Why Not Use AC Power for Thrusters and Windlasses?

[St. Elsewhere]

Originally Posted by blackswan555

They are pretty much the same as the other offerings by Trace Victron etc, A little better in some areas of performance, But OB's ruggidity, Customer service, (5 year guarantee, Have a fault, the replacement board is in the post next day) & field serviceability sells them for me,
Site, click products on top left Outback Power Inc. - Home / Inverter chargers / bottom of page is mobile/ marine, / Model you want / Bottom right of page is list of specs & manuals, Mobil / marine drop neutral, If you do not need that "Normal" VFX's will be fine (maybe cheaper :-))

Tim

I have Trace inverter/chargers that were installed in 1997. Trace was located in a very small town, Arlington, Washington, USA at that time. I clicked on the Outback link above and learned that Outback is also located in Arlington, and learned an interesting bit of Outback's history. "OutBack was founded in 2001 by three engineers with a long history of designing leading edge power electronics for renewable energy applications."

These guys may have designed my Trace inverters before Trace was acquired by Xantrex. My inverters have performed very well. I would certainly give Outback a close look if they are producing similar gear with several decades of advancements.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by blackswan555

Power boost, ? not sure what you are referring to ?
They are inverter/chargers with built in changeover switch, if you are running off batteries, They are an inverter DC to AC, If you have AC in, eg gen or shore power the are a charger AC to DC, There is also an aux out that if you do have electric start gen, it's parameters can be programmed (or shore power)
They are pretty much the same as the other offerings by Trace Victron etc, A little better in some areas of performance, But OB's ruggidity, Customer service, (5 year guarantee, Have a fault, the replacement board is in the post next day) & field serviceability sells them for me,
Site, click products on top left Outback Power Inc. - Home / Inverter chargers / bottom of page is mobile/ marine, / Model you want / Bottom right of page is list of specs & manuals, Mobil / marine drop neutral, If you do not need that "Normal" VFX's will be fine (maybe cheaper :-))

Tim

Power boost is a key function for our use. You can set the maximum amps you draw from shore power or generator and if demand exceeds this, the inverter will kick in to supplement the other AC source, synchronizing the phase. Like this you can "shave the peaks" and get away with a smaller genset or weaker shore power supply.

Do the Outback charger/inverters do this? Victron and Mastervolt do it.

[St. Elsewhere]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Power boost is a key function for our use. You can set the maximum amps you draw from shore power or generator and if demand exceeds this, the inverter will kick in to supplement the other AC source, synchronizing the phase. Like this you can "shave the peaks" and get away with a smaller genset or weaker shore power supply.

Do the Outback charger/inverters do this? Victron and Mastervolt do it.

Dock,

The programming manual for the Outback units is here. And the install manual is there. It does mention a SELL mode which I understand is used to push current AC into the power grid to make the KWH meeter turn in the opposite direction. if the grid is replaced with shore power or weak genset, it sounds like it would be doing the "power boost" thing. I don't know if it is the same, but it has to mean that the inverted power will synchronize with the AC input and flow in the reverse direction. It is not a function that I have ever used, although my Trace units also have a SELL mode.

[mitiempo]

Magnum has the feature you are looking for - they call it "Load Support"

Magnum Energy introduces new Hybrid inverter/chargers - Magnum Energy, Inc.

[blackswan555]

Will have to check on the firmware versions ( the early ones did not, I believe later stuff does, I have never used it) , OB call it generator support,

Do you guys use the "mobile" version's of inverters ? eg, Disconnects Neutral / ground from shore when on invert ? or "just normal" I find out if the "M"s do

I have Trace inverter/chargers that were installed in 1997. Trace was located in a very small town, Arlington, Washington, USA at that time. I clicked on the Outback link above and learned that Outback is also located in Arlington, and learned an interesting bit of Outback's history. "OutBack was founded in 2001 by three engineers with a long history of designing leading edge power electronics for renewable energy applications."

These guys may have designed my Trace inverters before Trace was acquired by Xantrex. My inverters have performed very well. I would certainly give Outback a close look if they are producing similar gear with several decades of advancements.

As far as I understand it was said engineer's that started Trace, The did not play well and some split and started Outback, I work on both and they are very similar in some ways, (Although I replace dead Trace / Xantrex with OB and not the other way round )

Tim

[GordMay]

History of Northwest Off-grid Inverter Companies ➥ MidNite Solar Inc. - History of Northwest Off-grid Inverter Companies

[St. Elsewhere]

Originally Posted by GordMay

History of Northwest Off-grid Inverter Companies ➥ MidNite Solar Inc. - History of Northwest Off-grid Inverter Companies

Gord,

Thanks for finding that story! I'm filing it with my Trace manuals.