Google is your friend......I thought James taught you that!!!
First, definition of inverter (websters.com): A device used to convert direct current into alternating current
Inverter generators are an inexpensive way to produce low wattage (under 5000 watts) and sometimes even low rpm generators. This is done by utilizing a small engine - a dc alternator - an inverter.
Engine could be of any type, but the smaller they are, the cheaper they are to operate, especially when fed gasoline, and the quietness is a bonus.
The DC alternator is not any larger than what you will find on a car. As long as you can get 12 - 24 - 36 volts out of the unit, you are okay.
Inverter can be of any type or brand. The modern inverters are what they term as "modified sine wave". (A "real" sine wave inverter will throw everything out of the ballpark.)
So why is this type of machine manufactured? The answer is simple. CHEAP to manufacture and CHEAP to ship. Reducing costs increases profit and if you market correctly, increases profit even more.
Honda was the first to market an inverter generator. They claim that it is safer for electronics and so forth. Todays electronics are so much improved in regards to technology and ac current that I see it as hardly necessary. (Unless we were talking about some kind of critical testing equipment, this issue is not an issue.)
In the USA we operate on electricity with 60Hz. The power company has a fluctuation of +/- 8% (or similar). Electronics manufacturers know this. Therefore manufacturers build products with this in mind.
Here are more example to further the point.
Go to www.rrindustry.com - they are distributors of diesel generators, tractors and other industrial equipment (soon to offer inverters, I believe)
-These generators are 4-pole generators. -A 4-pole generator must turn at 1800 rpm, to produce 60 hertz. 1500 rpm to produce 50 hertz, as in Europe.
The only way a generator of today's manufacture, with electronics of today, will cause any damage is if you have a generator that has a "runaway" engine. In other words it does not or cannot maintain a constant speed of 1800 rpm. When the engine speed increases dramatically, more than 300 rpm on a 4-pole generator, then the hertz increases beyond design limits. The opposite is true also.
Inverters look at input voltage, not rpm's. If you were to go out of range with respect to the input voltage, then an inverter just shuts down.
What are design limits, electronics manufacturers will not say but common sense tells us that US products are not meant to be used at 50Hz, so it would most likely be safe that they are not designed to be used at 70Hz.
The power companies are always fighting this factor and that why surges cause electronic failure.
In closing, if you are looking at buying a generator, falling for the marketing trick of "you will damage your electronics" just simply is not necessary. Save your money. If you feel you have something extremely critical, then buy an inverter for that product to use in conjunction with a generator. Still cheaper.
By the way, for computers, battery back ups are a great way to "condition power", for the computer. One time they were a must to protect against surges but compute power supplies have improved drastically over the last 15 years.
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Today's Featured Article - Talk of the Town: The Saga of Grandpa's Tractor - by The following saga is from the Tractor Talk Discussion Forum. Someone. The saga starts with the following message: Hey guys I have a decision to make. I know what you all will probably suggest and it will probably agree with me way down inside, but here it is. I have a picture blown up and framed in my "tractor room" of a Farmall M. It was my Grandpa's tractor, of which whom I never got to meet. He froze to death getting this tractor out of the barn to pull a truck out of the ditch before I was born. Anyway my dad and aunt had to sell it at the auction,
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