Looking for an inverter

So my cheap inverter has finally given up the ghost — magic smoke and everything. Not quite a capacitor explosion but close enough (something on the board let go with a very satisfying pop). It was powering an 800W induction hob in my static caravan for occasional cooking, so nothing mental in terms of load.

Now I'm trying to work out what to actually replace it with, and the options are overwhelming.

A few questions for the collective brain trust here:

1. Pure sine wave — is there any genuine reason NOT to go pure sine for induction cooking? I know modified sine can upset some appliances and I'm wondering if induction hobs are particularly fussy.

2. What wattage headroom do I actually need? My hob claims 800W but I've heard induction units can spike nastily on startup. Is a 1500W inverter cutting it too close, or sensible?

3. Victron — worth the premium or am I paying for the logo? I love the idea of VictronConnect and having everything talk to each other, but the price jump over something like a Giandel or a decent Renogy unit is... significant when you're on a tight off-grid budget.

The setup is 400Ah of Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 with a Victron MPPT (yes I know, already half-Victron, slippery slope etc.) so integration is tempting.

Mainly using this for weekend trips to the caravan rather than full-time, so it genuinely does sit idle most of the time. Does that change the calculus at all in terms of which brand/spec to go for?

Anyone been down this rabbit hole recently?

SolarGeorge | Posts: 1,847 | ⚡ Solar Evangelist

@LutonAdventure Ha, the magic smoke release ceremony — always a memorable moment! 😄

Before recommending anything, it'd help to know a few things:

• What's your rough budget?
• Pure sine wave or would modified sine wave do? (If you're running anything with a motor or sensitive electronics, go pure sine — don't skimp here)
• What's your peak load likely to be?

For reliability I'd generally point people towards Victron for the higher end, or Giandel/Renogy if budget's tighter but you still want pure sine. Avoid the really cheap no-name stuff from certain marketplaces — as you've just discovered, you get what you pay for!

Also worth checking whether the rest of your setup (battery bank, wiring, fusing) is properly sized before you plug a new unit in. Sometimes the inverter is the symptom rather than the cause. 👍

MoorRuss | Posts: 312 | 🏕️ Moor-based Mischief Maker

Nothing like a good pop to remind you that cheap inverters are just expensive ones that haven't failed yet — speaking from bitter experience in my static van on the moor, I've now got a Victron MultiPlus and the only smoke involved is from my celebratory barbeque.

WattHamish | Posts: 634 | ☀️ Garden Office Hermit

Running a Victron MultiPlus in my garden office and honestly couldn't go back to the cheap stuff after my own "pop" moment a couple years back. The Victron ecosystem is pricey upfront but the integration with MPPT and battery monitoring is genuinely worth it for a permanent setup.

That said, if budget's tight, the Renogy units aren't bad for lighter loads — just don't push them near their limits like I did with my old one 😅

What are you actually running off it? That'll narrow things down sharpish. Pure sine is a must if you've got anything with a motor or sensitive electronics — don't let anyone tell you modified sine is "fine".

SimonThompson | Posts: 489 | ⛵ Boat & Backup Tinkerer

Worth considering what you're actually running before jumping to a MultiPlus — brilliant bit of kit but serious overkill if you just need basic loads.

On my boat I run a Victron Phoenix 1200VA for general stuff, and it's been rock solid for three years. For the emergency backup setup I keep a smaller Victron 375VA as a dedicated UPS-style unit.

Key questions:

• Pure sine or modified? If you're running anything with a motor or sensitive electronics, pure sine only
• Peak vs continuous watts — what killed your last one was almost certainly undersizing
• Battery voltage — 12V, 24V, 48V?

Victron's range has good entry points that won't break the bank if you don't need the full MultiPlus feature set. The Phoenix range is often overlooked on here.