I could have told you this wouldn't fly

PS: I copied this link into notepad and this is how it turned out (minus the Russian!) You IT manne need to explain this one to me…

Facebook for some reason thinks you’re browsing from Russia. I get the same with Aliexpress sometimes, and I have to explicitly tell it otherwise.

If I follow your link I get it in English, but that might be because I am logged in, and FB already knows I’m English.

To save others the time, someone is sitting on 30 small Meanwell inverters… some of which have failed.

As for myself, I’m not paying R500 for an inverter that might be failed, and I’m not taking a chance on 30 of them on the off chance that half of them are still good… and hoping I can resell those without half of the half also coming back to me.

It is a bit odd though. Meanwell normally makes very decent stuff.

Let me speculate: These units seemed like a good idea at the time. BUT the only thing you can power with them are routers and charging phones etc. These are DC devices so to generate 220V to do this is crazy!
The components haven’t failed: The LA batts have died and are way too expensive to replace for a badly conceived system.
Those Meanwell units are excellent products, especially that smart charger. So If you’re needing a LA battery charger then it could be worth your while… :thinking:

I’m still of the opinion that for the average home user, it is much better to have a device that makes a standard voltage for their stuff (by which I mean 230VAC), even at some cost and the loss off efficiency, than letting them loose in the non-standard world of DC voltages and polarities.

With the exception of the 5V USB charging standard, there is almost nothing out there that is really standard. I am very very happy that people are slowly moving towards DC backup (it is so much more affordable too!), and that there is some level of standardisation or at least enumerating what is out there, but I’m not yet ready to completely dismiss the small inverter option… which for many people is the answer.

I don’t recommend lead acid though. I recommend these Ecoflow packs. They have DC jacks too… :slight_smile:

Pse provide a link…

This is the baby model. At around 7k it seems hectic, but that’s about the cost of a very-entry-level laptop or iPhone for comparison. At only 200Wh capacity, it’s only really good for small loads.

The pick of the bunch, according to me anyway, is the River Pro. 700Wh storage. Again, quite a hefty price tag, but when you consider your hardware story trolley is around 8k before you added batteries, it’s not that far out.

So maybe some people are wondering… why would someone who works for an inverter company recommend out of brand? Well, because in this bracket (under 20k, and not in a camping rig) you really are served better by something like this.

It has USB ports running straight from the DC, and a 12V car-type jack, and some barrel jacks for lights.

If the R500 price includes the charger, the battery box, all cabling and a 50/50 chance on a working inverter, it really is not a bad price. Spend a bit on a better quality/size inverter and panels and the off road community should love these kits.

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And a scrap 100 Ah LA battery @ R9/kg… :money_mouth_face:

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Indeed! I see a de facto standardisation of DC plugs appearing for low power/voltage gizmos: The 5.5 mm barrel plug/socket is pretty much standard as the DC plug out there. The only curved ball is that the pin can still vary between 2.1 and 2.5 mm :frowning:
Despite this more and more devices are moving away from AC. The latest I came across is this Samsung TV:

All the Samsung TVs did (and Sony before them) was to move the SMPS outside the box. They’ve had this ever since the first flat screens came out :slight_smile:

I think it also allows them to tap into existing SMPS lines. That 19V supply is pretty typical for a laptop.

For TV sets?? Mine definitely doesn’t (UA43NU7100 bought in 2020)

You can have the PSU inside or outside. Samsung usually have models of both. They do this with PC monitors as well. I even have an old Dell 17" monitor that work with external PSU.
If the PSU is internal it is normally part of the circuit board, or even a daughter board. But this generate more heat and so is normally more bulky. When you move it external that heat disipation does not bulk up the monitor and they can be thinner.

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This makes a BIG difference for people like myself. Once the PSU is external the gizmo becomes a DC device!

That is why I also like the external models. So now you know you need to look for them for your next buy :slight_smile:

I have 4 Samsung televisions (AirBnB setup), and 3 out of the 4 have external bricks despite the very similar model numbers. In an AirBnB I hate the external brick. I somehow have to stash it between the wall and the back of the screen. In my own home it makes no difference either way. It’s a packaging thing. Just about all our appliances, except those with induction motors, are DC now. I still think AC is your best distribution method, even on the scale of a house.

When I install a television in a camper van, that’s when DC becomes important. Not before :slight_smile:

Samsung took it a step further, with their Oneconnect box, which moves all the TV ports and the power supply outside the screen. Oneconnect

I have opened up one of these before and it was an extremely well designed board, with multiple DC output voltages. I do recall the main DC output for the screen was 300V.