Inverter. Pure sinewave or modified?

ltcom

ltcom

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When would I need a pure sinewave machine? How do I tell?
I want to run an ozone and uvc bulb (based upon fluorescent bulb tech I think) in the boat ( whilst I am not in boat). Then want to run a levoit air purifier (30w) I think. Only £107 on flash deal. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Levoit-All...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
Certainly don't want to damage that.
Would a modified sinewave inverter be ok?
Bulb is expensive, don't want to blow it
Amazon sell a pure sinewave one here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BESTEK-Pow...76P9PGX3/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_sims?ie=UTF8
Is it any good.
Are there better value one's.
Will never need to run high watts.
Not sure when pure is needed vs modified wave.
Thankyou in advance.
 
While "pure wave" is simply a "pure wave", there are huge variations in the "modified wave" breed. Some produce nothing more than square pulses, others come close to the sine wave. This may make a difference in some cases. In my experience most appliances will run happily on the modified wave (probably of any quality) while there may be some difference in efficiency and there may be some side-effects like buzzing noises etc. The only serious problem I ever encountered was one Espresso machine that kept overheating on modified wave source blowing heat fuses.
Until recently, it was worth risking having some problems with MW while saving a lot of money, as the PW inverters were obscenely expensive. I think these times are over and the difference in the purchase price is small enough to justify buying PW machine - just to be on the safe side.
 
chris-s said:
Be careful running ozone, it can cause rubber to ‘rot’ away!
Click to expand...

Thanks. Don't want my hoses to perish. Maybe I'll just use the uvc lamp and a fan to keep the boat sweet. The ozone cleaned a smelly room in my house very effectively (damp damage). I think that owing to the ballast in the fluorescent part of the lamp I need pure sinewave inverter.
 
jiris said:
While "pure wave" is simply a "pure wave", there are huge variations in the "modified wave" breed. Some produce nothing more than square pulses, others come close to the sine wave. This may make a difference in some cases. In my experience most appliances will run happily on the modified wave (probably of any quality) while there may be some difference in efficiency and there may be some side-effects like buzzing noises etc. The only serious problem I ever encountered was one Espresso machine that kept overheating on modified wave source blowing heat fuses.
Until recently, it was worth risking having some problems with MW while saving a lot of money, as the PW inverters were obscenely expensive. I think these times are over and the difference in the purchase price is small enough to justify buying PW machine - just to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
 
Yes a ballast in a flouro light will definitely need pure sine wave. As will any small AC induction motor as in small fan etc.
Go for pure sine wave and be safe. However bigger might be better as power capability is often exaggerated.
 
Anyone know how smooth the waveform needs to be to qualify for pure wave status ?
I am pretty sure that producing an actual pure sine wave supply through an inverter is impossible because of the way they work. However I do know that very finely stepped wave forms are possible if you try hard enough (or pay for an expensive enough machine).
I work in the industrial rotating electrical machinery field and inverters are now everywhere, with varying degrees of quality and accuracy.
 
William_H said:
Yes a ballast in a flouro light will definitely need pure sine wave. As will any small AC induction motor as in small fan etc.
Go for pure sine wave and be safe. However bigger might be better as power capability is often exaggerated.
Click to expand...

I'd advise being careful with induction motors, but I used to run a plain old 4ft fluorescent from a cheap 500W inverter with no problems.
 
madtam said:
Anyone know how smooth the waveform needs to be to qualify for pure wave status ?
I am pretty sure that producing an actual pure sine wave supply through an inverter is impossible because of the way they work. However I do know that very finely stepped wave forms are possible if you try hard enough (or pay for an expensive enough machine).
I work in the industrial rotating electrical machinery field and inverters are now everywhere, with varying degrees of quality and accuracy.
Click to expand...

No reason why a 'pure sine' inverter cannot be pure to a very small %.
The mains is often not all that clean.
But then again, sometimes things like fridges and dehumidifiers catch fire for no apparent reason.
 
Depends if your plain old 4ft was magnetic or electronic ballast. Some of the earlier Electric Propulsion ships had problems with inverters and fluorescent lighting circuits, later ones had filters built in. Basically what I am saying is be careful not everyone's experience is the same.
 
Alex_Blackwood said:
Depends if your plain old 4ft was magnetic or electronic ballast. Some of the earlier Electric Propulsion ships had problems with inverters and fluorescent lighting circuits, later ones had filters built in. Basically what I am saying is be careful not everyone's experience is the same.
Click to expand...

Plain old inductive ballast.
 
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