Tactical Power
Inverter Notes
Highlighted
Features
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Built-in electronic documentation accessible
even if the unit is down |
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Setup and operation is quick, less than 2
minutes total |
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• Units are light weight
and well protected for easy transport |
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Quick connect NATO input cable available in
various lengths |
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Can also use standard NATO cable via NATO
input connector |
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Input circuit breaker instead of an
inaccessible fuses |
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• Isolated true sinewave AC outputs |
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Up to six
GFCI or non-GFCI protected AC output connectors |
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Each output can also have its own aircraft
style circuit breaker |
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Outputs spaced apart to allow room for wall plug-in transformers |
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• Quick-disconnect
and wing-nut ground connections included |
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Washable, easily replaceable, intake air
filter assembly |
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• Equipped with lockable
tie downs to keep your inverter YOURS |
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Ability to daisy-chain the NATO Slave cable |
Comparisons
between our DC/AC Inverter units and other
product solutions.
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| Existing Inverters |
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ETI's TacticalPower
Inverters |
Documentation in the field (OK, who forgot to
bring the manual?)
Most inverters are shipped with some sort of
limited documentation, usually in hardcopy format.
As usually happens, this documentation gets
separated from the equipment at receiving and rarely
makes it to the field.
If it does get to the field in paper or CD format,
it is not likely to be with a tactical unit when
they are deployed.
Unpacking (Now where do I put it ?)
Other inverters must first be removed from their
box or shipping case to set them up for use, posing some
risk of damage to the inverter or personnel in
handling. Once it is out of the case, you have to
set it somewhere safe yet accessible. When you are
done, you have to pack it back up before moving out.
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ETI Solution: Give them everything they ever
wanted to know!
ETI provides the needed information in two form:
silk-screens and eDocs Port™.
On the front panel of the equipment, we have
silk-screened the basic operating instructions. In
addition, ETI's eDocs Port (patent pending) imbeds a
flash memory device within the unit accessible via a
standard USB port. This memory is accessible via any
standard computing device such as notebooks or PDAs.
The memory holds standard format files containing
user installation, operating, and troubleshooting
instruction guides.
ETI Solution: No need to unpack!
With ETI's TacticalPower inverters, there is no need
to unpack or repack! The unit is self contained and
only requires opening the cover, a matter of 1-2
minutes. And you do not have to find a place to put
it since you can just set it on the ground.
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Hooking up the cables (Where are those
wrenches?)
A
special cable must then be fastened to other
inverters using tools. This requires caution in properly attaching
the cable lugs to the proper inverter studs and tightening
the nuts to the correct torque and then pushing the
insulation boots over the assembly. This whole process poses
potential personnel safety hazards particularly to
the less experienced AND it takes several minutes if
you know what you are doing.
Plus if the person hooking the cable leads up got
them backwards, there is a potential safety hazard
or damage to the equipment when they plug into the
DC power source.
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ETI Solution: No tools required quick connect!
The ETI
setup is simplified and safer. We provide two
quick connect input connectors
that eliminate
the need to "bolt on" the input cable
as you do today. One connector is the NATO
Slave receptacle identical to those on
the HMMWV. This would allow the use of the
existing standard NATO Slave cables or the cable
supplied with the ETI inverter. In either case, the
connection is quick and easy.
Use of these input connectors also improves safety
for the user. Since both of these cables are
readymade with connectors on both ends, the user
cannot accidentally reverse polarity when he hooks
them up. For added safety, ETI includes a reverse
polarity indicator incase someone inadvertently
rewired the cables.
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Two Devices Need Power, But There Is One Only NATO
Connector (Another fine predicament!)
Once you have the other brands of inverters setup,
you plug its cable into your NATO Slave connector on
your HMMWV or other vehicle. But if you have another
device needing the NATO Slave, then you have a
problem.
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ETI Solution: Two Input Connectors!
By using the supplied cable and its quick
connection, the NATO Slave connector on ETI's
inverter can be used as
an output. This means that the second device can be
plugged directing into the ETI unit's NATO
receptacle.
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Fuse Replacement (Even Radio Shack does not stock
these fuses!)
If the input fuse to the brand "X" inverter
blows, you have a major dilemma! Even if you brought
along spare fuses, the
input fuse of those inverters is buried inside
its enclosure . Replacement of the fuse is laborious
with lengthy down time.
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ETI Solution: Use a circuit breaker instead!
To eliminate these issues and for
added user safety, we have included a double
pole input
circuit breaker that can serve as the master
on/off function
as well as providing protection in case of short
circuits.
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Outlets (Did you bring those power
strips?)
The other
inverters only provide two NEMA
5-15R outlet receptacles. This is rarely enough for an inverter with 1800
watts of output, this hinders the number and type
of electrical or
electronic equipment that can be attached as loads
to the inverter.
Also try hooking up a couple of those bulky wall
transformer type power supplies to these outlets.
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ETI Solution: More outlets and spaced apart!
In our
design, additional 120 VAC outlets are provided.
In the basic version, we have (6) outlets
instead of the (2). All are still protected by
the GFCI. This is a more reasonable number of
outlets
for an inverter of this power rating.
Further,
we space the receptacles apart enough to allow
for oversized connections such as found on some electronic equipment power supplies
with the power supply/converter and plug as one.
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GFCI (Why did everything trip
off???)
The single duplex outlet on most inverters has a
GFCI built-in for user safety, just like the one in
our home kitchens and bathrooms. As most of us have
experienced, plugging in certain equipment causes
this to trip, taking down all other connected
outlets. This can be a major issue in the field with
multiple devices connected to the inverter going
down.
Filtering Dust, Dirt and Sand (This
sucks!)
With most inverter designs, you have no
way to filter the air. This eventually results
in failure of the inverter due to the collection
of particulate matter on the internal electronic
components
causing heat build-up. This is particularly true
for hostile environments such as Iraq or Afghanistan.
Preventative maintenance is a lengthy process
requiring disassembly of the inverter to vacuum out
the accumulation of crud. Even the receptacles and
connectors get plugged with the fine particulate
matter in the air.
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ETI Solution: Multiple user GFCI configurations
While still providing safety, we have designed
the units so that any one of the individual duplex
outlets can be GFCI protected or not, avoiding the
problem of loosing all loads when only one has a
problem. This increases overall reliability of the
configured system.
ETI Solution: Intake air filter and connection
covers!
Our packaging
design allows for filtering the cooling air used
by the inverter. This keeps the inverter internal
electronics clean, prolonging its life.
Preventative maintenance in this case is a matter of
easily removing the filter (readily accessible on
the top panel) and cleaning the filter media by
either shaking the dust out of it or washing it in
water if needed. In addition, all connections
including the AC outlets have dust covers.
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Display Readability (Anybody got a flashlight?)
With
the existing inverter approach, the digital display
is on one end in a vertical plane. Unless the inverter
is setting at eye level, viewing the display may
be difficult requiring bending over to the level
of the display and possibly having to use a light
source to read it.
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ETI Solution: Put the display where you can read
it!
All interfaces
in our
design, including the digital display,
are on a single horizontal
plane. Having the display in the horizontal plane
makes it much easier to see and read from almost
any angle, plus available lighting in the horizontal
plane is usually equal to or greater than that
in a vertical plane.
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Output Voltage (Do I need a 220 inverter also?)
Most CONUS equipment operates from 120 VAC,
which the other inverters provide. But if you have OCONUS
equipment, it typically requires 220 VAC, which
means you need another inverter. |
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ETI Solution: Provide both voltages as an option.
We offer
an option for both
120 and 220 VAC output at the same time.
Having this feature would add flexibility to the
use one product worldwide.
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