This was a successful test. Our Mermaid Marine Air 5200 btu HVAC unit ran full blast, cooling down the stateroom during our test.
April 2019 - We are
currently anchored in Bahia de Navidad Lagoon, Mexico
While at anchor here in the Barra Lagoon we tested our Mermaid Marine Air 5200 btu AC unit by running it solely on our 2000 watt modified sin wave Xantrex charger\inverter.
The test was a complete success. Our 490 watts of solar kept the batteries up at 80 percent the whole time. Also, on a partly cloudy day with the AC running full blast. We have a BlueSky Energy inc Solar Boost 3024iL DUO solar controller, three Kyocera Solar KD-135GX 135 Watt 12 Volt Solar Electric Panels and one smaller panel.
Our batteries never went below 80 percent. Our refer/freezer compressor would run at times also. Our solar kept the batteries up and if we had let it run, the AC would have reached temperature and shut off, allowing the batteries to charge back up even more. The AC would then cycle on\off keeping the space cool. The Honda EU 2000i genset was not used at all.
Here our Link 2000 is ready -14.30 volts.
The 4 AGM 6-volt Mastervolt batteries started off at 14.30 as shown above. After the test, they bounced back up to 14.30 in a short amount of time.
The batteries slowly went down to 12.55 then to 12.50
when the Frigoboat refer compressor kicked on.
when the Frigoboat refer compressor kicked on.
Some clouds so a good test because we normally have a completely sunny day. If the test was this good on this day it would be even better on a completely sunny day.
This 2000 watt Xantrex charger\inverter is a modified sin wave inverter,
not a pure sin wave inverter.
not a pure sin wave inverter.
Mermaid Marine Air says to use a pure sin wave inverter. So we emailed Roger at Micro-Air, the company that makes the electronics for the Mermaid Marine Air conditioners and he said "In a short answer no, nothing will be hurt by using a modified sine inverter. " so we went for it.
Our Xantrex charger\inverter is mounted in our starboard lazarett.
We mounted here so any heat or noise would be out side the living space.
We mounted here so any heat or noise would be out side the living space.
We lifted the lazarett cover in case the Xantrex charger\inverter got hot but it did not. It has a fan and it only came on twice for a short time. It was cool to the touch.
Frigoboat thermostat is on, the yellow light means the refer compressor is running on the top thermostat and the bottom thermostat red dot means the refer fan is on.
This is the lowest the batteries ever got which is 90 percent.
Debbie took notes the whole time. They are below. At first our computer
and external drives were running on the inverter also and the VHF radio
was running. We switched the computer to run on its own battery
and turned off the VHF....this did not seem to make a difference.
Hazy, cloudy day yet solar is charging batteries fully.
Starting inverter volts: 1430 volts
@start up of Mermaid HVAC: 1270 volts (100%)
Refer/freezer compressor on, computer plugged in; VHF radio on.
Running with above & HVAC: 1260 volts
More running above & HVAC: 1255 volts
Frigoboat Refer/freezer off...1260 volts
With temperature "gun":
HVAC Blowing @60 degrees F; temperature in the room: @59 degrees F
External tabletop thermometer @77 degrees F
@1300 Voltage = 1250 (90%) (no refer/freezer)
@1305 1255 Fan started on Xantrex Charger/Inverter which made voltage drop to 1250...ran for 2 minutes, shut off; voltage back to 1255
@1313 Voltage = 1255
@1317 Voltage = 1260
@1318 Fan on Xantrex cames on, reduced volts by 5...ran for 90 seconds then off; volts back to 1260
@1321 Voltage @ 1255
@1325 Voltage @1250 Refer/freezer compressor on
@1327 Concluded test Voltage @1250 Refer/freezer compressor on.
Voltage jumped to 1290 and up, up, up
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Mermaid HVAC Reverse Cycle Heat & Air 5200 BTU
Compressor Draws 4.4 amps Cooling, 3.0 amps Heating
Pump Draws 3.0 amps
Start-up = 13.32 amps (calculated at total 7.4 (compressor & pump) times 1.8 (number supplied by Mermaid)
with EasyStart, which reduces amps at start-up up to 70%
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Email to MicroAir
We have an older Xantrax 2000 watt charger inverter. It is a modified sin wave inverter.
We have the EasyStart™ 364 installed on our older Mermaid 5200 HVAC system.
We have the FX-1 Digital Comfort Control Thermostat.
We want to run the Mermaid at times from the Xantrax 2000 watt charger inverter.
Will any part be damaged by the modified sin wave inverter?
Our other systems seem to run fine on it.
I read the modified is less efficient than the pure sin wave inverter.
REPLY
Per Roger at MicroAir (manufacturer of EasyStart and thermostat for Mermaid HVAC): In a short answer no, nothing will be hurt by using a modified sine inverter. I have seen where EasyStart may not be happy with the initial waveform from some non-sine inverters however we have a Xantrex 1800 here I have used many times and never had a problem. EasyStart nor the compressor will be damaged so I say go for it. Please note that 2000 watts may be a little close to the limit for the inverter so make sure it is not getting too hot and has plenty of airflow around it.
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Xantrax Gauge
A Hrs/Batt Cap = 61 and 60.4
Amps/Charged % = .0
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