How sure are you it includes the batteries? Doesn’t say so on the ad.
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Isn’t a small MultiPlus cheaper than that?
It Includes: High Power, Heavy Duty … ← this must be the batteries, but I was also wonderring.
Haha! So I believe a high amount of skepticism is in order if that is their description of the batteries included in that “deal”.
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It is deduced
Product/Packaging Information
Product Weight68.5 kgProduct Dimensions480mm(L) x 445mm(W) x 587mm(H)Shipping Weight68.5 kgShipping Dimensions480mm(L) x
68.5 kg…
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I doubt it will include batteries.
Around 6.5k for a 500VA (although I see Geewiz has it for under 6k). The one in the video is an 800VA (and since the Mecer is a 1200VA/750W or something like that, a fair comparison), so that would be a tad more. And this one can charge a battery at 20A (you would likely limit it to 15A if you’re going with a 100Ah battery), which gets you a recharge in a much more acceptable time.
But as also noted in the video, the Mecer inverter itself (without the case) is around R2200. I’ve seen the trolley sell for around 8k (7.8k now at Geewiz). So you have almost 6k into the case and some cabling then? That does seem a tad high. The DIYer can very likely make something a lot nicer with the same money.
The Multi is internally fused (just like the Mecer), so this is really just some 10mm^2 cabling, lugs, and a smallish case for it. Geewiz (again) sells a case for around R1000-R1500.
It does.
Inverter about ±R3k or some such
Case about ±R2k maybe
Rest is for the batteries.
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Sommer actual heavy, not just heavy duty!
My FNB (not the bank) lead acids where 60kg each, so it’s actually not that clear cut. The inverter and the trolley could be 68.5kg with boxes and stuff…
Edit: No, that ^ doesn’t actually make sense. Otherwise they’re shipping lead, if not lead acid.
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My guess about your buddy is that he’s aware of the limitations of LA batteries.
Having gone to considerable time and effort to develop a mini UPS which uses a SLA battery the failure of the product (since I’m not wealthy enough to be hobnobbing with Jacob and the like) has been the batteries which die prematurely. This has led me to the conclusion that Jan Publiek doesn’t really understand you when you instruct him never to unplug the unit from the mains.
I’m of the opinion that other than a 6V SLA battery used in a LED flashlight they don’t survive on devices that can be unplugged from the mains. People just don’t believe me when I tell them that they let the battery run flat and didn’t recharge it ASAP.
Ha! So they use it as a powerbank? Making their routers “mobile” devices? This is a problem with many things nowadays. People do not take responsibility for taking care of things, because there’s so many laws protecting them…
I hear you, but you must remember that Lead Acid technology is really unintuitive.
The problem is actually that the battery itself is practically useless on its own: it must be pared with the correct charger and “discharger” which will take care of it. Nothing else you own requires this much care without breathing. Even plants survive a certain level of neglect.
I would say LA is a technician / engineer / car person’s thing – you don’t have to be one, pretending is fine, but just being a “customer” doesn’t work. It really takes a level of care and feeding not seen elsewhere in your house.
Even those things. My father in law unplugs theirs. But thankfully it does take quite a while to run down since there is no quiescent draw on it.
But… I also found that the charging circuits on these 6V lamps with the small 6V SLA is so cheap that it cooks the battery over time if you just leave it plugged in all the time. So with these it is really a case of damned of you do, damned if you don’t.
I do think LiPo based “DC UPSes” are by far the better option these days.
It was the only battery technology around since they invented batteries…
And they aren’t going to die that quickly. As a starter battery in automotive applications it’s ideal.
Yeah, that’s kind-of my point: as part of a bigger system (such as a car) they work completely fine.
But your car doesn’t allow it to run down unless something is really wrong. Imagine your car died if you didn’t dry it immediately after it rained.
Edit: Actually a car’s electrical system is usually closed, and operates well as long as it remains closed. If you leave a 12V fridge plugged in and left it for a couple of days you’d have problems. Especially if you do that often and don’t drive around.
Or you drive a big old Range Rover that just has THAT MANY accessories. Leave it at the airport for a week while ritzing all over the world, and the battery will be dead when you get back…
(Not personal experience. Garage man’s case book in CAR magazine, some years ago. Car had keyless entry. Sitting in a car park at an airport meant that thing was woken up often… with other keys).
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Haha! Interesting. There should be an “long term parking” mode where you have to use the key to unlock it again.
I’ve had my old 2004 Ford Fiesta (without any accessories) battery die on me once. I had one of those old cigarette lighter “FM” radio station things. I didn’t unplug it when I arrived at my residence (giving away some clues to my age here). So it kept on making its little station (apparently the car didn’t turn off all the 12V ports when the car was turned off). I didn’t drive my car for the whole semester and yeah, thing was so dead the alternator didn’t even manage to charge it after I got it jumped.
So then I first had to replace my battery before I could “ontruim” for the end of the semester. Not a time of the year where a student is cash flush.
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Those 2400VA trolley type inverters in the form of mecer or Ellie’s and all the clones sell for around R2500 for the inverter alone. Got 1 from Ellies a few weeks ago.
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