Does the inverter can be used as a power sourse

[acdrive]

Hello

I want to a device to change 50Hz to 60Hz, and found the inverter can do it. but the output wave is not sine wave, does it can be used as the power source to power like computors & lights?

 

[NascentOxygen]

Hello

I want to a device to change 50Hz to 60Hz, and found the inverter can do it. but the output wave is not sine wave, does it can be used as the power source to power like computors & lights?

Probably it can, but ...

60Hz may be unnecessary for lights, your lights may be perfectly happy working on the 50Hz, particularly incandescent bulbs. https://www.physicsforums.com/images/icons/icon3.gif

Computers may work okay on a non-sinusoidal waveform, but you'd have to risk a trial to find out. No guarantees, but the computer may work okay on the 50Hz, too. However, no guarantees that the 50Hz would not damage the computer or its PSU. https://www.physicsforums.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

btw, acdrive ... http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5725/red5e5etimes5e5e45e5e25.gif

 

[vk6kro]

Also, more expensive inverters produce an approximate sinewave output, so you can look for these if the frequency and waveform purity are important.

Cheap inverters are a bad source of TV and radio interference due to the square wave output.

 

[sophiecentaur]

For nearly all applications, 50 or 60Hz will drive all the equipment so you can save yourself oodles of £$s by not bothering to change the frequency. A transformer can produce any required voltage change - and that may be quite costly on its own. Any equipment that really does need a special supply frequency can be fed from a lower cost, low power inverter for that individual device. If the computer is a laptop, then you could probably buy a PSU which is designed for the area where you are intending to use it, for not much money.
Do the smart engineering thing and assess what you really need before spending your money

 

[psparky]

The inverter does make very close to a sin wave...just it's a "stepped" sine wave that looks like a set of stairs. The "stairs" is what makes it possible to change frequencies easy.

Correct me if I'm wrong...but if you put AC into an inverter...it goes thru a full wave rectifer changing it to DC...then goes thru the inverter process which outputs your easily adjustable frequency AC "stair wave".

Go ahead Sophie...school me...I know it's coming...

 

[sophiecentaur]

The inverter does make very close to a sin wave...just it's a "stepped" sine wave that looks like a set of stairs. The "stairs" is what makes it possible to change frequencies easy.

Correct me if I'm wrong...but if you put AC into an inverter...it goes thru a full wave rectifer changing it to DC...then goes thru the inverter process which outputs your easily adjustable frequency AC "stair wave".

Go ahead Sophie...school me....I know it's coming...

HAHA - you are known often to be right!
You're quite right about what a modern inverter does and how it does it but the point is that inverters are not necessary for most AC equipment these days - particularly the heavy load variety.
My comment was just to point out that 50 to 60 Hz inversion is mostly a needless expense. I would be hard put to think of a modern domestic / pro piece of equipment that is 'Hertzist' and very few are even Voltsist, these days.
After all, the OP expressed an actual 'need' rather than being a thought experiment.

 

[Bob S]

A 60 Hz transformer can run on 50 Hz, as long as the transformer was designed for 50/60 Hz. The main problem is that some 60-Hz transformer mfgrs skimp on the copper windings or iron laminations, and it will not have sufficient volt-seconds for 50 Hz, so the iron will be driven into saturation.

 

[sophiecentaur]

A 60 Hz transformer can run on 50 Hz, as long as the transformer was designed for 50/60 Hz. The main problem is that some 60-Hz transformer mfgrs skimp on the copper windings or iron laminations, and it will not have sufficient volt-seconds for 50 Hz, so the iron will be driven into saturation.

Absolutely correct BUT doesn't most electronic equipment use switch mode power supplies and is it not designed for universal use these days?
It would help to know what equipment in the OP would be requiring a 60Hz supply. I am trying to come up with the cheapest overall solution and a massive sine wave inverter would definitely not be cheap.

 

[Bob S]

Absolutely correct BUT doesn't most electronic equipment use switch mode power supplies and is it not designed for universal use these days?
It would help to know what equipment in the OP would be requiring a 60Hz supply. I am trying to come up with the cheapest overall solution and a massive sine wave inverter would definitely not be cheap.

The cheapest overall solution is not to have a power supply at all. Some electronics, like my old 5-tube superhet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_American_Five), are transformerless AC-DC radios, and directly rectify the AC power.

 

[sophiecentaur]

All ready for the digital switchover then, are we?