SUNGOLDPOWER Inverter Power Saver Mode

SUNGOLDPOWER Inverter Power Saver Mode - Is It Useful?

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Күн бұрын

Taking a look at the power saver mode of the SUNPOWERGOLD inverter. How does it work, will it actually save you any power, and what are the downsides.
WARNING: Lithium batteries are dangerous and can result in fire! This video is NOT intended to be instructional or a "how-to" lesson. I am not a professional. Do not attempt anything you see here without first contacting a certified and/or licensed professional.
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Video Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:35 Power Saver Demo
02:12 Power Saver Consumption
03:08 Small Load Efficiency Demo
04:30 Why It's Not Practical
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Пікірлер: 73

@Likemindfoundation 3 ай бұрын

Impressive! The power saver auto feature on my 7.5kva inverter has been functioning flawlessly for years, but I never fully understood how to utilize it until I watched your video. Your content is greatly appreciated, and I encourage you to continue producing it.

@albertperry8667 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I bought the exact same unit on Amazon and I have not tested it yet because I was unsure of the start up procedure and I didn’t have a resistor to load the capacitor. I am thrilled to see your videos and will continue to watch for updates on this model and hopefully the company will improve the idle use consumption. Thank you and mahalo from the big island of Hawaii

@SiriusSolar 3 жыл бұрын

Finally someone that understands the difference between idle consumption and standby consumption. It's frustrating manufacturers often don't State both in their specs. Manufacturers should put a efficiency graph showing the efficiency spread over the full range of its output abilities! My 6000 watt inverter idle consumption is less than 30w.

@arnoldreiter435 2 жыл бұрын

you mentioned that in your house your refrigerator runs all the time but one made for off grid use will turn off for upwards of 80%or the time. i have the 3k model and take advantage of the power save every night....for just over two months now i have run a full size freezer and a smaller pellet stove in my garage. both of which are off a lot of the night. my freezer will run maybe 30%of the time and the pellet stove about the same. in the morning i see my battery bank has much more percentage of charge than before i put this inverter in. You may not see the value but for me it is the reason i use this inverter. Even if it has a lower efficiency the end result is i have more power in my batteries in the morning to help if i have a poor solar day.

@LithiumSolar 2 жыл бұрын

I don't recall saying that the refrigerator runs all the time. You're correct in that the compressor shuts off most of the time; however, the electronics in the fridge still need power. It needs power for the ice maker to function, the water and ice dispenser on the front door, the light bulb to turn on when I open the door... Sure, the compressor doesn't run but the rest of the fridge needs power. Now if you have a freezer in the basement or something that's rarely accessed, then maybe the power save mode will work. Or I can see it a nice value if running very specific off-grid appliances (great for a well pump for example), but just not practical for running a typical US household.

@root4669 3 жыл бұрын

LF inverters like this (and they are mostly all the same) are best used for larger systems such as: a small house, a shop, a cabin, or a large RV trailer that is ran by a power hog. Now If all you are doing is powering a few light bulbs and a computer or for short-term camping than a smaller HF inverter say in the 1-3kW range is better suited for that task. 3kW is enough to run a microwave and a toaster or coffer maker, plus a few LED lights. There is no problem running multiple smaller inverters for specific devices, but the idle consumption must be taken into consideration for that. Most HVAC and dryers consume 5-7kW of power so you "probably" won't be using an HF inverter for that unless it is a 24-48kW model, that is if you want to avoid having to manage/conserve power. Just charging EV's at full rate can easily be 12kW, and that doesn't even consider anything else going on in the house. If you have an induction stove or electric stove that too can consume huge amounts of power (easily multiple kW's...) It can add up quickly when you are doing a whole house, most on-grid folks aren't used to worrying about that as they never exceed their 100 or 200a (i.e. 24 & 48kW), it "just works". The power company pays for the idle power, where as with off-grid it's all on you (or your batteries/panels to be more precise).

@stardust-rv7mr Жыл бұрын

Thanks for going over the power saver auto setting, could not figure out why at the panel i could not get it to work, but at the inverter it worked just fine, i switch the legs and presto it works, i will use this leg for back up sump pump.

@tlteal 3 ай бұрын

Your point is very well taken. However, in my case, I have this unit directly connected to a 48v battery that has a 120v plug connected to it and it charges up my ecoflow delta pro at 1800watts and nothing else on the market can do that --- that I'm aware of.

@smntsn 2 жыл бұрын

My 800watt (1kv) ups already consuming 60watt without load. So, Sungoldpower is already better...(thanks for the vid :))

@kennethalmond8922 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for research/demonstrating the idle mode!! I have AIMS and don't use idle because I was suspicious it would work for me - and I think you've confirmed it. I have ATS(s) downstream from my AIMS and this small probe would not find loads / or (I suspect) be enough to activate the ATS to switch from grid to inverter. Also - that pulse of light on/off... I'm not sure I would want my refrigerator or sensitive loads to be pulsed like that. So regular mode for me :) Also on inverter consumption during load. From my observations running a 12,000w AIMS... you have to get consumption up quite a bit before you begin to mitigate the idle draw. Not sure exactly but you need both legs to be 30% or more of the total capacity of the inverter to get near the peak efficiency specs of 88%. In my DIY off-grid system last year - the average for a year was 83.5% efficiency on 15,000kwh consumed. These numbers were calculated by dividing 'cheap Amazon meter on AIMs output' by Midnite Classic PV input numbers - so they could be off a bit but my sense is that 84% efficiency for real world use is probably pretty close.

@fisherus 3 жыл бұрын

I have to agree with your comment. As a power supply for a well pump there are many less expensive and lower consumptive inverters for most off-grid well pumps that have dedicated solar supply systems. Enjoy your videos immensely.

@bobcole3852 2 жыл бұрын

Please tell us which ones! I need an inverter that will handle well pump, a deep one...

@motoprophet3981 Жыл бұрын

Great! I just bought this inverter and I appreciate you explaining that function. Thanks.

@AdministrativeReload 2 жыл бұрын

I have the smaller version of this inverter that is 120VAC only. The "power saver" mode is just as useless in that model due to the issues you mentioned. Fortunately that won't matter much for my application as I am basically just using it to build a big 5Kwh "solar generator" that I can use to run power tools and what not when I am not close to an outlet. So it's not a big deal to leave it turned off when I am not using it.

@awesomedee5421 Жыл бұрын

great to know these details. best description ever. I was going to get one of those and now I probably won't

@stans5270 3 жыл бұрын

Imagine needing to reset EVERY clock you own every day that you wake up... My boss won't like me getting into work 90 minutes late.

@aspendell209 3 жыл бұрын

I agree with your summation 100%. Any light bulb since incandescents has electronic power circuitry built in that may or may not appear to the inverter. But a 100w equivalent light bulb in LED draws only 15 watts. The only contrived use I could think of would be to use this as a secondary inverter to power something like water heating elements and used as a power dump load. Then the inverter may in power saver for 23 hrs per day and maybe turns on the heating elements for an hour during peak solar.

@DCGULL01 3 жыл бұрын

So, 'in concept' I LIKE the power saver mode. But, in practice, loss of the UPS function (if needed) is a tough pill to swallow. I'm less worried about the pulsing even for sensitive electronics, but- I think I've seen other power savers than are constantly seeking load. But, 6.000W is far larger than my needs. I wish that there were tons of 2,500W 12v/24v inverters to choose from- cuz that's what I actually want. I could probably live with 2,000W & I'd rarely need 3,000W (AC compressor lock only) but- don't want the idle losses.... It's a dilemna wrapped in an enigma. Or, it's truly a 1st world problem! I understand why the functionality is severely impacted though!

@patrickvanneck 3 жыл бұрын

What I do is, I wired an ATS switch to the power on/off switch, so that I am using this inverter only for heavy inductive loads during daytime. For the light loads at night, I am using a 2nd much lighter inverter while this LF inverter is turned off. I tried the same with wiring a light sensor to the switch to sense day and night: works well too. Now I wired the ATS + the light switch in series, so the LF inverter switches off at a certain SoC of my battery AND at night. This works fine and the LF inverter handles all my inductive loads in daytime. I mentioned this to the company, but so far they have not done anything with it.

@brothertyler 3 жыл бұрын

I've the aims variant, and have thought of modifying mine for greater efficiency and usefulness of the power save. I think I'll add an external fet based inverter for a much lower load, say 300W. The power save switch will be tied to this mini inverter. When the mini inverter goes into an overload condition, it will trigger the main inverter to turn on and the mini inverter to shut off until I manually put it back into power save or find out how to gauge the load the big inverter is experiencing. Don't know, just an idea. Hybrid of these two technologies.

@12345....... 3 жыл бұрын

Well start graphing that stuff out! I kid. Thank you for the experiments you conduct. 👍

@dismandala 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, your test makes me think that the design of a fully off grid house could benefit from using both low and high frequency inverters. You use (and wire the house) with 2 (or more) circuit breaker panels. The high frequency panel is always on and the low frequency panel(s) in power savings mode. You could then go so far as to modify your HVAC system (and other like devices) to power it's electronics from the high frequency side and the surge heavy motors from the low frequency power savings side. With a well pump it too would go to the low frequency side since it only needs to come on when pressure drops far enough. If you are using an induction range I wonder if you'd want/need to modify that to split the power draw or can you run it on the high frequency inverter side? With the right mix of inverters you can get the best convenience and power savings. To me this really shows that a fully off grid house is a much different beast then a grid connect house in terms of electric use.

@akashkumar9144 3 жыл бұрын

Will the water pump be able to sense drop in pressure if its on low frequency inverters power saver mode.. What i mean is the water pump needs some power to figure out its working pressure and a low frequency inverter on power saver mode won't continuously provide it with power

@JungleJargon 3 жыл бұрын

I have this split phase inverter from back in the day when it was called "Any Power". I just hooked it up for the first time and I have been using the power saver mode, which is silly when there is always something on anyway.

@macEboy 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@pritambissonauth2181 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the information, wish you could compare it with the Victron inverters, seems its an LF topology with toroidal transformer. It too has this power save mode!

@charlessullenbarger4899 2 жыл бұрын

Great info.i am planning to up grade to a 6000 watt sungold but I have a guesting that I can't seem to get an answer to.maybe you could help,having this unit hooked up to come on automatically when the grid fails do to a storm or whatever.if I'm using more than 6000 watts when the power goes out,like my central A/C uses 7200 watts when it's running and I was wondering how it will react when tries to come on with a load more than it's able to handle. Any input will be appreciated.

@hellopsp180 3 жыл бұрын

@Lithium Solar amazing Vid. Makes 100% absolute sense Don't use this power save mode on Sensitive electronics. The constant on-off will power cycle your electronics to the point of oblivion. It will also increase the failure rate of these electronics as the PCBs do not like being cycled too many times. Like how an EMP Destroys PCBs because of the pulse of EM Waves. Pulsing your electricity on and off is basically doing a smaller version of this.

@andresrodriguez2142 Жыл бұрын

Can I connect the inverter and Power from Electric Company on Saver Mode switch at the same time? Does the Saver Mode Switch act as a Transfer switch?

@matthewburga 3 жыл бұрын

I have the 2000W Sungold Power with a Lifepo4 setting. It doesn't seem to charge my bank over 3.4 volts per cell.

@goodchristiandad 2 жыл бұрын

more videos on this inverter pls. solar and off-grid purposes pls. thanks.

@robertgiresi9515 3 жыл бұрын

I think you gave an excellent description of the power saver mode. Great visuals to describe how it works. However, I'm curious what other techniques can be used for creating a power saver mode besides periodic pulsing?

@hubertnnn 3 жыл бұрын

I think the most reliable way would be to have 2 or more inverters and an amp meter. Run the smallest inverter constantly and when the amp meter detects you need more power, then turn on next inverters and if it detects less power needed turn them off. The thing is that would make such a multi-inverter quite expensive and still not perfectly reliable. If I would have a 100W computer connected and then turn on a 3000W machine it could kill the power to the computer before the extra inverters kicks in.

@rpsmith 3 жыл бұрын

I think the power saver mode is mainly intended for a job site where you would be intermittently powering power tools but the fact it only monitors one leg pretty much limits it to 220 Volt loads.

@offgridwanabe 3 жыл бұрын

Nice to know I never used it on my inverter so I can run my internet router but I never understood like now.

@dand9244 3 жыл бұрын

i assume you only test inverters that are sent to you from manufacturer? in case not, i was wanting mr poz or mr prowse to review the samlex evo 4024 if they get the chance, thought i would ask you as well

@cyumadbrosummit3534 3 жыл бұрын

Been running a home in California off of this Siganeer inverter for a little over 1 year now. Bought a spare last month just incase the stop making them or Copper prices skyrocket.

@tlteal 2 ай бұрын

IN order for power save to work, do you have to use leg 1 vs. leg 2? I’m asking because when I turn the power save on, I don’t get any power and when I switch to normal power, it shows approx 1700 watts. Thoughts? Anyone know?

@LithiumSolar 2 ай бұрын

Yes, it's only sensing devices connected on one leg. If you have them on the leg not being "watched", it will never turn on.

@kyborg44 3 жыл бұрын

Yours said it has a lithium battery setting, when I look online they don't. I have an NMC battery ,any suggestions on a split phase inverter that also has a mppt? Thanks!

@SuperVstech 3 жыл бұрын

I am fairly certain this model is available with solar charge controller included.

@scooter6334 11 ай бұрын

My sungold 4000w inverter comes on and doesn’t shut off when the load goes down 🙄. Is this right?

@2hotscottpro 5 ай бұрын

@Lithium Solar Possible to wire 240 to sub panel and have 120 and 240 outlets? To run 240 mini split and 120v to other outlet? Someone tested inverter power consumption,used 30% power from bat bank.

@LithiumSolar 5 ай бұрын

Yes, this is a 120/240V inverter.

@2hotscottpro 5 ай бұрын

@@LithiumSolar Thanks for your reply! Didn’t want to buy one with ability of only 120 or 240 at a time.

@Jethro.Maloku-le.Rey.Kalsitran 3 жыл бұрын

you are perfectly right, it's no use to have power saving mode at the source when your end loads have themselves power saving mode that require a source to run... it's like having 2 fuses in serie

@marcangelodonelo5656 3 жыл бұрын

This randomly came in to me, is there such thing as 36v solar system? If so what would be the advantage or disadvantages and hurdles(such in compatibility, is it rare or common, is it sustainable?)

@mondotv4216 2 жыл бұрын

Depends what you mean. Most solar inverters work at higher voltages because they string together solar panels that generally have an open circuit voltage above 40V. There are of course 12V panels and systems as well. If you mean a battery system then yes there is. You probably struggle to buy a purpose built 36VBMS for LiFe but most 48V BMS can balance a 36V system by just using the first 11 Balance leads and the positive balance lead. There are 36V inverters but because they're not as common as 24V or 48V they could be more expensive. There is no advantage over a 48V system apart from needing less cells. The wiring gauge has to be thicker than 48V for the same amount of Amps. 48V - can be more expensive but cuts down on wiring costs, 36V a mid point, 24V common because it's a bit cheaper to put together, 12V - pretty much reserved for mobile use these days (and being phased out there) and used to be common in off grid situations.

@Mylifelovingit Жыл бұрын

I have a similar inverter. On mine, the fan pulses in standby mode, so it uses even more power. I leave it off if not used

@chrisfryer3118 3 жыл бұрын

I find it fine for my fridge/freezer, main load.I only use a big LF inverter for the occasional requirement of chopsaw, washing machine and pressure washer. Need to turn mine on fully for charging tool battery packs. Besides some charge controllers have USB output, that's where I charge my phone.

@akashkumar9144 3 жыл бұрын

Hie does fridge work with power saver on

@chrisfryer3118 3 жыл бұрын

@@akashkumar9144 Yes.

@klausnielsen1537 3 жыл бұрын

I think this power saver mode would be funny in a house with led lamps. Blinks every 3 seconds...

@LithiumSolar 3 жыл бұрын

I did try an LED bulb. It didn't flicker the same way the incandescent did. I'm guessing the pulse isn't long enough for the circuitry that converts AC > DC in the LED bulb.

@bashaaksema94 3 жыл бұрын

@@LithiumSolar true

@klausnielsen1537 3 жыл бұрын

@@LithiumSolar Sad 😢

@kswis 2 жыл бұрын

Agreed, well proven point. Power saving mode is a waste

@breeme4741 3 жыл бұрын

Have you done or will you do a crypto miner set up using solar power ???

@hubertnnn 3 жыл бұрын

I don't think this will be able to run a well pump either. My father just installed one of those last week in his house and based on what we read in the manual, the pump is constantly checking the water pressure and turning itself on only when pressure drops (aka you opened the tap). So without constant supply of power, the electronics may not be able to correctly detect low pressure and trigger the pump on. So the constant flickering that might hurt electronics, and the inability to power any devices with "standby modes" makes that mode unusable for almost any device. The only devices that might be safe to use in this mode are lights and power tools. So the only place where this inverter is useful in the power saving mode is a workshop. And even there I would probably prefer to just turn it off when I leave and back on when I need to do something rather than relying on the eco mode.

@VinceBadovinatz88 Жыл бұрын

I'm using a similar unit sungold version of the LV 65-48. I turn it on and off completely. I'm pretty sure the idle consumption is over 100 W. Its Brutal. Thank God I have another 12-volt system I'm using for a lot of my necessary stay on items I'm using the bigger 6548 all-in-one for my air conditioner and water heater.. i do keep it on during the day when I have plenty of sunshine

@akashkumar9144 3 жыл бұрын

Will a fridge work with power saver mode

@LithiumSolar 3 жыл бұрын

I haven't tried but I don't think so. The fridge relies on computerized circuits before the compressor turns on, and those circuits alone would not be enough to turn on the inverter.

@dgSolidarity 3 жыл бұрын

Speaking of wells, you are truly a well of information delivered extremely well. Would be great to have an enginerd of some sort chime in, with thoughts of specific appliances that might not like that pulsed treatment long-term.

@EronIler 2 жыл бұрын

What is the app you are using?

@LithiumSolar 2 жыл бұрын

There's a whole video on that topic here kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rbGEi62aydTKnGg.html

@mo0seboy 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I'd be pretty uncomfortable with the idea of throwing 25ms pulses of electricity at appliances and computers that I care about as well.

@josefpdx1 3 жыл бұрын

This inverter looks like AIMS 4000watt inverter, even the boards and the transformer looks the same. Is this a clone? Or is AIMS rebranding?

@MyMy-tv7fd 3 жыл бұрын

some wise comments there

@shelby9533 2 жыл бұрын

I have a question about my SunGold 18000Watt inverter. Does it automatically shut down the AC load at night and receive power off the batteries, if they are connected? I had not turned on my charging function for the first few days, but noticed that the battery voltage had dropped from 53 volts to 47 volts. It will be great if it does that once my DC Optimized solar panels are connected. I have 8 200AH batteries (2banks of 4 in series =48volts). so my available power is 48 volts @ 400AH. What are your thoughts about this?