an other Inverter/charger question

[swinada]

first up to the powers of this board. How come when I enter Inverter ot Charger in the search engine it ignores the word and produces no results?
Only if I misspell the word inverter as invertor I will get a few hits since some people do spell it wrong once in a while.

No my question. What are the pros and cons of byuing a Inverter/Charger unit compared to seperate Charger and Invertor? (spelled it wrong so it will show up in the search results )
I figure if I buy them seperate I only have to replace one if something goes wrong. Also it is cheaper to buy a highend charger (Xantrax) to keep my batteries nice and constant and buy a cheaper (Vector) inverter.
I cant make my mind up if I should buy a combined unit or 2 seperate units. What did you guys do? What you recommend?
I bought 3 Marine Deep cycle batteries Costco brand each rated 125AH not very expensive and I can always add more if needed.
Costco also has a 45W Coleman solar system for sale I was looking at just to keep the batteries topped up. Who has experience with solar? Do you think this will be enough to keep them topped? I dont plan on running any heavy loads. Just 12V lights, Car stereo, water pump, fridge needs some power for control module, dont have a heater yet so dont know what that will draw.

Any input appreciated

[swinada]

well I got me one of those: truecharge 40 by Xantrex




with a remote panel and a temperature sensor. Now I need to find a inverter. Will see if I can get an Xantrex or just buy a cheap Verctor or so.

[swinada]

of course since I'm in to gatering all my electrical supplies the question of Generator came up too.
Looking around on e-bay there is of course the expensive Onan and Honda generators but then also the cheap China made products for about 10% of the cost of a brand name generator.
Anybody have any experience with the "cheap" ones? how noisy are they? (some of them list DB numbers in the 60's) (I own a china made mini quad for the kids, and that thing runs quieter then the brand name quads I encountert, sure it is made cheap but for the cost difference I could buy 8 of them compared to 1 brand name, and the kids love it us much as any other thing with wheels)

There is also a few (generators) that are Propane powered which I think would make sense in an RV and you wouldnt have to deal with trying to fill a gas tank, just hook up a hose and a new bottle and your set.
What you guys think about Genis?


BTW -> generator is also word that is ignored by the search engine, whats up with that?

[Griff]

Stay away from the China gennies, they're inexpensive, reasonably quiet and reliable, BUT, I've had lots of people bring them in to my shop for repairs (mostly starter rewinds) and I have YET to find ANYHWERE to get parts for 'em. Not to say they aren't out there some where, but if it was me, I'd spend the extra few peanuts for one of the Honda Euro Series. They're quiet, reliable, and with proper scheduled maintenance, virtually indestructible! Plus, if you need to, you can get replacement parts just about anywhere that deals with any Honda products.

[eggman]

I'll echo the "STAY AWAY" comment on china gennies.

Bought one from my local harborfreight store. Took it to the bus, followed directions to the letter. Hit the start button, let the magic smoke out of a starting/charging diode. Checked and re-checked the directions, all was hooked up correctly. Called the 800 number for parts, said it would be 8-10 weeks for the little thing to come in. Had to come by boat (I was kinda thinking row boat) instead of airmail or any other form. Totally unacceptable. Took it back to harborfreight for a refund. Picked up an Onan for the right price from a friend, $0. He gets to stay in the bus when we all go wheeling. Thought it was a fair deal.

[swinada]

hmmm how can I find one of those ONAN deals??? Dont think I have any friends with that kind of deals. To bad..

[swinada]

so what is the big difference between one of these $1999
and one of those ? $1099
the green one has almost doubble the output and costs $900 less. Both are made by ONAN so should be good, right?
It might be a bit noisier but with a good box and sound proofing it should be ok too? or not?

Xantrex manual for charger says that the generator used should be true sine wave model. How can one tell what they are? I can not find any reference to sine wave in any generator description.