Inverters and salt water

Mike Cowan
1 Posts
Dec 9, 2006 09:38 am
Inverters and salt water

Here goes my first post!

I am working on getting my cabin up to speed for this summer. How well do inverters survive the marine environment.  I would like to install the unit outside in some type of housing and it wil sit unused the majority of the year about 100 feet from the ocean.  It will also freeze in the winter.

Thanks in advance for comments and suggestions!

Mike
 
 
Ken Hall
351 Posts
Dec 9, 2006 05:17 pm
Re: Inverters and salt water

Mike:

Marine environments vary, so it depends how harsh it is. The cold clammy salt fog of the pacific northwest is pretty brutal on them.

In any particular marine climate, having the inverter sit powered down for a good part of the year, will allow more condensation etc. than if it were powered up.

The question will become one of do you spring the extra bucks for a marine inverter or do you just go ahead and use a standard one, knowing it will have a shorter life span. The answer to that depends a lot on the size of the inverter and what features you want in one. Marine inverters are aimed at the boating market.

Regardless of what inverter you decide on, I would give some consideration to making the installation with the provision for quick removal. If it is going to sit unused, why not have it sit at home in the garage. Safer from the environment and better protected against theft.

Ken
 
 
John B
163 Posts
Dec 9, 2006 08:43 pm
Re: Inverters and salt water

Mike,

I live near to the ocean as well. I can't tell you anything from experience since I am waiting for my first inverter to arrive, but I decided to go with Outback Power because they sell a sealed unit.

The sealed unit delivers less power than the identical vented version, but here in the Caribbean salt air has a tendency to get into and corrode everything.
 
 
James Cormican
578 Posts
Dec 11, 2006 02:09 pm
Re: Inverters and salt water

yep, outback sealed inverters (fx series) no "v" in front for vented. 



or xantrex marine units like the freedom marine series.

outback sealed units include

fx2012t - http://store.altenergystore.com/Inverters/Off-Grid-No-Utility-Needs-Batteries/2000-to-2999-Watts/Outback-2000W-FX2012T-12VDC120VAC-Inverter/p843/

fx2524t - http://store.altenergystore.com/Inverters/Off-Grid-No-Utility-Needs-Batteries/2000-to-2999-Watts/Outback-2500W-FX2524T-24VDC-Inverter/p848/

fx3048t - http://store.altenergystore.com/Inverters/Off-Grid-No-Utility-Needs-Batteries/3000-to-5500-Watts/Outback-3000W-FX3048T-48VDC120VAC-Inverter/p849/

m for mobile

fx2012mt, fx2524mt, fx2532mt - available upon request

or xantrex freedom marine series

http://store.altenergystore.com/Inverters/Marine-Inverters/100-to-2000-Watts/c589/

and

http://store.altenergystore.com/Inverters/Marine-Inverters/Above-2000-Watts/c590/

check those out, let us know if you have any questions.

-james - Alt-E staff
AltE
"Making Renewable Do-able"
http://www.altEstore.com/

Tel: 877.878.4060 x107  or +1.978.562.5858 x107
Fax: 877.242.6718  or +1.978.562.5854
 
 
Stephen Brown
11 Posts
Dec 28, 2006 06:00 pm
Re: Inverters and salt water

I guess based on the posters post that inverters can be had cheaper if not rated marine use. My engine room, and it is a true walk-in engine room, there is no, or little to no, saltwater environment, it's pretty dry in there and nothing has ever seemed to corrode. Ventilation is the contact to the outside and still not a problem for me, further are even better and sealed compartments that would be even better locations for a charge controller.

Seems a lot of trouble to save a few buck, cost-prohibitive...if you want AC, bite the bullet and buy what will stand up to your needs. I have a used 10 year old Heart Freedom 25 that works perfectly fine for $125
 
 

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