All i need is a simple answer about inverters

Being married to 12V, you will be hard pressed to find an inverter in the size you are looking for. The sponsor of this site has a store link at the top of this page and carry a good selection of inverters. They don’t carry “junk”. What charge controller are you using?

I'd pretty much go with rick, Outback also makes a quality 2800 watt inverter, the Samlex 3000 watt is the cheapest thing I'd buy (and I wouldn't try to support an inverter above 2000 watt on 12 volts unless it was for a specific issue, like starting a washing machine while using a toaster oven, I would not try to run anything above 2000 watts continuously, and perhaps you're not?) but Understand why Quality inverter manufacturers don't make high out put inverter that draw from a 12 volt source. It's simply bad engineering... Please note if you only have 1 solar controller, you likely don't have large enough array to support a continuous 2500 watt load. But perhaps you understand that you'll be running a generator A LOT!

Lecture, about why it's cheaper to run a 48 volt system, for other reading the forum and might think this is recommended, please ignore at your own peril/expense;

You say "...but that's all my solar controller can handle"
To run a continuous 2500 watt load during sunny days, during peak sun hours (about 4-5 each day), you would likely want at LEAST a 4000 watt solar array! for a 12 volt charge controller you would need one that could handle 4000/12 x .75 = 250 amps, There is not a quality off grid controller I am aware of, currently being built that can handle more than 100 amps, So you'll want 3 of those, getting expensive yet?  You understand that it would only require 1 of those if you use a 48 volt inverter, at $850 each that's a lot of money toward a quality 48 volt inverter!

...and you know all about running multiple strings of batteries, even large fork lift and traction batteries would likely need to be run in multiple strings to support a large 12 volt inverter. and then there is a large investment in very heavy copper wire for all the connections Particularly at high wattage output, and you know to keep your inverter very near your batteries, voltage sag will be a real problem with low DC voltage, and you should fuse those runs for safety...

The only reason we 'lecture' is that we don't want you to design a system destine to fail, or that is unnecessarily expensive, a quality 48 volt inverter will cost you about the same and you will save on charge controller(s), wiring and fuses. We really don't harp and we're all pretty cheap.

If I could build my system from scratch I would have gone for a 48 volt system. I had the battery already and it would be unlikely to bring much of anything for a 1100lb used forklift battery that the nearest person would have to travel 40+ miles to pick up. You might be in the same situation. but more likely you have several strings of 6 volt batteries and could put them in parallel for 24 volt use.

You can certainly design a system where you will run a generator a lot, it makes more sense cost wise for a backup system...

jpatton98 said:

Hey guys
All i need is a simple answer.  I know what wattage inverter I need, 2500 to 3000 watt continuous load.
My issue is, No one seems to know what truly good quality inverter means. 
I want a PSW inverter. I want one that can and will hold up. All these chinese inverters and so called US made inverters are simply all made of cheap plastic crap.

Outback VFX2812.  Or if you are into antiques, see if you can find a Trace SW2512 on Ebay.