Yesterday was a lazy day, and I didn’t get much accomplished.
I have had back problems for years, and Friday morning it decided to go out. This happens a couple of times a year, and it’s no fun at all.
Fortunately, my favorite bone cruncher in the world, Jim Lewis, lives here in the White Mountains. Friday afternoon Jim gave me an adjustment, but the pain came back later than evening and got progressively worse over the next 24 hours.
I was taking 500mg Naproxyn, but all that did was take the edge off. Saturday evening Jim called to see how I was feeling, and when Terry told him I was feeling pretty miserable, he said to come up to his house and he’d adjust me again. That one took, and it was great to be out of pain.
Yesterday there was still some tenderness, but I felt much better. But I was just feeling washed out, probably a combination of leftover painkillers in my system and the high altitude here, which always affects me for the first week or two when we come up to our old hometown. So I spent most of the day trying to concentrate on some e-mail, without much luck, and napping in my recliner.
After reading my blog about the options that we have in our bus and that I would want in our next RV, two subscribers wrote to ask me if I would go with a pure sine wave inverter again, if so what brand, and is it worth the extra cost to purchase a pure sine wave model over a modified sine wave.
We have had both modified and pure sine wave inverters. We started out with a Heart 2,000 watt modified sine wave model, and while the unit itself gave us a lot of problems, the modified sine wave electricity it put out seemed to work out okay for us.
Our next inverter was a Magnum Energy 2,000 watt modified sine wave, and it was/is a far superior unit to the Heart, or to any of the Xantrex inverters I have seen. It is a rock solid piece of equipment, and I never would consider any other brand after having a Magnum.
After using the modified sine wave model for a few years, Magnum Energy offered us an upgrade to a pure sine wave model. Like its predecessor, this is an excellent inverter, and it further reinforced my respect for Magnum Energy products.
Now, as to whether I’d pay the extra money for a pure sine wave model, I really cannot see that much of a difference. There are a lot of technical folks who know much more about such things than I do who say the pure sine wave is superior, but all I can say is that our television, Dish network receiver, computers, laser printers, Maytag refrigerator, and other electronics all seem to work the same way with either modified or pure sine wave.
I’ve heard that cheap electronics don’t respond well to modified sine wave. We did experience that with a mattress pad heater and a halogen reading lamp. But even given that, if I had a limited budget (wait, I do have a limited budget!), I would be perfectly happy with another modified sine wave Magnum inverter. If our next coach does not have an inverter, I will put a Magnum in it, and if it has a Xantrex or any other brand, I’ll make upgrading to a Magnum my first priority.
Thought For The Day – The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Nick,
We have attended the old “off the grid” rallies with you and John at Lake City,FL and purchased inverter and batteries from John. We do not have the MH anymore.
I am wondering what happened to John and his business/property? You had been very close, but do not see mention of him now.
Just the curious wants to know!
Nick, I have a 2500 w Trace Modified sine wave inverter ( now Xantrex) that I bought new 11 years ago. I have not had 1 second of trouble with it. I can run practically everything in my RV at the same time except the AC. The only issue was, I never bought a remote control for it and about 2 years ago when I wanted one, they were no longer available. All I needed to do was to be able to turn it on and off and monitor it’s status from inside my coach so I didn’t have to go outside to do it. I built my own simple remote with indicator lights and an on-off button. I’d definitely buy another Xantrex. I guess we all get a sour taste in our mouth with a bad experience.
Both my wife and I use CPAP machines for sleeping (Resmed brand) and the humidifier base unit originally required true sine wave voltage to operate. We found out this was a necessity as we burned out the first one before we realized that it needed this special power. However the newer models will accept both styles of power so that is one reason for the special true sine wave if nothing else.
Wilf
Nick, you may want to take a look at Z-Coil shoes (google it) to keep your back from going out. I’ve been wearing these dorky looking shoes six years, and instead of my back going out twice a year, it only goes out every year and a half. They cost a little more , but last a long time.
Gloria,
I have not talked to John in several months, but as far as I know, he is still in the same location in Lake City, Florida.