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64 of 67 found the following review helpful:
 Unit Works Like A Charm But Power Rating Is Questionable Dec 20, 2010
By terry
My Xantrex Prowatt SW2000 true sine wave inverter works well in my application but there are several details you may want to investigate.
1.) In order to handle heavy loads, high-power inverters require high-capacity battery banks and low resistance wiring and connections.
2.) Even the recommended battery/wiring system may not supply the specified voltage to the inverter for the inverter to supply its maximum rated output.
3.) The maximum rated inverter output is lower for motor loads, which are inductive.
4.) You are faced with high current surges associated with motor starting.
You may be familiar with some or all of these considerations but I'll give some details.
The SW2000 does produce a true sine wave as observed on an oscilloscope. It also maintains the 120 Volts under varying loads.
My main application is to provide minimal emergency back up power when the utility electrical service is interrupted. During a worst case scenario test we found that our SW2000 can power our natural gas central air furnace igniter and fan motor, refrigerator, lights, bathroom exhaust fans, and computers -- all at the same time. But, all this does not fully load the inverter -- it only takes it up to about 1200 watts. During an actual emergency, we would not do this -- we would use the appliances sparingly.
But, whatever the load conditions, the user's battery supply would need to keep the input terminals of the inverter up to 11 volts to avoid the "low battery" alarm from beeping or, at very least, up to 10.5 volts to keep the inverter from shutting itself off -- these features are designed into the inverter to prevent the battery charge from getting too low.
Therefore, to keep the inverter input power terminals above those minimum voltage levels under heavy load conditions, the owner's guide recommends a bank of four 12-volt deep-cycle batteries, size AWG 0 wires no more than 6-feet long, terminal lugs that are crimed super tight onto the wire ends, good condition batteries that are fully charged, and all connections tight.
In my own case, I could never expect the inverter to operate near the full, advertised load (1800 watts) because I am only using two batteries and smaller size AWG 2 wire.
But, here's a test using a heavier load than what I need: When I start with fully-charged batteries and plug a 1500-watt electric heater into the inverter, my battery/wiring system will only supply 11.4 volts to the inverter power input terminals. After about 15 minutes, the voltage drops down to the 11-volt level and the inverter beeps its "low battery" alarm. After a little while longer, the voltage drops down to 10.5 volts and the inverter shuts itself off.
This is important: when the "low-battery" alarm beeped, and later when the inverter shut itself off, THE BATTERIES WERE NOT ACTUALLY LOW and THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE INVERTER. The problem is that my battery/wiring system is not sufficient to support the heavier, 1500-watt load for very long. The specific gravity of the battery acid did not indicate a low charge in the batteries. The inverter was not defective.
The inverter only did what it was designed to do. My undersized battery/wiring system only made it look as if there might be a low-battery or inverter problem. The 1500-watt heater overloaded my battery/wiring system. The inverter is OK. The batteries are not low. I can use our inverter-battery system successfully with our usual, smaller load -- like the essential home appliances that I mentioned previously.
All of the above is not to say that there can not be hardware problems or exaggeration in advertising. I only mean to help users by conveying some of the pesky details needed to get good results.
I wish it were not so ... but ... if I needed the absolute full capacity (1800 watts) of the SW2000, I would not only buy two more batteries and larger wire, but I would buy a different model inverter with an even greater capacity -- maybe 3000 watts continuous.
Here's why. The devil is in the details. On page 17 of the owner's guide, the 1800-watt rating is shown in the power output chart along with an input of 13 volts! Wow! Their test facility must have a monster power supply to maintain the specified 13 volts at the inverter power input terminals while loading the inverter with the specified 1800-watt resistive load and while delivering a minimum of 140 amps (1800 watts divided by 13 volts = 140 amps).
Sorry, but I have no reason to believe that, even with the recommended bank of four batteries and large wire size, I could ever provide the specified 13 volts needed to produce the specified 1800 watts from this inverter. I would expect my real-world, four-battery power supply voltage to sag down well below the 13 volts due to resistances in the wires, fuses, and connections, as well as the internal resistances of the batteries.
But wait ... there's more. In the same chart on page 17, they say that the rated 1800 watts only applies to resistive loads like incandescent bulbs [and heating elements]. But, what if you need to run motors? Then the limitation is 15 amps maximum. If you multiply the output of 15 amps by the output of 120 volts, you get 1800 watts -- but only into a resistive load.
However, if your load is composed of one or more motors, you have an inductive load. When you multiply the 15-amp maximum by 120 volts, you get a maximum output of 1800 volt-amps apparent power. If the motor load has an 80% power factor, the maximum real power (to produce work) would only be 1440 watts. Also, motors usually produce a momentary current surge at start-up -- a further demand upon the inverter/battery system -- which it may not be able to supply.
I can see why many people are disappointed with their inverters: faulty hardware, misleading specifications, difficult applications such as motors, and inadequate input power supplies (battery/wiring).
My personal conclusions: pay really close attention to installation details and buy a substantially over-sized inverter.
Good luck.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 Xantrex 2000 better quality than Sunforce 4500 May 31, 2011
By jcb
I have been running A 1 Kw solar plant to run a 1500 watt 19 gal water heater or 2 515 watt Air Conditioners (window units). The Xantrex 2000 inverter easily runs the water heater and 1 AC unit at the same time or the 2 AC units by themselves. It won't handle the startup load of both AC units at the same time though, so I added a time delay relay to one of the AC units and now the inverter easily runs both. I am very impressed with this product after having a Sunforce 4500 watt inverter for almost 2 years now. The Xantrex is way more efficient than the Sunforce with only .8 amps of overhead. It's quiet, well built, and so efficient I can leave it on continuously. I am very pleased.
18 of 23 found the following review helpful:
 I want to like this Inverter Oct 17, 2010
By Dan
I want to like this Inverter; I really do. It looks nice, it feels nice, it's built fairly well, but it cannot do what it claims to be able to do. I feel Xantrex is being very dishonest with this unit. They tell you on all the web sites that this inverter is rated for putting out 2000 continuous watts. So then you buy it and start reading the manual and find out that this is not true; it is actually rated for only 1800 continuous watts. Ok, even so, that's not too bad. So I hooked it up with 2 6volt fully charged high capacity batteries that where combined to output 12 volts, as well as heavy 2 AWG 24 inch long cables. I grabbed an 1100 watt steam iron and plugged it into the inverter. Right away the inverter started peeping; it could not handle a load that was 700 watts LESS than its rated continuous output. Then I tried plugging in a 1000 watt load. Same deal, the Prowatt SW2000 could not handle even a 1000 watt load. This inverter works great for medium to small TVs and also works well for powering some lamps and other smaller low power items. After playing with the Prowatt SW2000 for about 2 weeks, I have finally decided to return it.
If I may, I would like to recommend the Sunforce 11260 2500-Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter. I own one of these inverters and it has been absolutely fantastic! It has been able to handle everything I have tested it with. I would like to get another to replace the Prowatt SW2000 that I am returning.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Great inverter for off-grid solar May 24, 2010
This is a high quality unit with low idle power making it perfect for a solar charged power system. The pure sine-wave output powers everything I've tried on it perfectly.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Excellent value, a life saver May 06, 2012
By Dan
Our son has a compromised respiratory system and at times needs two pieces of medical equipment, a Cough-Assist and suction-aspirator. The Cough-Assist is highly specialized, is only available from one manufacturer and requires 'pure-sine wave' AC power. We had this inverter installed in our wheel-chair van (along with a deep-discharge battery system and the remote on/off switch) and it easily and simultaneously powers both the Cough-Assist and full-power suction (aspirator) equipment. We're now able to travel virtually anywhere we'd like with all the equipment we need.
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