Why are true sine wave inverters better than modified sine
wave inverters ?
All AC powered equipment was designed to run off of pure sine
waves. The AC power that comes out of your wall socket is pure
sine wave, the power that comes from a gasoline generator is
pure sine wave. In other words the world runs off of pure sine
waves. .
The photo at the top of this page is an actual ocilloscope
tracing of a modified sine wave inverter's output. Notice the
sharp "squared off " transitions from negative to positive. The
term modified sine wave is actually a misnomer, there is nothing
"sine wave" about the wave form pictured above. It is actually a
square wave which has had its negative and positive on/off
cycles time shifted to approximate a sine wave.
The term modified sine wave was probably developed by some
marketing person years ago, no one ever questioned its validity,
so the term stuck. In reality the waveform really should have
been called a modified square wave.
Modified sine waves are ok for many loads but I use the word
ok with caution. Modified sine waves produce a considerable
amount of harmonic distortion or electrical noise. Typically 25
to 30 percent. This electrical noise translates into erratic
performance in many types of AC equipment. Clocks will not keep
time, motors and transformer based equipment will run hotter and
may even have a shorter lifespan because of increased operating
temperatures. Laser printers will not operate at all, microwave
ovens will take longer to cook food or boil water. Several types
of rechargeable tools can actually be immediately damaged by
modified sine waves. Audio equipment may produce an audible
buzzing sound and it has been reported that some models of
refrigerators and pellet stoves have also been damaged by
modified sine waves.
You may be asking yourself, why would anyone want to run
their equipment off of modified sine waves which are really
square waves ? The answer used to be cost. The cost of true sine
wave inverters has dropped so much in the past ten years, that
it no longer makes sense to run your equipment on power that it
was never intended to run on.
Enter the modern pure sine wave inverter. The photo depicted
above is an actual ocilloscope tracing of a pure sine wave
inverter's output. Notice the smooth transitions from negative
to positive.
We'll never understand why people will go out and buy an
expensive TV and satellite dish or sound system for their RV or
cabin and then turn around and plug it into a cheap imported
modified sine wave inverter. That's almost like buying a
expensive car and then filling it up with the cheapest gas
that's going to do nothing but foul your fuel injectors and give
you lousy performance.
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