Sterling Power Pro Combi S Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger

[Don Diego]

I have a Parallex 7355 converter currently. I am thinking about replacing it with a new system. Does anyone have experience or knowledge of the "Sterling Power Pro Combi S Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger"? The 2500W unit is about $600, but it sounds like a quality charger and pure sine wave inverter. Thanks for any feedback.

[TG Twinkie]

There is a difference between an inverter and a converter.
An inverter changes 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC.
A converter changes 120 volts AC to 12 volts DC.
Since you have 2 trailers I'm not sure which one you are upgrading.
A 2500 watt inverter would require a very large battery capacity and will only power the 120 volt equipment in the trailer.
If it is the Argosy. The majority of the equipment is 12 volt DC powered. A 45 amp converter would be plenty for that trailer.
As for the new trailer. Perhaps others here could give advice. But even the new trainer has a majority of 12 volt DC equipment.
Are you looking for something to keep the battery(s) charged and provide 12 volt power? Or something that will provide 120 volt AC power when you are off the grid?

[Don Diego]

The AS is the 07 25FB. The Sterling in an inverter and charger. It will provide 12v and charge the batteries and it provides pure sine wave 120v for anything requiring 120v. The charger is a 4 step charger with additional setting for the various types of deep cycle batteries one might have.....
lead acid, sealed lead acid, gel, AGM etc.
I have a converter which is a single step or phase charger as well. But it does no inverting from 12V to 120, which would be nice to have. If I am doing an upgrade to a system that will do a better job of charging my batteries, which will cost $300 plus, then I can not help but consider the inverter option as well.
I just had never heard of Sterling before. Most of the post I have seen just want to talk about converters.

[CA_Tallguy]

I have experience with other Sterling products and would recommend them. The company really explains their products well in literature and they provide top notch support over the phone.

Here is what they say about the charger/inverter products they sell though I don't have experience with these myself...

"Take, for example, a 3000 Victron Multi that is perceived by the public to be 3000W continuously rated. If, however, you read the Victron specification for watts at 40degC the actual power is 2200Watts.The Sterling 2500W Combi delivers 2300Watts which in fact makes it a more powerful unit . This distortion is not limited to Victron, unfortunately most, if not all, the European manufacturers push model figures to the realms of fantasy in spiralling competitiveness and in order to confuse and impress the public who believe that these figures are actual continuous power rating."

I will be upgrading my electrical soon to include an inverter/charger but I currently am leaning towards a model that will synchronize and "boost" shore power. Here are only a few models/brands right now that do this. They basically will "boost" the shore or generator power when your trailer demands more than is available. So, for example, you potentially can start an AC off of a very small generator and the inverter/batteries will augment the available generator or shore power.

If you are just looking at a standard inverter/charger, however, then I wouldn't hesitate to consider the Sterling.

[DonDiego]

Originally Posted by TG Twinkie

There is a difference between an inverter and a converter.
An inverter changes 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC.
A converter changes 120 volts AC to 12 volts DC.
Since you have 2 trailers I'm not sure which one you are upgrading.
A 2500 watt inverter would require a very large battery capacity and will only power the 120 volt equipment in the trailer.
If it is the Argosy. The majority of the equipment is 12 volt DC powered. A 45 amp converter would be plenty for that trailer.
As for the new trailer. Perhaps others here could give advice. But even the new trainer has a majority of 12 volt DC equipment.
Are you looking for something to keep the battery(s) charged and provide 12 volt power? Or something that will provide 120 volt AC power when you are off the grid?

Thanks for the reply. The boost feature I was not aware of. But that would certainly be a great feature to have. We have been in many campground where the power was bad.... low voltage and fluctuating.

[garry]

A "sine wave" Inverter is a good choice for running your electrical equipment and keeping the batteries charged.

However; a 2500W will require at least 4 very large capacity batteries 6 would be better and it would help to have a solar charger as well.

You sure you need that 2400W capacity?

[tony6373]

Hi Don,

I have had a Xantrex ProSine 2.0 in my trailer for about 10 years now. It is rated at 2,000 watts continuos, 3,000 for 90 seconds and 100 watts 12V battery charging. I have a pair of 8D AGM batteries for it to feed. It has worked very well and the one time I did have a problem they exchanged it with a reconditioned one at no cost. My trailer also has 310 watts of solar panels on the roof. I'm not familiar with Sterling but true sine wave is the way to go for inverters and multistage programable is the way to go for battery maintenance. I love being able to use the microwave to warm up lunch at rest stops. Having an inverter also lets me use a larger TV (23" is about as small as you can go and get true HD TV). As always read the fine print before you buy.

[DonDiego]

Garry, no I do not need that big of unit and the batteries are an issue. We have a 25FB (which is already a little heavy on tongue weight) and there is not a good location to put more batteries. If I were to install more, they should go to the rear of the axles because of the tongue weight, but there is just nowhere I know to mount them. Even if I did, it would be a loooong run for the electrical cables.

[DonDiego]

Tony, I have not looked at the Xantex, but will. I do have 200W of solar, which is great. We boon docked for 5 days in Wisconsin this year and never had an issue.
Thanks