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Outback Inverter

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wilson
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Wilson

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Oct 20, 2015
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  1. OWNER - I own a Hatteras Yacht
Hatteras Model
58' MOTOR YACHT-Series I (1977 - 1980)
I have the Outback VFX3232M inverter installed and it works great. I know this unit is no longer available. I am looking for a spare…. Does anyone have one, or do you know anyone who can repair
this unit in the event it goes bad.

Ken
 
Mine works great as well. I’ve never had an issue so I’m watching this post for who repairs them.
 
I think Outback would repair it.
 
Sky’s right, Outback is still in business and would be a logical choice for repair. There systems are a little different than the Magnum and Xantrex equipment, as far as charging protocols.
 
I will all Outback and see what they offer for service on these older inverters, and let you know.
The system we have works great!!. And hopefully this inverter will last a long time..
 
I grew up in a tiny five thousand person Texas town.

Imagine my surprise when I see that Outback Power had their final HQ across from my old high school.

Actually, Outback had a great legacy from the PNW and some one-dude company named Alpha Technologies tried to keep them going by leasing a factory there (now defunct).

Trace, Heart, Phase Linear, Xantrex, Outback are all related in some way.
https://www.midnitesolar.com/pdfs/nw_inverter_companies.pdf
 
Xantrex are now made in and possible owned by, china

Afaik, magnum is still made in the US.

Personally I want a dedicated inverter bank instead of using the house bank especially on a hatt with shared house/start bank so using a 32v inverter isn’t important to me.
 
Pascal said:
Xantrex are now made in and possible owned by, china

Afaik, magnum is still made in the US.

Personally I want a dedicated inverter bank instead of using the house bank especially on a hatt with shared house/start bank so using a 32v inverter isn’t important to me.
Click to expand...

I think just the opposite. Using the house bank, you have an engine charging it while underway. You don't have to worry about it also being a start bank because you have redundancy; another start bank, a parallel switch, and a generator. You also save on space, cost, maintenance, and weight.

Now that 32v inverters are harder to come by, you probably don't have much choice but to add another bank, but when they sold these Outbacks, it was the way to go.
 
SKYCHENEY said:
I think just the opposite. Using the house bank, you have an engine charging it while underway. You don't have to worry about it also being a start bank because you have redundancy; another start bank, a parallel switch, and a generator. You also save on space, cost, maintenance, and weight.

Now that 32v inverters are harder to come by, you probably don't have much choice but to add another bank, but when they sold these Outbacks, it was the way to go.
Click to expand...

Walk towards the 21st century please.

1) we can charge any bank from an altertor so it's not an issue. We add or change out alternators often.
2) we can convert 32 volt stuff or replace as it fails. No new technologies and support 32 volt gear.
3) New battery technologies are more efficiently charged. Cost effective and safe.


It's so nice to sleep in AC without a generator running.
 
The number of times I have drained my old inverter bank... I am all for 100% standalone bank. And put a large alternator on that bank. You can run the ICW without every firing up the generator (assuming your not running the AC!)
 
metama said:
The number of times I have drained my old inverter bank... I am all for 100% standalone bank. And put a large alternator on that bank. You can run the ICW without every firing up the generator (assuming your not running the AC!)
Click to expand...

Same with using the house bank. You'll never drain it while running. And if you did, then start the genny. Either way, never a problem and it costs less and less weight. I still haven't heard a good reason for a separate bank.
 
I've seen house banks run flat off inverters too many times.

Also keep in mind the lead acid battery technology is inefficient compared to newer chemistry batteries.

The idea of an inverter is to run what you need for a while then recharge quickly during peak usage times like making water.

We build systems for customers who live on the hook for months at a time. They use AIR CONDITIONING, Water makers, lights and refrigeration like we do at home. No living like a refugee. This can't be done on a small house bank.
 
metama said:
The number of times I have drained my old inverter bank... I am all for 100% standalone bank. And put a large alternator on that bank. You can run the ICW without every firing up the generator (assuming your not running the AC!)
Click to expand...
Were still a 32Vdc boat but I do run a 24Vdc Magnum inverter. Nothing beats a standalone inverter system with its own alternator. 32 & 24v alternators on the port main engine.
We rarely run the gen-sets under way.
Our 4KW/240Vac inverter could run our stateroom AC, just have not strapped it in yet.
 
I have never heard of any Outback issues. Thru the years, I recall reading about one failure (here years ago) but I have always considered them bombproof.

Our Magnum has been a great option, including starting up a gen-set when the battery bank gets low.
I still have a Sterling in storage that we ran for many years. No frills unit but seemed solid.

MasterVolt and Victron are good reliable units also. I used to sell and install these years ago. All that I still know of, are still running fine.

Something about the Zantrex units these last 15+ years, Reliability seems to be just luck.
It's going to fail;
When?? When your not ready for it to fail. Usually rite after the warranty expires...
 
We have 2 House/start battery banks. 16 (8 volt golf cart batteries), for a total of 660 AH at 32 volts, I two banks port/ starboard. I have 4 solar panels that provide 1465 watts of power, rinsing into an Outback solar charger. Batteries run all 32 VDC equipment, bilge pumps, macerators, windlass, etc. Charging is thru, engine alternators, when running, Solar when on hook, and Outback charger when on shore power. We spend the summer on a mooring in the NE, and the solar will keep batteries up on most days. If we need hot water, cooking, will run generator and charge batteries as well. The Outback inverter will drop out at around 29 volts, so we loose ac power..
Even with the batteries too low to run the inverter, I have always been able to start the engines, etc.

I am very happy with this set up, batteries are going on 7 years old..all good. I am looking forward, as robust as the 32 v Outback is, it will not last forever, thus reason to have a spare.

Question for you all..If upgraded to a 48 Volt system, with a large Lithium bank. Could I run
a large DC-DC supply , 48-32, to start engines, run all 32 volt remaining equipment.

Ken..
 
Hi Ken. I ran into this same question as yours. Sure you could go 48v and a large DCDC supply for 48/32 but I came to the conclusion that I'll be spending all that money on upgrading the batteries and associated components only to end up with obsolete 32v systems. so during my repower/refit I switched everything over to Victron 24v batteries and inverter system. this included isolating the house bank with 800ah lithium batteries, and independent 24v AGM start batteries. engines charge the start batteries, port engine is getting an additional dedicated alternator to charge the house bank when generator or shore power is not connected. The 32v system was great but sadly that system is going away fast. I suspect that these new battery technologies and inverting/ charging systems will accelerate the end of 32v systems. Good luck with your whatever you decide. Mario




Wilson said:
We have 2 House/start battery banks. 16 (8 volt golf cart batteries), for a total of 660 AH at 32 volts, I two banks port/ starboard. I have 4 solar panels that provide 1465 watts of power, rinsing into an Outback solar charger. Batteries run all 32 VDC equipment, bilge pumps, macerators, windlass, etc. Charging is thru, engine alternators, when running, Solar when on hook, and Outback charger when on shore power. We spend the summer on a mooring in the NE, and the solar will keep batteries up on most days. If we need hot water, cooking, will run generator and charge batteries as well. The Outback inverter will drop out at around 29 volts, so we loose ac power..
Even with the batteries too low to run the inverter, I have always been able to start the engines, etc.

I am very happy with this set up, batteries are going on 7 years old..all good. I am looking forward, as robust as the 32 v Outback is, it will not last forever, thus reason to have a spare.

Question for you all..If upgraded to a 48 Volt system, with a large Lithium bank. Could I run
a large DC-DC supply , 48-32, to start engines, run all 32 volt remaining equipment.

Ken..
Click to expand...
 
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