Mick Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 I'm looking for suggestions for a good inverter that will safely power a mackie 1620i. It's rated at 40watts consumption. Thanks Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Search old threads, but offhand most people go for a "pure sine wave" model. Cheaper ones make square waves and can sometimes cause issues with AV gear. I bought one sine wave model that I absolutely couldn't get the noise out of (terrible hum), and only eliminated it by replacing the inverter with ....... Drawing a blank on the make that worked. It was one a few people here had been using. It's been a few years since I pulled it from the cart. I replaced the Mackie with a Mix12. I was always a little disappointed at how inefficient they are and how they will even eat through a big Optima blue top truck/boat battery faster than you would think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeheel Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I used to run my cart off an APC Smart-UPS 700. Had a small gel cell and a pure sine inverter. (+1 on the pure sine being your most important consideration) It ran a Mackie 1202, laptop/protools and whatever else was on my cart back in the day. The gel cell wouldn't last very long, but I was always on power and the backup was only for kickouts, so it really only had to last the length of a long take... Cheers, Brent Calkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morrow Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Check out the Xantrex PROWatt SW series: http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/power-inverters/prowatt-sw.aspx This line just came out year ago and offers the best value for high quality pure sine. I recently verified that I don't get hum using mine with a playback system on set, although I haven't tried a mixer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredS Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 The hassle of recharging the battery off-line made me swap over to their inverter-charger line. http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/inverter-chargers/freedom-hf-newgen.aspx They describe its output as modified sine wave, but it has given me a year of solid and noise-free service powering my 01V and full cart. My only note is that the unit needs to see neutral tied to ground, and in a separate post I've described the in-line adapter that let's the unit see putt-putt power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirror Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 The hassle of recharging the battery off-line made me swap over to their inverter-charger line. http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/inverter-chargers/freedom-hf-newgen.aspx They describe its output as modified sine wave, but it has given me a year of solid and noise-free service powering my 01V and full cart. My only note is that the unit needs to see neutral tied to ground, and in a separate post I've described the in-line adapter that let's the unit see putt-putt power. The reviews say it is a noisy unit - fan wise. They complain it is non stop and loud. Also, that it is good at inverting but not so much at charging. The charge rate is 40/20/10 amp - no battery tender mode? What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredS Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 The reviews say it is a noisy unit - fan wise. They complain it is non stop and loud. Also, that it is good at inverting but not so much at charging. The charge rate is 40/20/10 amp - no battery tender mode? What do you think? Charging is smart and takes care of itself. It always starts in Bulk mode at the rate of its highest setting. As the battery voltage rises it will switch to Adaptive mode where the charger's voltage is modulated to provide fastest charging without overpumping the battery chemistry. Then when resting voltage is reached the charger goes into a Trickle mode to maintain the battery in it's topped-off state. All those changes take place without impacting operations on my cart. My only operational issue is that when my AC power line gets killed and the inverter takes over, my Lectro VRField glitches. The VRF displays don't change but it ceases outputting audio, and requires powering down then back up. My 01V and all other gear are completely oblivious to changes from shore to battery and back to shore power. The fan's not particularly noisy, and certainly not a problem child. When I mounted the Xantrex on my cart (underneath my middle tray) I installed a toggle switdh in the fan power line to let me over-ride it. Unless I'm working in very hot conditions, the fan comes on only at the beginning of Bulk through a little of the Adaptive charging cycle. When our workspace is very hot, like our daytime exteriors now in Palm Springs, the fan occasionally comes on for short periods during ordinary operations (it is still trickle charging after all). If my cart is so close the fan noise threatens to get into the track I switch it off. Usually after I kill it, by the time the take or setup is over and I turn the switch back On, the unit has cooled by itself without the fan and all remains quiet. I've accidentally left the fan killed for several hours to no consequence. So far no treatment has put the unit into thermal overload. FWIW my batteries are a couple of Pelican-cased AGM's, 33AH & 50AH. For them I've selected 20 amps as the max rate. A better unit may exist and newer ones will doubtless become slicker, but this one gives yoeman service. Thumbs up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.