our true sine wave inverter or for automotive use.

I wouldn't buy another "modified sine wave" unit again. I'd pay a little more for the true sine wave unit which does a lot more.

Good luck.

Good quality product and very efficient. Runs everthing well except I wish I had a sine wave inveter for transformers and motors. Great to have on hand for power outages.

I love my 1200 Plus. Having used several different types of inverters, including Xantrex true sine wave models, I can tell you that you will probably want the modified sine wave for most applications. Based on my experience, the true sine wave units are not as efficient and won't handle the same peak loads, especially if your battery bank drops to below 11.5 volts. Yes, your motors might not run at the same speed, but which would you rather have, continuous power or exact speed? I haven't found anything I need during a power outage that just won't run on this inverter, unless the equipment simply requires too much current.

I run the inverter on either a single 90AH marine/RV deep cycle battery or a bank of two or three. (I do not use the fancy batteries...I use the ones that cost $82 at my local car parts store.) One of the things you have to realize about deep cycle batteries is that they will start out at about 13.0 to 13.2 volts because of the "surface charge." They then drop very rapidly to about 12.1 volts before rising again to about 12.4 volts. (Think of it as the electrochemical reactions "getting started.") Some users will start the inverter, see the rapid drop, and then assume that they are screwed. Not true. Let it run for at least 15 minutes. Based on my experience with a 1 amp resistive load, you will then see the voltage drop by about 0.1 volts every 90-100 minutes. With a single battery, I can run a couple floor lamps (fluorescent) and a 27" flat-screen TV (for weather, news, and entertainment during power outages) for about 10-12 hours. Remember, that's using a SINGLE battery. The alarm sounds at 10.5 volts and then the unit will cut off about 90 minutes later at 10.0 volts. With two batteries, I can run several more items for the same period. With three batteries, I can basically run everything I need for about 24 hours, or longer if I'm turning equipment on and off as I use it.

I did not install the inverter and batteries permanently, since I want to be able to take them camping, lend them out, etc. Instead, I got standard 24" car battery cables with 5/16" ring terminals and several sets of 5/16" wingnuts and washers. I use a Schumacher 1.5 amp automatic charger/maintainer to keep them topped off, using a separate high-capacity charger only after using the batteries for several hours. If you do this, be sure to insulate the terminals with electrical tape so they can't rotate on the back of the inverter and possibly touch each other. With this configuration, I can hook them up as required, using as many batteries as I'll need. This takes a few minutes, but no tools are needed.

Be sure to keep the battery and cable terminals clean. Also, wipe off the batteries with a damp paper towel every so often to get rid of any fluids or condensation present. (Your clothes will thank you.) It's also a good idea to discharge the batteries to at least 50% ever few months and then recharge them. I do this by hooking up a DVD player, TV, and lamp and then watching a few movies.

Finally, try to avoid using a long extension cord and don't keep the equipment in a garage or in an outside shed. Extension cords use a lot of power and temperature extremes will reduce battery life and performance. I keep mine in the utility room (which is still a little warmer and more humid than I'd like).

I don't know what they do for quality control at this company. I bought this unit several years ago and left it in the box until such time as we had a power failure. I have a large fish tank that needs water to circulate, otherwise the fish will die. I keep a charged 12V battery in case the power goes out and when used with this type of inverter, it will power the pump for several days. Imagine my surprise when the time came to use it and it did not work. Luckily the power came on shortly afterward. Sad comment on this company though.