Inverters - Experiences please

DRDreamer72

Member
Nov 17, 2014
204
7
18
Hi,
I am considering adding an Invertor to the house electrics to deal with those pesky blackouts that have become more frequent here in LT.

Seems I can easily get units made by:
- Phase II
- YKAN
- Tracer

Has anyone any experience, good or bad of these and any recommendations?

At the moment I want to avoid shipping a unit in.

Ta
Roy
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
113
Santiago DR
Stick with Tracer, a little more money but well worth it..........
I just replaced the one I had with a Tracer, glad I did.......
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
32,471
5,902
113
dr1.com
While I agree that Tracer is a superior brand, I have 6 no-name brand inverters built by a local guy and I haven't had any problems yet, either. Oldest is only five years old though.
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
113
Santiago DR
While I agree that Tracer is a superior brand, I have 6 no-name brand inverters built by a local guy and I haven't had any problems yet, either. Oldest is only five years old though.

It's gone 5 years without a problem, sounds like a winner to me........
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
5,808
946
113
19 years with a Trace - one minor problem, repair was fast by Trace shop in Santiago.

Those "Home" brand ones usually do not have all the features and adjustments that Trace has for the batteries and charge rates.
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,450
3,590
113
When Trace goes on you won't even notice that it is on. Way superior to any other brand and well worth the difference.
 

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,479
731
113
Is Tracer a rip off brand from Trace?

The proper Trace inverters are excellent, but expensive. Buy the most expensive one you can afford, it's a worthwhile investment. I paid RDS90,000 ten years ago for a pure sine wave 5kva. Never a single glitch. It automatically conditions the batteries too, using a temperature probe to prevent over charging and boiling them.

In case you don't know, the pure sine wave inverters make sure your appliances receive a nice clean AC power supply, and they are more efficient as a result. They also stop your fans from humming when you're running on batteries.
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,450
3,590
113
I am talking about the long standing brand. Whether it is called Trace or Tracer I really don't know. But baeeza has a point, get the right one.
 
Jan 9, 2004
10,890
2,215
113
Trace is a discontinued brand of Xantrex.

Any new inverters still being sold under the brand name Trace are likely old stock or knockoffs.

Your choice of inverter should likely be based on the anticipated usage.

I have had a Dominican generic for almost ten years with no problems. But it gets limited use due to the house being on an "A" circuit.

Whatever unit you choose......buy good batteries. IMHO that is far more important than the inverter itself.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
 

popeye

Bronze
Jan 22, 2016
609
0
0
to me a reliable invertor is the most important. good batteries are important but do nothing if the invertor goes bad. buy a good . buy a good European brand,
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,087
5,913
113
TRACE was purchased years ago by a company called XANTREX.

http://www.xantrex.com/

If you are seeing real TRACE inverters for sale they are new old stock. If you are seeing TRACE batteries, TRACE never made batteries. They are just some knock offs sold here.
Get your batteries at La Sirena if possible. I only purchase Trojan Red batteries. (Trojan never made a black battery, but they are another knock off counterfeit sold here.)

I have switched from TRACE inverters to WAVE series inveters from MEGATONE/INVERLUZ. I find them to be equivalent in performance to the old TRACE DR series and far less expensive to both purchase and repair.

http://megatonerd.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=category&virtuemart_category_id=25
 
Last edited:

Casino127

Member
Jan 13, 2012
230
7
18
I have an EASY POWER 5500watts that i bought in Sosua in 2006 with 8 red Trojan battery. Works first class. My first set of Trojan lasted 6 years. I resold my old ones 800 pesos each. Got new ones on special at la Sirena in POP. 5250 pesos. Ifilled them with bottelon water every 6 months.
 

popeye

Bronze
Jan 22, 2016
609
0
0
keep care of the batteries like a forklift and they last a long time. I would put a continuous water system on batteries like some forklifts have. Someday when I hook my invertor back up.
 

ssarkas

Member
Oct 9, 2007
120
2
18
xantrex are great. batteries will last 4 or 5 yrs. buy trojen red batteries. don't buy too big of an inverter.seperate your large appliences off the circuit. ie. fridge-microwave. learn to live with basics when inverter on
 

ssarkas

Member
Oct 9, 2007
120
2
18
xantrex 458 freedom 1500 watt 12 volt with 4, 6 volt trojan reds works good for me. I wont say how long the batteries have lasted cause nobody will believe it.
 

jstarebel

Silver
Oct 4, 2013
3,330
333
83
Hi,
I am considering adding an Invertor to the house electrics to deal with those pesky blackouts that have become more frequent here in LT.

Seems I can easily get units made by:
- Phase II
- YKAN
- Tracer

Has anyone any experience, good or bad of these and any recommendations?

At the moment I want to avoid shipping a unit in.

Ta
Roy

It's best that you do a little research into how big your inverter needs to be and battery bank size. you will need to think about what will be powered off of the inverter. Battery chargers, and sensitive electronics including some televisions and duel voltage electronics will need clean power. Inverters are available in modified sine wave or pure (true) sine wave output. pure sine wave inverters are more expensive but deliver clean power and wont burn out from being connected to sensitive electronic devices. Also look at the inverters you are looking at buying and check how efficiency stacks up. anything less than 90% is unacceptable. Also look at the no load amp draw of the inverter to see what it will be drawing off of the batteries with no load. Below is a link to an inverter/battery bank calculator. Don't go cheap on your inverter / battery selection. you will regret it.

http://electrical-engineering-porta...tware/calculate-size-of-battery-bank-inverter
 

Ecoman1949

Born to Ride.
Oct 17, 2015
2,794
1,301
113
I have an EASY POWER 5500watts that i bought in Sosua in 2006 with 8 red Trojan battery. Works first class. My first set of Trojan lasted 6 years. I resold my old ones 800 pesos each. Got new ones on special at la Sirena in POP. 5250 pesos. Ifilled them with bottelon water every 6 months.

Rainwater will enhance battery life. It's like distilled water, free of minerals that cause mineral salts in batteries. It's free.