Sterling Power Products Pure Sine Wave Inverter repaired

For those wondering what an ‘inverter’ is, let me give a quick explanation:  It allows one to use a mains operated device on the move, using a power supply from a motor-home, car or boat, as an example.  An inverter ‘inverts’ a smaller voltage to a larger one, usually for most applications.  Most inverters sold turn either 12 or 24VDC to 240VAC or 110VAC.

The owner of this one had accidentally connected the input wires the wrong way around, effectively reversing the polarity.  Not good.  Upon hearing a little ‘pop’ the owner quickly disconnected the power!

Having never worked on an inverter before, I turned to the manufacturer for advice.  Sterling Power (UK) were not able to supply any product information on the phone nor via email and were generally not very helpful at all.  They did offer a very reasonable 25% discount on a replacement, but were not able to offer much else to save the one I had in the workshop.  Never mind.

Back to the problem.  Checking the basics, the ‘accident’ had appeared to knocked-out three 25A soldered PCB fuses.  Temporarily by-passing the fuses revealed a working unit, so replacing the defective fuses was a good idea at a very reasonable £1.50.

The fuses are mini-blade 25A automotive fuses.  Once removed and the new ones soldered in place, the unit worked once more.

Cost of parts, £1.50, cost of replacement unit, circa £160.00.

I’ve also covered this repair overview in a video:  https://youtu.be/nmnSRwQdSvY

Author: fixitworkshop.co.uk

Hi, my name's Matt and I'm on a mission to save everyday items from the bin. Many things are repairable, but we've seemingly fallen out of love with mending things. I aim to fix that by publishing each repair I carry out in the hope that others will be inspired to repair their things and keep them for longer. View all posts by fixitworkshop.co.uk