Sterling inverter charger

[Grant_thenovice]

Hey folks,

I may have made a rash purchase of the following inverter/charger (much to the annoyance of my partner, I'm in the doghouse). Can anyone give me any reviews or know of anyone who - hopefully - rates this as to stop me sleeping on the couch. Cheers!

http://www.force4.co.uk/sterling-pro-combi-q-12v-1600w-inverter-charger.html?sqr=Inverter&#.WYbrDTx4WEc

[Robbo]

Believe they are a little power hungry than premium makes like MasterVolt and Victron, best left off inverter mode when not needed, but that can be said for any inverter.

[mrsmelly]

35 minutes ago, Grant_thenovice said:

Hey folks,

I may have made a rash purchase of the following inverter/charger (much to the annoyance of my partner, I'm in the doghouse). Can anyone give me any reviews or know of anyone who - hopefully - rates this as to stop me sleeping on the couch. Cheers!

http://www.force4.co.uk/sterling-pro-combi-q-12v-1600w-inverter-charger.html?sqr=Inverter&#.WYbrDTx4WEc

Don't let your partner read this!! They are right!! Having had exactly one of those and other better quality kit as a full time liveaboard I can say you should have spent a bit more and bought mastervolt or victron both are superior and both use less power on standby especialy the mastervolt. But hey ho it will go bang quite quickly and then you can buy a good one

[Grant_thenovice]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

Don't let your partner read this!! They are right!! Having had exactly one of those and other better quality kit as a full time liveaboard I can say you should have spent a bit more and bought mastervolt or victron both are superior and both use less power on standby especialy the mastervolt. But hey ho it will go bang quite quickly and then you can buy a good one

Oh fiddlesticks! That's not what I needed to hear, but so far I'm reading mixed reviews on them. 

Where is best to get a victron? Obviously, I want the best for the boat, and for the crick in my neck to go! 

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

But hey ho it will go bang quite quickly and then you can buy a good one

Talk about cheer the guy up. 

 

Not only is he soon sleeping on the sofa, his inverter will soon pack up (hope its still in warranty) 

[Heffalump]

Did you buy it online? You have two weeks to send it back

[Grant_thenovice]

9 minutes ago, Robbo said:

Believe they are a little power hungry than premium makes like MasterVolt and Victron, best left off inverter mode when not needed, but that can be said for any inverter.

Okay, that's not too bad. At least while we are cruising it'll charge to accommodate that. That's a positive, if I can I'll make a quick change and get either MasterVolt or Victron. But I'm definitely getting mixed reviews so far

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

Talk about cheer the guy up. 

 

Not only is he soon sleeping on the sofa, his inverter will soon pack up (hope its still in warranty) 

It's not been dispatched yet, so, I think I'll cancel that order before it has chance to leave the lot!

2 minutes ago, Heffalump said:

Did you buy it online? You have two weeks to send it back

I did, fortunately, the order hasn't been dispatched. So I'll cancel it quick sharp and order something else. Any recommendations? 

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, Grant_thenovice said:

Oh fiddlesticks! That's not what I needed to hear, but so far I'm reading mixed reviews on them. 

Where is best to get a victron? Obviously, I want the best for the boat, and for the crick in my neck to go! 

Personaly I would buy mastervolt they are the best of the silent inverters. Victron are available at many places online. Sterling stuff is ok its sort of good rubbish if you know what I mean  you may well find its fine for your needs and many people have had good useage from them. Mine was horrendous on standby and it hummed.........that dreaded hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Grant_thenovice]

29 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Personaly I would buy mastervolt they are the best of the silent inverters. Victron are available at many places online. Sterling stuff is ok its sort of good rubbish if you know what I mean  you may well find its fine for your needs and many people have had good useage from them. Mine was horrendous on standby and it hummed.........that dreaded hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Oh really? Well as long as a hum is the least of the problems, rather that than a bang, cloud of smoke and a clout! I think Victron is in order. 

Moral of the story don't order anything without the ladies permission! Haha

[rusty69]

50 minutes ago, Grant_thenovice said:

Oh really? Well as long as a hum is the least of the problems, rather that than a bang, cloud of smoke and a clout! I think Victron is in order. 

Moral of the story don't order anything without the ladies permission! Haha

If its learnt to hum, how long before it learns to whistle. Before you know it, it will be auditioning on X Factor. 

[Col_T]

We have the 1500w version on our boat, and have had no problems with it at all. That said, we only use the boat some weekends and two or three times a year for a week at a time.

Ours does hum, regardless of whether it's running in inverter or charger mode, but then the 12v fridge hums and creaks a little too - sometimes in a pleasant harmony, with the fridge doing the descant, sometimes in a discordant, modern jazz stylee when the fridge goes all creak, rattle and groan.

Interesting place, our boat!

[Glynn]

Weve had one for 4 years, never had a problem with it.

As has our neighbours boat and several others on out marina.

I would have another, very good on power draw too.

our is the Pro combi S 2500 model and is silent

 

Edited August 6, 2017 by Glynn

[mross]

Sterlings have fewer features but have what you need.  I have had no problems with chargers or inverter.  If money were no object you should go for Mastervolt or Victron.  What did you pay?  It's always a compromise.  You will be in more trouble if you decide to spend eaxtra now.  Take it like a man and 'as you were'.

[Alex Cat]

Thought I'd post here as I have a related'ish question.
I've inherited a Sterling Pro Combi Quasi Sine Wave inverter.
https://sterling-power.com/products/pro-combi-q-quasi-sine-wave

I've been on shoreline for the past few days and was intrigued that although my leisures are running at around 13, my starter is at 12.
I've been advised that this is because the inverter isn't charging my starter battery - that'll only be done via the alternator when I run the engine.

Does this mean that even on shoreline and in a marina, one has to run one's engine to maintain the health of the starter battery?
And should I be concerned that my starter battery has been on 12V the past 3 days?....
 

[rusty69]

Some inverter chargers allow charging of domestic and starter batteries. Yours suggest it will if connected correctly. 

[Alex Cat]

Hi rusty - thanks for posting.

If my starter is at 12V and hasn't moved I think that means it's probably not charging it?

[rusty69]

10 minutes ago, Alex Cat said:

Hi rusty - thanks for posting.

If my starter is at 12V and hasn't moved I think that means it's probably not charging it?

It should certainly be more than 12V yes.

Suggest you start a new thread with as many details as you can (a picture is worth 1000 words) and I expect the electrical boffins will try and help out. Could be a loose connection or dodgy relay. 

Edited August 6, 2017 by rusty69

[Alex Cat]

Brill - thanks!

[WotEver]

I've replied in the other thread. It's another question where the answer is 'You need a VSR'

[rusty69]

Just now, WotEver said:

I've replied in the other thread. It's another question where the answer is 'You need a VSR'

Is it possible they have one, but it is faulty? 

[WotEver]

Just now, rusty69 said:

Is it possible they have one, but it is faulty? 

Absolutely. 

[RichM]

Don't know how much you paid but I wouldn't have spent £600 on a modified sine wave inverter.

I have a 1800w modified sine wave Sterling Inverter (not a combi) though much older than the one you purchased. I didn't choose it as it came with the boat and while I'm aware it's falls into the "mid-range" category, I've not had any problems with it yet. 

If you have changed your mind and if you've not long ordered it, you should be able to cancel it first thing on Monday with a quick phone call.

Edit: You can get a pure sine wave Victron Phoenix 12V 2kW for circa £700 new or much less if you're happy to go for something used. So no, I wouldn't say it's a great buy.

[Zanussi]

Have to say I am disappointed in mine. I cannot get it to work on remote, I bought a replacement cable and it still did not work so I wrote to Sterling and asked for advice, detailing what I had tried. Their response was "Your remote cable is faulty"

The three way main switch is ropey, it can take several attempts to get the Inverter to switch on and when left on it will sometimes sulk unless I trip the consumer unit on and off, seems to give it a jolt. It will not charge a really flat battery(s) just goes to error. On generator power the unit continually resets while charging batteries, not yet had the boat in water to test on shore supply or alternator.

Switched to Auto the inverter never comes on, at least up to now using power tools, I have to switch it to Power save off to get 220V out of it.

Since I am paranoid about losing power I am switching the battery charger side to a solar unit, I will keep the Sterling as an inverter only for now but the habit of going to sleep is likely to get old fast once underway and predict a short future for it on the boat. Like an idiot I ditched the packaging and apparently cannot return under the warrantry without it.

[WotEver]

3 hours ago, Zanussi said:

Like an idiot I ditched the packaging and apparently cannot return under the warrantry without it.

I'm not sure that consumer law would agree with that. Someone who knows more may be along shortly to clarify. 

[Robbo]

9 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I'm not sure that consumer law would agree with that. Someone who knows more may be along shortly to clarify. 

Consumer law would be with the seller for to fix/replace, I presume the warranty is a manufacturer guarantee and this is just an additional.