BOLTR: Samlex inverter | Cheap vs. Expensive

I inspect the build quality and sine wave output of a Samlex inverter. I also check the output of a lower cost Motomaster inverter. Thanks for your help! Early access to VJOs / ave

[@AmateurRedneckWorkshop]

I already got assaulted and assimilated and now you want me to get inverted. The demands of youtube are too much.

[@ScottandTera]

howdy Harold

[@225Perfect]

And my guitar gently weeps. Lol

[@timberwolf0122]

resistance

[@picobyte]

Actually both are crappy. Just get a proper sinewave inverter. That will run any shitty load.

[@zwerko]

Once they invert you over the bench you will be asstimulated.

[@elcheapo5302]

967k subscribers! That's 1.265M Canadian! Congrats, Uncle Bumble.

[@georgemccurdy4683]

I keep a sharing so's you can get that there plaque what'n KZbin gives ya if'n ya reach the bigger numbers. You can hang that in the outhouse, A.

[@fixt100]

We will show up at HQ loaded for bear and carrying hockey sticks.

[@johnsalmons9222]

@@KD0LRG ..Indeed by far your best export, protect him!

[@Lorddow12]

Dude did you take down your video on ethanol in fuel? It's one of your best videos in my opinion! I've opened many peoples eyes with it. I had some more enlightening to do today but when I went look for your master piece I cant find er. WTF man.

[@blarnzy]

1.35 million today. Thanks Trued'oh!

I have a new conspiracy theory. Just let it eat your mind. AvE has a long term marketing contract with the green mat manufacturer.

[@georgemccurdy4683]

😂 You ain't dog whistling.

[@waiakalulu3501]

Crushed Buna-N O-rings!!!

[@machinist7230]

That... makes a horrifying amount of sense.🤔

[@texasdeeslinglead2401]

Shmoo and pixie smoke , I tell yu

[@freebirthfreddy]

This comment wins

[@m33turmak3r]

Your videos got this C-Student through undergraduate Electrical Engineering without losing my mind. Learned the hard way "a bunch of angry pixies" is not an acceptable answer on EE exams. Congrats on 1M!

[@nshattock]

As a power electronics engineer: Look at the cheapness of the board, its a single sided and looks like FR1 or FR2. To minimise current loop area it should be double sided. No one uses these modified sine wave inverters for professional applications, just get a pure sine wave one and lose a bit of your power density and efficiency (you will save it in power losses in your motor!). There are some large motor drives that use a modified sine wave but they are designed for specific motors and applications. It's OK to parallel up MOSFETs as they have a negative temperature coefficient resistance so are unlikely to cascade fail. Using different types in parallel is never a good idea though as the worse ones will not conduct and just add to the switching time. Diodes have a positive temperature coefficient and shouldn't be parallelled unless they are on the same heatsink, and cut from the same die preferably. I can send you a DIY high quality sine wave inverter to test if you want to see what a good one looks like. PS. To get useful readings from your fft you have to exactly one cycle displayed on the screen (that's 20mS total for 50hz, good luck with 60hz). Then look only at the amplitude at each harmonic and ignore the rest.

[@nshattock]

@@pleaseelaborate3163I'm guessing you mean converter topology. I've tried using both high frequency (20khz) and low frequency (50hz) transformers to step up the voltage and low frequency is the way to go unless you need to make it lightweight. Output filter topology is whatever passives happened to be lying on the floor during testing

[@zmandubs]

This guy inverts

[@theginganinjaofficial]

@@zmandubs inverted af

[@Refthoom]

So what are the basics of a DIY pure sine inverter? H-bridge and back to front transformer? Do you need to regulate input wrt output or is that automagically adjusted by the load's power demand?

[@ToneGallis]

I thought you should never wipe back to front.

[@RambozoClown]

Have a look in the executive parking lot of the two companies, you will probably see where your extra money went.

[@cigr]

Sadly we've reached the point where many "name brand" items aren't really better than the cheaper alternatives. They're more expensive without putting that cost into quality.

[@jawms]

I believe that is the end goal of capitalism and publicly traded companies. Constant profit numbers until you run out of demand and plateau. Then the only solution is to increase margins.

[@burtosis]

What do you mean? The shareholder quality of life is much higher.

[@ProctorSilex]

@@jawms Capitalism has no end goal like what you wrote. It is the free market of production and purchasing. The market currently promotes cheaply produced crap at various extremes of mark up. Unfortunately, it would take a lot of us consumers demanding higher quality at the same price by not buying the junk at any price point to get the companies to up their game. Execs and shareholders will take less profits over no profits.

[@Canuckcrisis]

Darn Tough socks are as great as ever. You can't beat the LIFE TIME GUARANTEE.

[@lelandclayton5462]

Sad thing is a lot of name brands are using 3rd party products but with a custom casing and name branding.

[@ElectroBOOM]

Maybe the beef is in the software? Try to short their output and see how they behave

[@jasonjones6077]

Hi boom. Heading to your channel next, I promise.

[@iancarnel8609]

Teaching people how to let the smoke out. :)

[@ejrupp9555]

Facepalm ... the Intellectual na'palm err um, Smoke ... as a result of the skid marks left by high density pixies after dey been triggered, thus requiring safe space, and soft-ware ... way too excit'd & offended wit the hard--ware.

[@Crimson.S.57]

OneTwoPlay Witty I’m learning towards the electrical engineers possible explanation.

[@theepicslayer7sss101]

maybe, but not every one is measured in "Giga Ohms" like you so they do not dare! ;P but i really thought the same, that little extra board is probably the only reason... or they cherry picked all the +/-% at there best tolerances!

[@skipp1970]

This is a switch mode inverter. It steps up battery voltage switched with some of the mosfets through the 4 small transformers at high frequency several thousand hertz rectified stored in the two capacitors located in the center. Chopped up by using the mosfets. Thus providing the modified signwave. The output stage is likely a h-bridge topology with complementary components. Really for the price I would much rather have the lower cost unit.

[@BravoCharleses]

Uncle Bumblefuck, please consider a vid or short series on home solar power from a technical perspective; the basics of the equipment and procedures that make it work, not burn the house down, and not bleed juice back into the power company's lines when they think they're de-energized.

[@marcroy8575]

I SECOND THIS!

[@DamonJohnCollins]

3rd

[@theginganinjaofficial]

5th.... er ah, 4th. Can't count

[@iamajailbreaker]

+1

[@midashaltzern]

Agree!

[@dorfsteen]

AvE could you please draw us a picture of an angry pixie so'z we know what to look for if the little bastid'z show up when we're not looking?

[@theginganinjaofficial]

...Know what to look for when we aren't looking.... Why not just look around while you are looking?

[@JasonW.]

Check out the angry pixie dancing on his channel logo

[@CogandQuillWorkshop]

Angry Pixie T- shirt would be sweet.

[@zaphodb777]

b-

[@mannys9130]

There's an angry pixie on AvE's channel logo. The blue evil thing on the microchip is the pixie.

[@joaago1]

I have a mechanical engineering degree with a 3.7 average. When I watch your videos I feel so dumb, but yet so eager to learn more about material science! I'm so happy that I found your channel, it is awesome! Thank You! :) Much love from Norway!

[@michaelblacktree]

I wouldn't trust an inverter with french writing on it. The thing may give up at any moment. 😛

[@ronaldphillips5481]

Fucking inverter just died to excuse my French.

[@Intermernet]

Inverters switch sides regularly . Sounds French to me!

[@mikeyanp]

Lol

[@run-cnc]

Almost as bad as buying American made.

[@tonyeezi7315]

Coming from a nation that has spent most of history at war with the French, and beating them 99% of the time, I find this comment very funny!

[@JLneonhug]

Power supplies are commodity items unfortunately. Difference between brands will mainly be QC. Reason is that there is minimal 'new' design work involved vs existing products. The bulk of engineering hours spent is for cost down or assembly efficiencies.

[@JLneonhug]

PS keep up the great work!

[@daanwilmer]

What QC? With the leads flopping in the breeze...

[@mddunlap03]

I feel the bulk of new engineering cost are spent in the marketing department

[@legendario13]

So Flow chart: If price higher>Is QC better? If not > Is a ripoff

[@burnerjack01]

@@legendario13 It is a proven phenomenon that the public routinely assumes a greater price equates to a greater value. Something manufacturers and marketing departments exploit on a daily basis.

[@timberwolf0122]

To reduce cornea searing from sparks on my 3KW pure sine inverter wired up a 5w 110v bulb and used it to limit the current before initial connection. Bonus is you can also use it to discharge the unit if-un you want to open her up and dilly with the innards

[@stuartd9741]

Dilly dilly

[@6alecapristrudel]

Modified sine wave: becasue modified square wave just doesn't have that same ring to it. (And be cause it won't sell that well to the unwitting consumer)

[@garrettkajmowicz]

Modified sine/square wave would be a lot more useful if it indicated how it was modified. A 5 or 7 level stepped square wave would be much nicer than the 3-level one here. It depends on what you are powering. For a nightlight, it doesn't matter. For sensitive electronics I'd much prefer a better system.

[@mumblbeebee6546]

6alecapristrudel I can not work out whether the ‘ring’ in your comment was serendipitous or whether it was a perfectly crafted joke. So just in case, I doff my cap to you!

[@BoloH.]

Why would you pay more for an inverter that's called Samlex when you can get the Eliminator?

[@DjJMOProductions]

From Lawrence of Arabia, to Soylent Green, that was one outstanding literary jump. I applaud you.

[@hammer1212]

If he could have managed to wedge in Omega man for the tri fecta.!

[@UniCrafter]

The internals of the $600 one remind me a lot of an amplifier, usually with car amps roughly half the PCB is an inverter to bring it up to 50 or something volts before going into the amplifier section. Switching class D amps are super efficient, 90%+, and output that pure sine wave after going through filter coils. Makes you think why these don't use similar technology. Realistically all this'd need to become a pure sine wave inverter is a coil and faster switching. When JBL first showed off their 6000w monster at CES they used it to power a reciprocating saw, and I'd guarantee it'd be better at running an air compressor than any non-industrial inverter. There are a few 35kW amps out which output into 1 ohm, which means 170 volts at 170 amps. 60Hz sine wave and you're powering a house no problem.

[@maxheadflow]

Heck the stuff I worked on as an engineer, the mosfets typically failed as a open.. They do initially short out and then blow apart from the current. All that's left is the leads and heat sink tab, hence an open circuit.. :D It was real easy to find the one that failed.

[@alexb5275]

“This thing has been eating asparagus all week; nastiest load I could find”

[@danhammond8406]

You can check if it pees green

[@MiniLuv-1984]

I was watching the battery voltage...it kept dipping below 11.5v when it overloaded...I think you need to give the battery a real good charge before making comparisons. All the inverter was doing was shutting down on low batt volts.

[@edkelly364]

Buddy, I feal I should be paying you for the refresher. I went to tech school over forty years ago for electronics and you are a brilliant son of a gun. The basics in school helped me all my life as an electrician. I love your video's . You are also very funny. Thank you !

[@jasonmhite]

Low end oscilloscope? It says right there that it's TIANHE-3, a friggin superconfuser!

[@crawdaddy031]

@@ruben_balea Probably not.

[@Sketch1994]

So what should I be calling my analog Kenwood CO-1504?

[@MostlyPennyCat]

@@Sketch1994 A real one. The knobs on that one don't even clonk.

[@CaptRedshirts]

The Grindr App, because even a bull moose needs a 'friend' now and then.

[@clencheastwood1571]

Cleaning up and eating pickles?! YOU'RE PREGNANT!

[@johnpossum556]

You said a mouthful there, squint.

[@experimente9912]

13:25 I just wanted to point out that you had set the meter in the AC-Range while testing for remaining DC-Voltage in a capacitor. Such a mistake can be very dangerous. IGBTs also do not always fail open. If you overload them or overvoltage them they will fail short like every other power semiconductor. You can get an open failure because of bondwire liftoff. This can be caused by high temperature cycles/ripples, that weaken the bond.

[@jeremy499]

Long hard day, but in the end nothing like drawing a nice hot bath, pouring me and my cats a bottle of wine, and settling in with my favorite KZbinr, but I'll watch this video before I switch to that channel.

[@Ddabig40mac]

I'm sure that tubalcaine is flattered

[@texasdeeslinglead2401]

You have been here awhile. It's showing

[@Dildo_Baggins.]

Ouchie

[@Choronzon39]

Nice explanation of capacitance. Capacitance resist's changes in voltage. At least that is how I remember and was taught.

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

Everyone is gonna be on that jazz cabbage.

[@mikefitch4335]

Wait... WHAT.... an AvE video where it actually played an advert.... Thats rare !

[@tbernardi001]

Thank you for coming up with the title of my autobiography. It will be called A Cascade of Failures.

[@SigEpBlue]

Just an FYI on using the Kill-A-Watt on a "simulated sine wave": there's an MOV (?) inside the Kill-A-Watt that will get VERY hot when you feed square waves to it. I found this out when I used it to measure current output from an old APC UPS; I noticed a plastic-burning smell, and that the case of the Kill-A-Watt was getting quite warm.

[@5roundsrapid263]

“Dandysocks”! Brilliant. A decade ago, I met some Canucks, and they complained about Dubya getting his dad’s old job. Shoe’s on the other foot now, eh?

[@Phynellius]

Pretty sure some of us aren't too impressed with the name brand politics going on up here either

[@Alex4n3r]

"Tianhe 3" on the oscilloscope :D

[@aspincelaframboise5300]

Stephen Coates; It ain't that bad anymore, the royal zionist harpercrite got lost eh... ÜïÖ

[@keithjurena9319]

I bought a 3kW Canuck inverter for aboot $300 real us doll hairs and have run a 15 amp 120 volt compressor no issues. Of course its a 24 volt model MSW unit as its a paramilitary model. Didn't pay extra for the Camo either. Got it set up with 4 gauge 20 foot leads and a NATO plug so my former military vehicles can feed it without having to make sparks. Its also powered two coffee pots without issue. But my main former Army Horse came with a PTO driven Lima MAC 12 kW three phase beast so I have all the 120 and 208 voltage one could ever need. Only thing is that power isn't available while underway so hence the need for an Inverter. Joes need cold beer.

[@Conservator.]

Haha, the Samlex depreciated $100 in 21 minutes. From $600 @ 1:08 to $500 @ 22:30 😂

[@catsupchutney]

The Samlex has a very serious label, so you have that going for you. For the extra kopeks I would expect G-10 epoxy PCB and matched components.

[@TheCanterlonian]

but i'm not a gentlemen, i'm a lady...

[@FracturedPixels]

All partakers of the bumblefuck are honorary gentlemen

[@dlevi67]

@@FracturedPixels Which is why he opens each video with "gentlemens"

[@tomonabudget]

This kinda mirrors my experience with a 110AUD vs 380AUD Projecta pure sine Wave inverter I bought in Oz. The Projecta has a display and remote control with a display and wayyyyy better cooling as the cheapo blew a couple Mosfets while running PC speakers on a hot day. However, in terms of power output, the noname unit wipes the floor with the expensive one. Next time I might just buy a cheapo again and simply add a few more 12V Fans to it, job done.

[@Tedd755]

"Modified sine wave" Not sine wave at all..

[@movax20h]

The other one says: "pure sine wave". total bullshit

[@sopgenorth]

The square wave we see with this device is literally the definition of a modified sine wave. Some modified sine wave inverters will have an additional step in the middle, but it's not required.

[@bhartley1024]

Really it's more of a modified square wave

[@pirateman1966]

Its a Chinese sine wave....

[@rehoboth_farm]

one step from pulsating DC.

[@billhickox]

Try adding a BIG audio type capacitor to the battery side. The type of cap used to REALLY boom boom the sound. This will give a quick and large boost for those hard to start big amp draws that a battery can't give fast enough.

[@personal_penguin]

AvE, if it helps, your chain analogy for parallel circuits sounds like a trampoline to me - all the springs holding the load/weight together. If a spring pops, each has more weight, etc.

[@wosey_jales9526]

Dude your viDyayos are awesome, and you’re almost at 1M subs. Keep doing what you’re doing, because we all appreciate it.

[@alexhaws2377]

You should see if you can get a peek of a Cotek inverter (bloody expensive). They have models that claim to be pure sine and others that are modified sine. I picked up a big 2000w one for spare/repairs - internals looked high end compared to what you have there (silastic on the caps, epoxy/conformal coating over everything). Alas, I was out of my depth in trying to repair it, even local eletronics repair shop couldn't get it to chooch - having to waterjet the epoxy/conformal coating off didn't help matters. EDIT: this is similar to mine: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qX-6fouFqaatd6M

[@ericspda]

Both of those are cheap inverters. The online UPS's tend to have fairly nice inverters designed for 5+ years 24/7 use. Things are real cheap too if you get an older one with dead batteries, like an Eaton 9120 2 or 3KVA, or an Eaton 9130.

[@jiggermole]

Didnt even think about it. Got two in the recycling bin at work cause IT upgraded. Thanks

[@liljasere]

Thats not strictly true the inverter side of a ups is always in standby not continuous use but yes you can get some nice ones because they tend to be used on sensitive equipment

[@ericspda]

Not with an online, or double conversion UPS. The inverter runs the load 24/7/365, input power or not. They are of course much nicer than the cheapie line interactive units that are only made for intermittent use, but they also tend to have loud fans, notable standby losses, and high initial cost.

[@jiggermole]

Point is, free. Will have to hook it up and look at the output.

[@KSSilenceAU]

Jon Doe is correct Liljasere, in proper Line interactive units, the inverter is always powered, as its kept in sync with the Mains input, and in APC Units is also run in reverse to charge the batteries, so as soon as input drops, the load is switched to the inverter and the unit loads up off the batteries. You are thinking of the very cheap "Standby" units which only start and run the inverter once power loss or out of spec is detected. Line interactive is much faster to take over. Then you have Online double conversion, where AC is rectified and regulated into DC to charge the battery bus and power the inverter which is always powering the load at all times, unless the unit is in bypass, either due to a fault, or in Eco Mode. As soon as the power drops (when not in bypass) all that happens is the AC to DC rectification and battery charging stops, and the batteries seamlessly supply the inverter, which maintains a seamless zero transfer power output. Not quite as efficient as Line interactive, but wont cause issues with highly sensitive equipment either like a Line interactive sometimes does to fussy loads (If you have an APC line interactive, set sensitivity to high, unit reacts much faster and load drops are less likely, seen this personally). APC makes some really really nice units with their Smart-UPS Series. knurlgnar24 did a whole series of videos on them. I personally use APC Smart UPS XL (Online Line Interactive) and Smart UPS RT (Online Double Conversion), and they both output exceptionally clean power often cleaner than wall power, even the 15+ year old 700XL is very clean and still working.

[@MassimoTava]

Dyson has a new lady toy for you to test

[@pjgreenleaf]

yasssssssssss

[@texasdeeslinglead2401]

Music to my ears

[@ericdoke]

Test it versus a blender I hope!

[@danstrayer111]

pesky wabbit

[@SeanBZA]

MOSFET's do fail open circuit, eventually, if the current is high enough to make them into fuses. However, they tend to be short circuits before this occurs and blow the main fuse, or the traces off the board first. However with that board the capacitors will blow up if you run at any sort of load for any length of time, because they will be run at currents way above the ( already very optimistic) rated "absolute max, beyond which they will turn into bulging spewing bits of melted plastic and confetti" current they have to endure. To actually get them to last, you will need around 20 times the number of capacitors mounted correctly, and with genuine non Crapxon parts on there as well.

[@colinloeffler3633]

So yer tellin me a capacitor is like a Walmart on black Friday

[@Deftonesdsm]

If you are watching this for a solar inverter.. stay AWAY from Fronius brand. I install systems and 85% of fronius solar inverters fail within a year. Go with Solar Edge . We had to switch due to call back repairs. The boards literally blew the mofsets off it. And good luck getting good tech support within 3 hours. They look fancy and modern but are SHIT TACOS. This applies to the larger 5kw-30kw systems but from what ive seen fronius is a pig with lipstick. Keep you digits outta them sockets.

[@Matthijs3476]

It often happens with power tools that the inverter shuts off. It's because the tool needs a lot of power just to get going. It also helps if you just give it a spin. That's essentially what you were doing by keeping the trigger squeezed. I've got an inverter in my campervan which powers my compressor fridge. It almost always starts beeping when the fridge compressor starts to chooch. But it beeps only once, because once it chooches, it needs less power just to keep it going. Things that don't require much startup power like a water boiler or something are way easier for the inverter

[@Matthijs3476]

Do you think it would be possible to place something in between the battery and the inverter to keep the voltage steady during a current spike like that? Like a capacitor or something? Would be a fun experiment and improvement on the system. Though it might drain the battery.

[@vgamesx1]

Yes, as someone else suggested, get one of those BS power saving devices off ebay, it's just a large capacitor and it will be able to supply things such as motors that sudden inrush of current it needs to start, although as always the better solution is to buy a bigger inverter that can put out higher peaks of power.

[@Matthijs3476]

Yeah a bigger inverter didn't do the trick for me. Both of them display they shut off because of low voltage. So I'm gonna go try that tip! Thanks!

[@vgamesx1]

@@Matthijs3476 Well if you an overkill inverter and it's shutting off then that sounds like your battery can't give it enough current to stay on.

[@thehvachacker]

AvE what do you think of that Fluke 87V. I am looking at adding that meter to my troubleshooting arsenal. Does it provide a good bang for the bucks it cost? It is sad yet I found a great inverter at harbor freight for my service van.

[@ahensley63]

I want my Patreon money back. KZbin was down for 30 minutes. I'm going through AvE withdrawal and its someones fault. Do you know how many times I hit refresh???

[@lifuranph.d.9440]

Apparently...once too often.

[@umbra1016]

Sanding right next to live open circuitry with the pieces directly hitting it? Ooofda.

[@GeorgeJFW]

We install and replace a shit load of inverters at work, and it's always the MOSFETs that blow out of them always! One thing I will say about samlex is they seem to last the longest. the main reason for that is not build quality, it's because they have a lot of built in protection for instance if you're using too small of a conductor or if you have a loose connection on the back of the unit it will not work. We seem that a bit here with the low battery voltage issue you were having. I have pile of these things kicking around I may open one up myself and see if I can fix it. there definitely not a cheap but I guess your paying for the " intelligent safety features" kinda like that shitty saw you took apart sometime ago it was built like shit but had a thermal shutdown so they charged an arm and a leg for it.

[@rotaxtwin]

I find that soldering connections like the one that had failed are a bit tricky in that your instinct is to poor the heat and pile the solder on and you get a good connection. Problem is the metal components are cast into plastic, so you have to minimize the amount of heat applied. I melted the crap out of a switch like that a couple months back, then realized that you're supposed to use crimp lugs on it. This outlet connection is obviously not a crimp lug connection, but it is one of the (relatively) few that are done by hand and the person failed to apply enough heat and solder. I suspect that when you repaired it if you applied too much heat you could easily damage the outlet. Suspect being the key word.

[@Honeypot-x9s]

i have a bunch of cheap ass inverters $80 2000 watt ones, and as long as not constantly overloading or anything terribly abusive they last forever. i have a couple that still working after a solid 10 + years. the thing is, you cant expect a good sinewave out of even the best portable inverters.. if you need a proper sinewave probably best off not using an portable inverter. i heard from some friends that deal with electrical engineering you can take the edge off of those modified sine waves by adding some of those cheap chinese "power saver" devices that are basically 1 or 2 huge super caps in a metal box ..plug that into the outlet on inverter then plug in device to it.. good for taking the edge off of huge spikes like start up of grinder maybe, and filtering some noise out. not going to filter out smaller noise under smaller loads but it can help..

[@Reversed82]

is there a hack to get smaller amounts of harmonic distortion out of a cheap pure sine inverter though? i've got a cheap pure sine inverter going, have not had any issues yet, but it has some distortion in the high kHz region going on...

[@Honeypot-x9s]

first imma say, this is mostly justa field of curiosity for me, i am by no means the go to person on this, im just relaying what i been told: that's the only issue i still have which hasn't posed any problems for me either, is low/no load situations still noisier and have their digital edge, probably a way using same logic just smaller caps and inductors on output to filter it will help. also depending on the frequency we talking about here, that be its own field of engineer. because high frequency energy seems to have their own physics.

[@viermidebutura]

Taking the edge means dealing with high frequency components. The capacitance of theae "power savers" is a few uF which at higher frequencies will act as a dead short in the worat case and as a heavy load in the best case. What you need is a choke in serie with the outlet or better a common mode choke

[@Eman2000]

A good pure sinewave inverter can give a cleaner waveform than utility power and will almost always be better than a gas generator.

[@Dildo_Baggins.]

What the hells an ass inverter? And how do i get one?

[@colbydrags]

Use a dc lightbulb to slowly fill the charge rather than a spark if you're scared or bored.

[@naldahide]

Jus shows ta go ya that the whole solar thing is an underhanded reach around money grab...!

[@ncdave4life]

Exactly!

[@crawdaddy031]

Why yes Santa Claus IS watching...

[@mrdumbfellow927]

Guarantee instead of Santa pants you are wearing ass-less chaps.........can you confirm? If so, I know we shop at the same costume store......

[@lrodpeterson3046]

For the record, all chaps are ass-less. "The Big Bang Theory"

[@crawdaddy031]

@@mrdumbfellow927 Nope. I do have a pair of real leather pants and boots though. I grew up on a working ranch and did own a pair of chaps when I was 8yrs old.

[@crawdaddy031]

@@lrodpeterson3046 The English are certainly not assless ol' chap...

[@perfectpete1]

If I was a VCR company I would definitely hire you to man the phones in the time setting technical assistance department. Your eloquent dialogue would be a huge asset for confused customers.

[@OLNO66]

“MOSFETs always protect fuses.” Thanks, uncle Bumble! That explains everything.

[@666nacirema666]

i generally use cheap inverters unless what ever im powering needs pure sine. some lights get really annoying with modified sine as well so i mostly use 12volt or 24 volt dc lights.

[@666nacirema666]

when i first started using solar i found something similar my expensive inverter was a piece of shit so i just dont see the point in spending a ton on them anymore

[@galileo_rs]

Get used APC true sine wave UPS and use that as inverter. Much better bang for buck especially the larger "online" series.

[@jaylittleton1]

In a pinch, you can work tri-wing fasteners with half an Allen key.

[@volvo09]

Where is knurlgnar!

[@stanpatterson5033]

This video proves (if nothing else) that you don't always get what you pay for. Thanks, Uncle BF. No immediate plans to "go solar", but Samlex won't be given any consideration for my infarter needs any time soon.

[@raymondmucklow3793]

I'm 43 when I was 17 I met this local car stereo shop Kevin "Hitman"(ran out of his garage, his empire of dirt) we would install and compare brand name components to the cheaper, all the time and effort we put into these systems, and there was not much difference, much like you just showed. Some difference but that little bit of difference wasnt worth the extra money. We took most of the local sound shows. With our 2 or 3 thousand dollar systems. Watching the losers drive away with there 5 or 6,000 even 10,000 dollar systems. We once put 36 six inch woofers in a VW golf. That car hit. They were pyramid pro series. Cheap.

[@lrodpeterson3046]

You have just exposed the asshattery of the "golden ear". Kudos.

[@Mudsuitable]

I've always blew away high end systems with pyramid in the mid to late 90s and I still have those amps and subs and they still work lovely they've been in 9 different cars so far and I'm positive they'll outlast the next ones

[@hilltopmachineworks2131]

Yep the Pyramid stuff was really good back then.

[@OhRonaldo]

J C I had my 76 Comet window smashed for a pair of Radio Shack Minimus 7s I had surface mounted on the package tray.

[@scarlett5924]

lol BS i did it too back then and a pyramid or pyle etc wasnt killing anyone rockford and memphis or ppi list goes on mtx too you be lucky if that pyramid lasted a month

[@0123terryb]

Another great video. Just to let you know but IGBT's can also fail shorted. I was a senior field engineer for Emerson Network Power for 30 years, servicing and commissioning Inverters as big as 1600 KVA and the majority of IGBT's failed shorted.You sometimes had open ones it depends on the failure mode(over voltage =open/over current=shorted).Those were much better than a shorted ones. Due to the fact that IGBT's have a non passive end of life characteristic(kaboom!) most open ones were because they blew themselves open. Better to have an open one than a shorted one when you try to bring the DC buss back up.

[@JoeMalovich]

You should tear open a Morningstar 300w suresine inverter in comparison. I snagged one on eBay for $133 (it was mislabeled)

[@inguzjc]

A clean workspace? Oh wait, I get it, a Halloween costume for your workbench. Such a kidder!

[@jared-cn6ch]

So is a pure sine wave inverter basically a 50/60hz function generator strapped to an audio amplifier? Something I have heard of being done in a pinch to convert between 60hz and 50hz or to step down 120V-240V to 110V-120V with a pro audio amplifier (1800W @ 8 ohms / 3600W @ 4 ohms is theoretically 120V AC)

[@mattmanyam]

Rockford Fosgate used to demo their amps this way, hooked to a blender making margaritas at shows.

[@1noryb]

Essentially that is one way to do it. as I recollect, and I am no expert, a hartley oscillator amongst others produce a nice sin wave which may be amplified through A, B, or AB type amplifiers to produce a nice high power output at the desired voltage.

[@mekuranda]

@@Jimmeh_B that is not correct! There are two common inverter topologies ...high frequency and low frequency...the latter have heavy Fe core transformers, and both can be pure sine wave. The latter are much better at surge and short term overload conditions. Someone who is educated in this field can identify which topology is employed from the spec sheet.

[@mckenziekeith7434]

Well, yes, but only if it is a class-D amplifier. Also they do other stuff like try to detect if there is a load, and going into a sleep state if not (this saves battery power). The problem with class A or B or AB is that it wastes too much power. We usually want our inverters to be efficient because we are usually powering them from batteries.

[@wesleyhamstreet1]

How about a 3 phase converter review(s) - the science and a product comparison. Our local Makers group received a milking machine donation, but it requires 3-phase power. The quandary: Pay $15k to run 3-phase from the other side of the building, or - use a converter. Converter is getting majority votes. Then, how to select the best bang/buck converter. So, I guess that conversion leaves us wanting bucks/bangs... Anyway, would be great to see this you do a review of 3-phase converters.

[@chasemc69]

anyone else remember when ave said he would NEVER make it to a million subs? FAKE NEWS sir!!!

[@steveb8341]

Don't mistake Fake with just plain old WRONG 8-)

[@georgeian3243]

I tried to help a guy get his conventional single stage high efficiency gas furnace to run off his modified sine wave inverter/solar system. The first time we tried a call for heat, the furnace control board started shrieking like a stuck pig. Never heard one do that before. I thought the board was finished but, once back on the grid, the furnace worked normally. The guy figured out to use a pure sine wave inverter, cost him $5K back several years ago, but the furnace worked OK off it.

[@falcon7350]

like i have all ways say . running a MD inverter is like running a car on bad gas.. it well run but for how long . if the job calls for a SW inverter then pay the higher cost for the unit then for the cost of what it kills latter

[@MrBilld75]

Exactly, it's hard on anything you run on it. Even a simple fan. Computers HATE non-pure sine wave

[@RubenKelevra]

If you want to avoid that sparks on switching stuff on you have to use a solid state relais which can switch on the zero crossing. It's also much better on stuff you run via the inverter, since you avoid steep voltage drops.

[@michaelkenefick]

Tri wing fasteners, the screws that hold McDonald toys together?

[@Fireship1]

Michael Kenefick and aircraft!

[@iancarnel8609]

And Nintendo devices

[@shazam6274]

The "cheap one" is better designed, uses a better PCB and better current management on the PCB. The "expensive one" is a bad design, both electrically and thermally, since the shiny aluminum heat sink is insulated from the ambient air inside the black outer box. The PCB is a lower grade, lower temperature material, with poor current management. The transformers are a lot more expensive x 4, but have greater external magnetic leakage than the torroid of the cheap one. The workmanship is actually better, though perhaps less neat, on the cheap one than the obvious unsoldered wire and unsecured capacitors and PCB cards of the expensive one. If one of the parallel power FETs should short out, it will blow the fuse and leave most, if not all, of the other FETs undamaged. Neither is a "Sine Wave" design, but a dual phase-shifted square wave design. Better than a single square wave, but only for efficiency, not the output voltage and current noise. Both of these are EMI Interference jamming transmitters! Find an old AM radio and bring it near them while operating under load. If you have a multi-band radio, you can find many, many other frequency bands obliterated. The USA didn't ultimately loose the electronics, camera, copier, automobile markets to foreign competition because of price, but due to quality (design, manufacturability, workmanship, QC, etc.) and value.

[@merlingallagher4484]

Look at the Meanwell inverters. They are great.

[@SupraWes]

You are paying for the salesman who has to convince the buyers their jellybean is better than the others when in fact it is the same.

[@TwistTapeTechnology]

You paid $600 for that modified "sine wave" inverter? That things a cheap piece of junk...

[@markc2643]

Every video I watch of AvE reminds me of the stuff I've done in the past. I once used a 150W amp with a signal generator to create a power supply for a 4" 400Hz muffin fan that ran at 20k rippums. It had a very pure sine wave output.

[@kevo6242]

I’ll bet you didn’t unplug the grinder before you took the disk off I have seen first(very bloody) hand what that does to a man when the trigger gets knocked

[@Intermernet]

Yep, take the batteries out of cordless ones as well. A zip-cut disk goes through leather gloves in about half a rotation, and most of a finger in the next rotation!

[@kevo6242]

my buddy did not have any gloves on, it was a grinding disk but the hand got wedged between the disk and the guard. that ment i had to free his hand from it

[@bdugh]

Having worked for a major manufacture I can tell you most likely where the extra money goes to. Take a look into the pay differences of corporate management between the low budget company and the brand name. Most of these over educated, over paid jackoffs are cheapening up the product and raising the prices so their profit margin looks better, then bigger bonuses all around for screwing over the little guy.

[@paulchisholm9392]

Looking at the transformers I think that they are both switch mode. They first step up the 12 V to the peak voltage, about 170 V, then have a bridge on the output to switch polarity. This would account for the mismatched MOSFETS as some are used in the step up DC/DC converter and the others on the output bridge. As you say thay are both rubbish. With the more expensive one being slightly better (ignoring the soldering fault) though the electrolytic capacitors look pretty dodgy.

[@BryanBowenArchangelBarachiel]

Very true on where is the extra money. Normally I would expect this when they try to reduce cost done by a someone who doesn't know how to built the unit or the senior design tech doesn't work their now and the new person doesn't care about quality or don't know how to build it. Sad thing. It is how a company could be built then die over time.

[@JamesLewis]

$500, wow... that's way too much... Pure Sine is the only way to go!

[@catskillwoodgas]

Wrong Samlex Product, (Some models Are lame) Try the Model: PST-1500-12 , built like a tank and pure sine wave. Now if you really want to power something like a welder or plasma-cutter. Try a MagnaSine MS4448PAE I have been running a full shop off mine for 4 years!

[@lolouro2266]

Totally agree! I only use pst inverters in all my solar projects. Meanwells are also good and cheap.

[@pirateman1966]

If you want the best video on YT that explains these inverters, Google "Inverters, How do they work ?" and get the one made by "learn Engineering" channel.

[@rytvdinners5064]

Obviously the one has anodizing and cnc-machined extruded aluminum and as we know those machinist guys don't work cheap all compared to black plastic

[@tdschisel]

"Happy holes" = demonitised

[@kellyswoodyard]

Here's an idea for you. Maybe you should check out Turbo Conquering Mega Eagle. You and him have a lot in common, including a great love of beer. He's about as loose as you, he does some incredibly dangerous things. Have a look.

[@sopgenorth]

The cheaper one is obviously better since it's rated for 2000W, while the Samlex is only rated for 1500W.

[@dickieearl4998]

I'm actually so f*ckin glad your doing stuff with inverters. Needing funkshoning pixie utilitarians, when you're a rookie is a pain. Bumblefuck skool of sinusoidal crocks for the freakin win... Thanks buddy, love your work!!

[@someoneoutthere7512]

There's that pimped out scope again :)

[@RinoaL]

Every so often i see isolation transformers for old DEC mainframes out in california, im tempted to get one and see if perhaps it can help even out the rough signals..... or i could just get a capacitor. but im still curious. BTW, really find it silly the names of fake brands now. many sound like cheesy action movies. "The Eliminator" sure doesnt paint the picture of an inverter in my head. reminds me of a camper trailer thing i saw a while back, on the side it had in big tacky american lettering "Vengeance 2000"..... talk about tacky naming. would be better to leave the side blank. i dont get it.

[@frenchriversprings]

Are you sure you did not pay for a simalex pure sine wave and someone fucked up and send you a modified sine wave?

[@kenjackson4177]

So.. if you blow the mosfets, before the fuses, and the fuses are soldered in,,,, the cost of fixing it means it gets tossed. So...assuming not intended to be replaced, just saving the unit from catching fire??

[@JasonW.]

I'm using a cheaper but still not cheap 3000w pure sine inverter. Oddly, or maybe surprisingly enough, it is brand name Reliable... Anyway, it runs on 24v DC, and I have two battery banks feeding it, 4 AGM batteries total. It will "reliably" simultaneously start and run two loaded sump pumps, 3/4 & 1/2 hp.

[@ronmiller682]

Great video I love watching and learning. Great catch on the wire