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| 1250 watt inverter powers remote Canadian cabin!To my saviors at Inverters R Us,
I am so happy with my newly acquired Aims 1250 Watts modified sign wave inverter! Earlier this spring somewhere during the month of May 2005 we were at our remotely located cottage at Wallace Lake in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Trusting the weather forecaster (a dumb thing to do) for a beautiful sunny weekend, we had decided it was a great time to do some fishing and awake our cottage for another season of getting together with our family. Such things include cleaning the gutters from the immense collection of by now half decomposed leaves that took a hiding from last fall's storms that left the trees nakedly shivering until they received their blanket of fluffy snow, balancing on their twigs. The now freshly rinsed gutters were hooked up to our twin 250 gallon water reservoirs. They supply us with ample rain and we have never run dry as nature supplies us with enough and usually in time to last the season. We settled in for the evening and around 8 pm the sky darkened too early for an approaching summer night. Soon, big droplets announced themselves by hammering on our metal roof.
I pushed the remote button to our 1500 watt Cherokee power inverter as we normally do each evening. Due to our remote location we do get a hum on the midwave radio stations, but that seems normal as our neighbors also mentioned to get a hum when their inverter is switched on. See, we have no electricity in our area and many cottagers rely on solar panels and batteries to supply them with lights and power for water pumps; radio and television. TV can only be received via a dish and that works perfectly clear and with no audio hums.
By now the rain came down in a torrent and the sky was pitch black! Thunder and lightning accompanied the storm, and we watched the spookiness outside as the blitzes of lightning danced about from cloud to cloud and as many times straight down to find their path to the most conductive areas. There is much ore in the ground around here and ......yes....there is gold! The St Antonius goldmine is in Bissett, but that is about 15 miles west of us. All of a sudden a bright bolt of lightning struck so close that the thunder was instantaneous and all our lights went off. But....so did the lights at our neighbor! Hey.....that can't be! That only happens in the cities! After all, we have our own systems and they are not connected! Soon my neighbor came over to check if we were OK. Let us check the batteries, he suggested.
I was not in the mood to get soaked, as it still poured relentlessly. Good thing we have a backup and we lit our propane lamps. Next morning in full sunshine, I checked my supply system and found the Cherokee would no longer work .My neighbor’s worked as his breaker had tripped. However, my inverter was not grounded properly. I have a bank of 720 amp 12 volt batteries. It consists of 3 rows of 6- 2 volt batteries of 240 amps each. Two Solarex panels of 80 watts charge them via a regulator. During heavy use when the grandchildren are visiting and the vcr and TV are continuously on at night, we run our 650 watt Honda generator so as to not to deplete the batteries. We use the spiral type light bulbs, as they consume very little power. I tried on the net to find a supplier or repair facility to have the Cherokee inverter repaired, but had to give up on that idea, as NO ONE was able to fix it. Even suppliers advertising Cherokee inverters were no longer selling them and I was told Cherokee are no longer in business.
Surfing the net, I happen to run in the Inverters R Us site, and what I saw there was just up my alley! The 1250 watt inverter would be more than adequate for our needs. I calculated my maximum wattage used and came to about 950 watts including the use now and then of a small microwave. So, without hesitation, I ordered the 1250 watt Aims inverter. It had a not double, but triple overload rating and a receptacle for a remote switch, which is real handy as one can control the inverter from inside a building. Another plus is the free shipping within the continental US. ( In my case, I had it shipped to my daughter in Minnesota as shipping cost to Canada is rather expensive, especially since it would cost another 14 % on taxes!
My order was attended too very speedily and it was great to be able to trace my parcel via Fedex. Unfortunately when I finally received my inverter, it appeared that a quality check at the factory had slipped, and my inverter shut down when I checked it. I contacted Inverters R Us and left my message and my phone number. I could hardly believe the quick response I got. About ten minutes after my call, I received a call from Inverters R Us. I explained the problem, and I was advised to ship the unit back. We arranged to get another unit shipped to me immediately. I received another 1250 watt inverter in short order and got a full refund for the initial one....including a refund for my costs incurred for shipping the faulty inverter back.
By now, the 1250 watt Aims inverter is doing its job quite nicely and is drawing very little current when on standby. My existing remote cable fits right into the Aims and we are all one happy family again relying on the quiet 120 volt power supply through the 1250 watt Aims Power Inverter without the noise, smell or pollution created by a generator.
I strongly recommend the Aims 1250 watt power inverter for anyone having need for 120 volt power, especially in combination with solar electrical systems or for recreational uses on boats and campers.
Louis B. Ste Anne, Manitoba
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