What Type of Power Inverter is Right For You?

Choosing a power inverter that correctly fits your needs can be quite a challenge. After all, the product itself is confusing and since they can be quite expensive, choosing the wrong type can be a costly mistake. The first thing to do is to get a solid idea of what you want to use the power inverter for. If you just want it to run some simple electronics while driving your car, then you can probably just get a cheap one that plugs into your cigarette lighter. Obviously there is no need for a true sine wave inverter if you are only running simple electronics.

The process gets more difficult when you plan to run electronics directly from your car battery. You have to choose a product that can withstand the current that your battery can give you. In addition you will want to use the lowest wattage power inverter that you can so that you don't drain your battery any faster than you have to. Check how many watts the electronics you plan to use need to run, add a small percentage extra, and start looking for inverters in that wattage range.

It seems that a lot of people intend to run televisions from their car or boat batteries. This can be great fun for camping and boating in places where you wouldn't typically find television (and video games). However, it may not be much fun if you drain your car battery and can't leave the campsite. Make sure you periodically run your car's engine to recharge the battery. This is especially important if you are running a strong power inverter that is capable of over 500 watts as they can drain a battery especially fast.

Brad Allmendinger is an entrepreneur and an electronics wiz. For more information regarding power inverters and how to choose one, go to this power inverter website.

How a Simple Pallet Inverter Crossed the Sea

The Pallet inverter is different, because where by the end of the 50's most useful bits of large mechanical devices were already coming to the conclusion of their evolution and were now simply being refined, the pallet inverter was hardly on the horizon.

In fact the load turner, which had been no more than a machine that flipped over agriculture bags, was not seen in the warehouse and distribution environment for many years.

The first recognizable free-standing pallet inverter was developed in Norfolk in around 1976 built using the hydraulics salvaged from a dustcart! The concept proved very popular with ICI Fertilizers who bought at least 60 rotators for their distribution stores and factories throughout the country. The use of the machines cut their pallet losses enormously and helped to contain spillages in the warehouse.

But what is a pallet inverter and how did it cross the sea. Well it is a machine used when a pallet that has goods stacked on it needs to be removed without the goods themselves having to be unstacked and re-stacked. The idea is quite simple. A fork lift of hand truck is used to load the broken or unwanted pallet with it's load still intact into the inverter. A new pallet is then placed on top of the stack of goods and the whole lot is clamped and turned 180 degrees. This means the new pallet is now holding the weight of the stack and the old one can be removed and disposed of or used elsewhere.

It's true that pallet inverters of a type good be found in the United State but those from Norfolk were soon to cross the sea and capture the market. Premier Pallet Systems were one of the early companies to build on the need for a quality pallet inverter that didn't need replacing often. So they packed up their first machine with the love and care of sending off a loved one and so was born an international trade that has seen many hundreds of pallet inverters cross all seas to every continent and most countries in the world.

The truth is that as the developing world starts to flex its manufacturing muscle pallet inverters can be seen in countries as far from Norfolk England as Malaysia, India and Australia.

More information about Pallet Inverters

Frank L Garsome has been writing about industrial machinery for many years. He as a particular interest in pallet inverters. He writes for the UK blog Pallet Inverters

Introduction to Inverters

In the context of renewable energy, an inverter is a device that will convert DC battery voltage into mains type AC power.

Most medium to large scale solar power systems are designed to power everything from mains type AC voltages "inverted" from the DC battery bank. The advantage this gives us is that we can purchase conventional appliances from an electrical retailer. An energy efficient light globe can be somewhat expensive in a 12 Volt DC version and having a 24 or 48 volt lighting system makes finding a suitable light bulb even more difficult.

Inverter ratings

The three ratings that you should look at when buying an inverter are:

1. Continuous Rating: This is the amount of power you could expect to use continuously without the inverter overheating and shutting down.

2. Half Hour Rating: This is handy as the continuous rating may be too low to run a high energy consumption power tool or appliance, however if the appliance was only to be used occasionally then the half hour rating may well suffice.

3. Surge Rating: A high surge is required to start some appliances and once running they may need considerably less power to keep functioning. The inverter must be able to hold its surge rating for at least 5 seconds. TVs and refrigerators are examples of items that require only relatively low power once running, but require a high surge to start.

Types of inverters

There are basically two types of inverters: modified sine wave (aka modified square wave) and true sine wave. The differences between these two types of inverters are subtle but significant in the way they operate.

Modified sine wave inverters

A modified sine wave inverter can adequately power some household appliances and power tools. It is cheaper, but may present certain compromises with some loads such as computers, microwave ovens, laser printers, clocks and cordless tool chargers. Virtually all low cost inverters are "modified sine wave". A modified sine wave is easier and cheaper to produce than a sine wave inverter.

These low cost inverters are generally available from electrical stores, hardware stores, automotive store and electronic suppliers. They usually lack many features such as auto-start or any type of tweaking ability. The devices are usually only about 70% efficient, so expect some significant power losses if you are using a modified sine wave inverter in your system.

True Sine wave inverters

A true sine wave inverter is designed to replicate and even improve the quality of electricity supplied by utility companies. To operate higher-end electronic equipment, a true sine wave inverter is recommended. Efficiency has reached up to about 94% and the electricity from these devices is of a higher quality than grid power almost anywhere in the world.

A high quality inverter will include:

* An auto-start system. An auto start allows an inverter to switch to a low power consumption standby state when nothing is connected and turned on. This will save you a lot of manual switching and/or wasted power

* Tweaking ability. An ability to adjust parameters such as auto-start and battery depth of discharge is also helpful.

* High quality heavy-duty power transformer. A heavy inverter usually means a high quality heavy-duty power transformer.

If you are running sensitive electronic equipment, don't take the chance - get a true sine wave inverter. The extra cost will make up for itself in energy efficiency.

Michael Bloch is a consultant for Energy Matters - Wind and Solar Power Australia - a green energy equipment company offering a wide range of discounted solar panels, deep cycle batteries, power inverters and associated accessories for residential, businesses and schools. The Energy Matters site contains a wide range of resources; including a solar power system builder tool, renewable energy rebates information and free advice on off grid and grid connect solar and wind power systems