DC/AC Power inverters.

[Ireland-or-bust]

hi ,

I just read an ebay detail on a power inverter stating that its
modified sine wave is not suitable for fluresent lights.

Can any one tell me if this is the case?

If so, are there any that i can use?

I have kitted the house out in cfl bulbs and want to go to wind power.

mark.

[Wombat]

Hmm, not sure about that, I will try my square wave inverter and see if that works for fluorescents! A full sine wave inverter should be able to power anything that you would run on the reticulated 240v.

Nev

[marknemm]

Hi,

I've run CFL's on a modified sine wave inverter and they seem to be ok. I'm not sure if the longevity of the bulb is reduced as I havn't run them enough to find out yet.

Mark

[camillitech]

i think it just depends how modified it is. i think you have to suck it and see, but if they tell you it wont then it probably wont. i've used a trace 4.5kw for 2 years now and it runs everything faultlessly and thats not pure sinewave but it is very modified. the more you pay the better they are and i've never seen a good one on ebay yet!

[nathanbriggs]

A non-sine wave inverter is generally either square wave or multistep pyramid wave.

In both cases it is the vertical part of the waveform which reduces the life of the LEDs by overheating and overstressing.

The concept is a little more complex than this but effectively the closer to sinewave the better, for almost all non DC loads (DC loads get converted anyway)