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Technical Support
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Frequently Asked Questions
General QuestionsWhat kind of products does HDM make? HDM makes intelligent battery management devices designed to protect and prolong your batteries. You can find our products in such places as long-haul trucks, military vehicles, RVs, boats, and wireless medical carts. Whatever your application, HDM can help you get the most out of your batteries so you can carry on without worrying about your power. I need something but it isn't listed on your website. Can you help me? Yes! Our team of engineers can work with you to provide customized solutions for your specialized applications. Please contact us or complete our brief questionnaire to get started. Are HDM products covered by warranty? Yes, HDM products are covered for a period of one year (restrictions may apply). VISTER Series Inverter & Inverter/Charger CombinationWhat is a VISTER Inverter/Charger? VISTER inverter/charger is a combination of a power inverter, ion-X adaptive battery charger, and automatic transfer switch in a single Group 31 size module. The power inverter converts DC power from a battery source into modified sine-wave AC power. The ion-X adaptive battery charger incorporates a 4-stage automatic charging with patented pulse charging technology to cleanly and rapidly charge flooded lead acid and AGM deep cycle batteries from an incoming AC source. As incoming AC power is sensed, the automatic transfer switch will automatically activate and transfer the AC load from the inverter to the incoming source (shorepower). The module will automatically switch from inverter mode to charger mode. What is 4-stage automatic charging with temperature derated charge? Ion-X adaptive battery charger incorporates a 4-stage automatic charging (Bulk, Absorption, Equalization, and Float) ideal for flooded lead acid and AGM deep cycle batteries. It rapidly charges the battery while extending battery life. It has an intelligent thermal protection to automatically derate by reducing charge current in order to lower the internal operating temperature and ensure safe operation. Is the VISTER Inverter/Charger waterproof? VISTER inverter/charger meets IP65 requirement (protection against dust and low pressure water jets). Where and how do I mount the VISTER Inverter/Charger? VISTER inverter/charger is watertight. However, it is recommended that the module is installed in a dry location. It can be mounted inside the battery box on the vehicle’s frame rail using 1/4" thru-bolts (optional) at 30 in-lb fastening torque. How do I turn on the VISTER Inverter/Charger? VISTER inverter/charger comes with a 15’ remote cable, a remote control panel with on/off switch, and LED status indicators. The on/off switch turns the control circuit in the VISTER inverter/charger on or off. It does not disconnect power from the inverter/charger. Does the VISTER Inverter/Charger come with fuses, circuit breakers, or GFCI? VISTER inverter/charger has no internal fuse. External fuses for on/off circuit and DC input must always be employed to meet product safety requirements. AC input must be from a protected source (shorepower) with a grounding conductor. This will limit the AC current draw in the event of the VISTER internal charger and the SP Bypass exceeding the maximum rate operating current. Use only Hubbell GFBF20GYL or equivalent GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) receptacle at the AC output. Not complying with the required circuit protection will lead to unsafe operation which could result in a fire. What is the difference between an isolated and a non-isolated modified sine-wave inverter? Isolated modified sine-wave inverters are designed for safety grounding requirement (neutral to ground bonding). Typically, it has a 1% efficiency drop due to added internal circuitry for the isolation requirement. What is the difference between a modified sine-wave inverter and a pure sine-wave inverter? Modified sine wave inverter produces a wave form that is squared-off, while a pure sine wave inverter produces a wave form that is a smooth curve similar to the utility AC power. Modified sine wave inverters are more economical and are suitable for everyday use. Pure sine-wave are designed to operate electronic equipment that require clean and very low harmonic distortions applicable for microprocessor controlled devices, inductive loads, and sensitive medical equipment. What equipment or electronics can I run with a modified sine-wave inverter? Modified sine-wave inverter will operate a desktop computer, laptop (with DC adaptors), TV (with internal or external DC or AC adaptor), CD/DVD/Blu-ray players, microwave oven (preferably rotary dial microwave), small power tools (ideally fixed speed), small kitchen/household appliance (resistive type or fixed speed), lights (preferably incandescent; some fluorescent may work), air conditioners, and heaters (resistive type). Why do the charger cables spark a little when connecting them to the battery? Sparking is caused by sudden charging (transfer of battery energy) to the internal capacitors of the charger. When the internal capacitors are fully discharged after long rest periods, there are no voltages on the capacitors. When you connect the DC terminals to the battery, the internal capacitor is absorbing the battery energy creating a spark during the rapid energy transfer. Once the capacitors are charged up (capacitor voltage = battery voltage), reconnecting the DC terminals will not create sparks. Higher the capacitance, bigger the spark. Always wear eye protection when working on batteries or performing wiring connections! The same goes for power inverters with internal capacitors. Battery Fuel GaugeWhat are the benefits of a battery fuel gauge? Why do I need one? An accurate battery fuel gauge is a crucial part of a good battery management system. Without an accurate battery fuel gauge, you’d have to be conservative in using the battery pack to avoid over-charging or over-discharging, and consequently causing permanent damage and reducing its lifetime. Most likely, you’d also have a larger battery pack than necessary to overcome the lack of accuracy. When you have a good fuel gauge, you can use your battery pack capacity more aggressively, while at the same time being more confident that you’re operating within safe bounds. This allows you to use a smaller battery pack that isn’t over-engineered. What is Dual-Tracking Technology? HDM’s patent-pending technology tracks both the charge/discharge current (coulomb-counting method) and the battery’s open-circuit voltage. Used separately, both of these methods can accumulate errors and become inaccurate. But by simultaneously tracking both, the battery fuel gauge is able to select the best parts of the two methods while avoiding their weaknesses. Furthermore, the algorithm is capable of self-learning so it is able to adapt as the battery ages. The resulting algorithm is accurate within 5%, considerably more accurate than either of these methods used separately. What does SOC mean? SOC stands for "state of charge". It is measured on a scale of 0% (fully discharged battery) to 100% (fully charged battery). It’s comparable to a gasoline fuel gauge on a vehicle’s dashboard telling you how much gasoline is in the tank. However, accurately determining a battery’s SOC is much more difficult than accurately determining the amount of gasoline remaining in a tank and requires a good battery fuel gauge. What does SOH mean? SOH stands for "state of health". It can measure a battery’s capacity to deliver a specified output, for example, sufficient current to start a vehicle’s engine. The SOH indicated on the HDM battery fuel gauge is the ratio of the ampere-hour (AHr) rating of the fully charged battery bank (as determined by the fuel gauge) to the AHr rating based on the battery manufacturer. For example, if a 55AHr battery can only be charged up to 33AHr, then the SOH is calculated as 60%. As batteries age, it’s no longer possible to charge them up to their original AHr rating. What does "Hr remaining" mean? This reading on the battery fuel gauge tells how many more hours the battery bank can be used at the present load conditions. Note that it does not mean the hours remaining in the battery’s lifetime. What are the display options? The HDM battery fuel gauge sensor module can be connected to the display module, which would be mounted on the dashboard of the vehicle. It can provide warnings when the state of charge or state of health drops below a preset threshold. Another option is the RS232 connection. In addition to the warnings provided by the display module, it can show additional warnings, for example, in cases of low or high battery voltage. Pure Sine-Wave InverterWhat is a pure sine-wave inverter? A pure sine-wave inverter is a power inverter that takes the DC power from a battery or other energy source and converts it to AC power with the same sinusoidal waveform as the power from the power company with near-zero total harmonic distortion (THD). Almost all AC electrical devices will work with a pure sine-wave inverter with optimal performance. What is the difference between a modified sine-wave inverter and a pure sine-wave inverter? Modified sine-wave inverters produce an AC waveform that is squared-off, while pure sine-wave inverters produce a smooth sinusoidal waveform identical to the utility AC power. Modified sine-wave inverters have a simpler design compared to pure sine-wave inverters, which require advanced control methods such as pulse width modulation and low THD output filter. As a result, modified sine-wave inverters are more economical and are suitable for cost-sensitive applications and/or low performance applications. Although pure sine-wave inverters cost more, they are designed to operate electronic equipment that require clean and very low harmonic distortions applicable for microprocessor-controlled devices, inductive loads, and sensitive medical equipment. What equipment or electronics can I run with a modified sine-wave inverter? Modified sine-wave inverters will operate desktop computers, laptops (with DC adaptors), TVs (with internal or external DC or AC adaptors), CD/DVD/Blu-ray players, microwave ovens (preferably rotary dial microwaves), small power tools (ideally fixed speed), small kitchen/household appliances (resistive type or fixed speed), fans, lights (preferably incandescent; some fluorescent may work), air conditioners, and heaters (resistive type). Many electrical devices will work with a modified sine-wave inverter; however, some devices such as laptops or phone chargers may be warmer than when used with a pure sine-wave inverter. What equipment or electronics require a pure sine-wave inverter to run? Sensitive or expensive equipment such as cameras, laser printers, some medical equipment, precision testing instruments, equipment with variable speed motors, plus communication equipment may require pure sine-wave inverters. What is the THD difference between a modified sine-wave inverter and a pure sine-wave inverter? While the THD of a modified sine-wave inverter is typically in the 30% range, the THD of HDM’s 2000W pure sine-wave inverter is less than 5%. What is the price difference between a modified sine-wave inverter and a pure sine-wave inverter having the same power rating? It’s much simpler to design a modified sine-wave inverter than a pure-sine wave inverter. The design specification and tolerance are less stringent for the modified sine-wave inverter, therefore the price of a modified sine-wave inverter is relatively lower than a pure-sine wave inverter. What is the efficiency difference between a modified sine-wave inverter and a pure sine-wave inverter? In general, modified sine-wave inverters have higher efficiency than a pure sine-wave inverters because the overall design is simpler and fewer electronic components are used. By propriety techniques, the efficiency of HDM’s pure sine-wave inverter is greater than 92% (typical) and can operate in high ambient temperature without derating. What size inverter should I choose? Determine the maximum power consumption you need to run a continuous load and add at least a 20% margin to the total wattage to ensure safe operation. Further, if the application requires surge power, for example, during a start-up condition, the surge power rating of the inverter will need to handle the maximum surge power. Typically, the surge power rating is twice the continuous power. What protection circuits are available? HDM’s pure sine-wave inverter has extensive built-in protective functions, including protections on input voltage transient, input/output under voltage, input/output overvoltage, output over current, output short circuit, ground fault, and multi-point over temperature. Also, the inverter provides a sleep mode to conserve power and auto-recovery upon normal operation. What are the typical input and output parameters of HDM’s pure sine-wave inverter? The standard version of the 2000W pure sine-wave inverter has an output voltage of 120Vrms at 60Hz. The input range can be either 12V (11-15V) or 28V (22-30V). The input and output are isolated. Other output voltages or frequencies or input ranges can be customized upon request. Modified Sine-Wave InverterWhat is the difference between a modified sine-wave inverter and a pure sine-wave inverter? Modified sine wave inverter produces a wave form that is squared-off, while a pure sine wave inverter produces a wave form that is a smooth curve similar to the utility AC power. Modified sine wave inverters are more economical and are suitable for everyday use. Pure sine-wave are designed to operate electronic equipment that require clean and very low harmonic distortions applicable for microprocessor controlled devices, inductive loads, and sensitive medical equipment. What equipment or electronics can I run with a modified sine-wave inverter? Modified sine-wave inverter will operate a desktop computer, laptop (with DC adaptors), TV (with internal or external DC or AC adaptor), CD/DVD/Blu-ray players, microwave oven (preferably rotary dial microwave), small power tools (ideally fixed speed), small kitchen/household appliance (resistive type or fixed speed), lights (preferably incandescent; some fluorescent may work), air conditioners, and heaters (resistive type). What is the efficiency difference between a modified sine-wave inverter and a pure sine-wave inverter? In general, modified sine-wave inverters have higher efficiency than a pure sine-wave inverters because the overall design is simpler and fewer electronic components are used. What is the price difference between a modified sine-wave inverter and a pure sine-wave inverter having the same power rating? It’s much simpler to design a modified sine-wave inverter than a pure-sine wave inverter. The design specification and tolerance are less stringent for the modified sine-wave inverter, therefore the price of a modified sine-wave inverter is relatively lower than a pure-sine wave inverter. What is the difference between an isolated and a non-isolated modified sine-wave inverter? Isolated modified sine-wave inverters are designed for safety grounding requirement (neutral to ground bonding). Typically, it has a 1% efficiency drop due to added internal circuitry for the isolation requirement. What size inverter should I choose? Determine the maximum power consumption you need to run a continuous load and add at least a 20% margin to the total wattage to ensure safe operation. Further, if the application requires surge power, for example, during a start-up condition, the surge power rating of the inverter will need to handle the maximum surge power. Typically, the surge power rating is twice the continuous power. |