Xantrex Won't Quit

I've been waiting patiently for the past few years for my modified sine wave 9 year old Xantrex to quit working so I could buy a pure sine wave unit. Barring the unforeseen, it appears the old unit will be the proverbial energizer bunny. This got me to thinking, what am i missing out on? I know it won't run my induction cooktop or charge the toothbrush, but what else will the pure sine wave unit do for me when I'm cruising or at anchor?

A couple of things - I live with mine, but there are times...

The modified sine units have a lower peak voltage, but the same RMS voltage.

If you have a microwave, it probably won't put out as much power. They are sensitive to peak voltage.

If you are running an induction motor, they will run hotter and may even be damaged. I run an AC refrigerator with an induction motor with no problems.

Some electronics (LCD TVs and printers are the most notorious) will work poorly or not at all.

Some GFCI outlets will buzz with the modified sine wave.

And that's about it. Not a real compelling list of reasons to change... which is why my old unit hums on.

My 14-yr-old Heart Freedom's only annoying feature is that it won't run a newer variable speed Dremel tool - the older ones worked fine. Otherwise it works perfectly.

sunchaser said:

I've been waiting patiently for the past few years for my modified sine wave 9 year old Xantrex to quit working so I could buy a pure sine wave unit. Barring the unforeseen, it appears the old unit will be the proverbial energizer bunny. This got me to thinking, what am i missing out on? I know it won't run my induction cooktop or charge the toothbrush, but what else will the pure sine wave unit do for me when I'm cruising or at anchor?

Click to expand...

We have a rule that we never ignore, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". So I have to ask, after a "few years" what has not been working on your inverter? I would think by now you would know what the down side is. It probably will charge your tooth brush, not sure about your oven. We have used a MSW inverter for 20 years and to date I have not found anything it won't run and no piece of equipment has been damaged on our boat. We run computers, the HDTV, DVD player, satellite receiver, charge the hand held, electric razor, cell phones, run fans, all of my power tools and just about everything else. If a battery charger says high voltage at output, don't use it on any inverter. If is say low output you can charge with either a MSW or TSW inverter without a problem if the inverter is functioning properly. That has been my experience, others may disagree. Chuck

Chris Foster said:

A couple of things - I live with mine, but there are times...

The modified sine units have a lower peak voltage, but the same RMS voltage.

If you have a microwave, it probably won't put out as much power. They are sensitive to peak voltage.

................... And that's about it. Not a real compelling list of reasons to change... which is why my old unit hums on.

Click to expand...

My boat's original (1999 Kenmore) microwave over would sometimes cook and sometimes not when powered by my xantrex modified sine wave inverter. You could tell by the sound if it was cooking or not.

I replaced the inverter with a modern Panasonic unit. The Panasonic cooks on inverter power but it makes a buzzing sound.

I tested both the old and new microwaves on inverter and utility power. They both cooked about 10% slower on inverter power.