| People always ask us "exactly how does a power | | | | accommodated users on a budget with a hybrid |
| inverter work?" The answer to this question often | | | | design generally referred to as either a modified |
| surprises our customers. Car power inverters work | | | | square or modified sine wave power inverter. The |
| much more simply than mysteriously, and the learning | | | | technical differences that determine how a true sine |
| curve required to understand them requires no more | | | | car power inverter works and how a modified sine |
| than a very basic knowledge of electricity. Essentially, | | | | power inverter works are too minor to produce any |
| there are two forms of electrical power in the | | | | noticeable effects with standard electronics. Only the |
| Universe: Direct Current (DC) and Alternating Current | | | | most high-end equipment requires true sine output, and |
| (AC). Direct current flows continuously from the | | | | the cost of these devices may justify the additional |
| positive electrical pole to the negative electrical pole. | | | | investment in pure sine technology to deliver maximum |
| Alternating current flows back and forth between the | | | | quality and reliable performance. Another new |
| two poles. DC current occurs in Nature and batteries, | | | | development that allows car power inverters to work |
| while AC current is man-made and supplies power | | | | with even more reliability than ever before is the |
| through the public utility grid that supports human | | | | sophisticated Soft Start Technology, branded "SST" |
| industry and infrastructure. Car batteries presented a | | | | by manufacturers such as Vector. SST is the next |
| problem in the past when people realized they needed | | | | step in the evolution of how power inverters work. |
| to operate traditionally AC-powered devices in their | | | | The very first power inverters for cars would only |
| cars but could not do so because of incompatible | | | | work intermittently during cold engine starts. Because |
| current requirements. Manufacturers like Vector | | | | they could not pull enough power from the battery, |
| stepped up to solve this dilemma by working to design | | | | they would shut down from current underload and |
| car power inverters that would safely and efficiently | | | | require a manual restart. SST resolves this issue by |
| convert DC to AC. Their successful engineering has | | | | gradually increasing voltage ramp up during engine |
| resulted in a wide range of compact, rectangular | | | | startup. If the output dips for any reason, SST makes |
| devices that connect to batteries and output the | | | | instant adjustments to compensate and will prevent |
| resulting alternating current safely through one or more | | | | most shutdowns. If in the rare event a shutdown does |
| standard electrical plugs. Two factors determine how | | | | occur, the newer car power inverters work |
| a power inverter works: wave output and wattage | | | | automatically to restart themselves without distracting |
| output. Wave output describes the physical | | | | the driver from the road. Red Hill Supply delivers only |
| appearance of electrical signals as they move across | | | | the best and most reliable power inverters that will |
| an oscilloscope. Square waves appear exactly as their | | | | work in virtually any situation requiring DC-AC |
| name specifies: like squares on a grid. Pure sine | | | | conversion. Learn more about how power inverters |
| waves, also called true sine waves, appear as visible | | | | work in our Resources section, and browse our online |
| waves on the screen. Sine wave car power inverters | | | | catalogue to obtain the most high end and specialized |
| work better than square wave power inverters when | | | | devices through our simple, convenient online order |
| uninterrupted power flow is a critical issue. In fact, true | | | | process. |
| sine output is sometimes slightly superior to that of | | | | Jason has been in the construction equipment and |
| public utility power grids! Because of this, they are also | | | | industrial sales business for over 10 years. He owns |
| the most expensive devices of their kind on the | | | | and operates Red Hill Supply to better serve the |
| market. Recent advances in technology have | | | | automotive and industrial industries. - Automotive Tools. |