Possibly the worst inverter in the world

Cariboocoot
Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
in Solar Product Reviews & Opinions #1
Maybe we should present an award:

http://www.globalspec.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail/InvertersRUs/AIMS_8000_Watt_Inverter/87234/0

AIMS 8000 Watts @ 12 Volts! Surge to 16,000 Watts? "Internal fuse protected" - How did they get that 1500 Amp fuse in there? Oh; you connect it with four sets of wires. Yes; that's certainly safe. Not!

Am I crazy? (Well, yes but ...) Or is this the most idiotic design ever? :confused:

Go ahead: tell me there's something worse.

From another site on the same inverter:
"This inverter requires 4 sets of 2 gauge cable if you are going to run at 8000 watts. You can use 4 sets of 4 gauge if you are going to run 7500 watt or less."

But at least they have it on sale for $849 (reg $1399)
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Comments

  • TnAndy
    TnAndy Solar Expert Posts: 249 ✭✭
    #2
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world

    Hey......remember, just when you think you've seen it all, a new day dawns. :D
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  • Kamala
    Kamala Solar Expert Posts: 452 ✭✭
    #3
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world

    Hey... Come on... An on/off switch is one it's "features."
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  • dwh
    dwh Solar Expert Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world

    Doesn't say anything about being a battery charger - so why the PWM?
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  • vcallaway
    vcallaway Solar Expert Posts: 157 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world

    I own an inverter and a transfer switch made by AIMS. There stuff is not top shelf but has worked as advertised.

    The automatic transfer switch I bought works great and has made power outages a non issue. The inverter I have is a 300 watt sine wave that I use to power studio strobe lights. Never had an issue.

    I don't know anything about this inverter, not sure I will ever need to. 8,000 watts is more than I need for my whole house with everything running at once.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world

    Yes, I should have clarified why I think this unit is bad, in case it wasn't obvious to all.

    It's the sheer amount of Wattage they expect to pull from a 12 Volt system:
    8000 W / 10.5 LVCO = 760+ Amps, not including losses. That is a dangerously high amount of current at any voltage. Attempting to mitigate this by using four separate wires (and one would assume fuses) thus dividing the current down to less than 200 A per, is not a sensible solution. It seems to me there would be a potential danger should one of those four parallel wires suffer a bad connection for whatever reason, especially at peak Wattage. The current load would shift to the other three, and on the output side you may not notice so much as a flicker of light (a standard inverter would likely register a fault if this happened and the lights would flicker). Under such circumstances, the loose connection could spark until something caught fire without having given the slightest warning that something has gone wrong.

    For comparison: the Xantrex 6048 is 6000 Watts and runs from 48 VDC. Its DC current rating is 130 Amps.

    I could be completely wrong on this, but it seems to me that asking 8 kW out of 12 V and running the current through four parallel circuits is a very bad and unsafe idea. It would be better to simply have four separate 12 V 2000 Watt inverters, especially as the maximum output per AC outlet (4 of them) is 1500 Watts (yet it claims "66 AC amps").

    Another link to it: http://www.theinverterstore.com/the-inverter-store-product.php?model=pwrinv8kw12v#

    I imagine a 300 Watt inverter by the same company would pose no such hazard.
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  • john p
    john p Solar Expert Posts: 814 ✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world

    it certainly has a few faults.. but mabe not the worst inverter. As I think I bought that one some time ago in the Philippines.. it was rated 1000 watts continuous but could only put out 380 watts.. it had tiny plastic screw on terminals. like the ones you see on the backs of cheap speaker boxes.. no metal inserts.. the input connecting wire I would rate at about 20a ans the same for the tiny alligator battery clips. it also had a current draw of 3 amps on idle..

    But eventually I found a use for it I took the transformer out and made a nice batery charger from it..
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  • Ralph Day
    Ralph Day Solar Expert Posts: 1,022 ✭✭✭✭
    #8
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world

    Remember,

    Marc did say "Possibly the worst inverter in the world". Possibly opens up the thread to entertaining possibilities.;)

    Ralph
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  • john p
    john p Solar Expert Posts: 814 ✭✭✭
    #9
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world

    Well I think my possibly just ranks above his possibly so far..
    His may put out something like the claimed wattage if connected to about 20 very large truck batteries wired in parallel
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  • dwh
    dwh Solar Expert Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭
    #10
    Re: Possibly the worst inverter in the world
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    It would be better to simply have four separate 12 V 2000 Watt inverters, especially as the maximum output per AC outlet (4 of them) is 1500 Watts (yet it claims "66 AC amps").

    4 inputs, 4 outputs - maybe it *is* 4 separate inverters in one box.
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