Frequently Asked Questions

Choosing an Inverter

• What is the difference between an IPS4 and UFT4?

  IPS4 - Interruptible Power System, 50 ms transfer time - good for LED’s, incandescent, fluorescent.

  UFT4 - Fast Transfer System, 2 ms transfer time - good for the following situations: HID lighting, motors, or when crossing against a double-conversion system in a spec just to be safe and cover all bases

• What are the benefits of inverters over or versus emergency lights, ballasts, EM’s, EBU’s?

  ADD DOCUMENT HERE

• Do you have a one-page reference, hot sheet, or summary of your product?

  ADD LINK TO PRICE-LESS HOT SHEET

  ADD LINK TO ISI SUMMARY

• Do you have anything stating that ISI inverters are actually manufactured by Myers EPS?

  ISI brand inverters are manufactured and private-labeled by Myers EPS and UL 924 multi-listed as such. Please see supporting document:

  UL 924 Multi-Listing

• How do I size an inverter?

  Watch the first few minutes of this video:

  https://www.loom.com/share/5f4031f1cdac47a4891f4ea8b09a0ea1?sid=3a9eb74e-3c25-4ade-8099-7412ffb98c23'

• What percentage should we add to inverter capacity to cover voltage influx?

  MICRO, ABC2, LPS models you can load to 100% of the number associated with wattage.
  
  Any other model, we give a 20% cushion.

• Do you have outdoor-rated inverters?

  Yes. The NFT/3NFT model is a UL924-listed lighting inverter made for outdoor installation.

  The “N” designates NEMA 3R, which is the type of enclosure the electronics and batteries are installed inside, in lieu of the typical NEMA Type 1 cabinet for indoor installation.

  NEMA 3R protects against falling rain, sleet, snow, and ice formation.

  The NFT inverter starts at 3000VA and is available to 8000VA

  We do have access to an 875 and 1750VA unit, but currently don’t have a cut sheet.  If needed, this can be provided.  

  *Full transparency - we’ve never sold one, so it hasn’t been a priority… but it IS available.

  **Cut sheets can be found under the "large inverters" tab.

Pricing & Quotes

• What are the minimum specs needed to provide an inverter quote?

  We can provide a generic price for an inverter with the following info at minimum:

  • Total wattage needed for load
  • Both input and output voltage
  • City or town of shipment

  Other helpful info, but not necessary for a generic price: 

  • Output breakers and quantity? 
  • Start-up service? 

  If neither of these are provided, we will typically offer these as options.

• How do I get a price on an inverter or product?

  Please call our representative in your territory. It can be found here.

• Does My Inverter Meet the BAA - Buy American Act?

  See here.

Getting Started

• The customer is ready, how do we set up start-up?

  Here is a form that needs to be filled out, signed and sent back to john@invertersystemsinc.com and andrew@invertersystemsinc.com.

  ADD DOCUMENT HERE

Batteries

• How long are batteries good after shipment?

  Six months is the standard answer provided by the battery manufacturers. *They warranty the batteries separate from the electronics of the actual system.

• Can we ship the inverter without batteries and then have them shipped to the site when the system is ready to be installed?

  On spec-grade models (FTW2, IPS4, UFT4, 3UFT, NFT) - YES!  …with a caveat.  The system must be invoiced in full at the time of electronics shipment.  We do not split the invoice.  This “locks in” the battery portion of the pricing for 12 months past shipment.
  
  *We ship all “smaller units” complete with batteries only, as they come on one skid or ship via UPS/Fed-ex.  Splitting the batteries out significantly would increase the freight on relatively inexpensive units and is not financially efficient.  This would include:  MICRO, ABC, LPS, CEPS, and LV units.

• Can we offer a nicad option?

  No.

  First: What is “nicad?”

  It’s a nickel-cadmium battery in lieu of the industry-standard, lead-calcium battery… often shortened to nicad.

  This was something we offered about a decade ago, and it still pops up in specs from time to time. Honestly, I don’t know if any of the competition still offers it, but we ended the option years ago. Why?

  1. It practically triples the price.

  2. Practically no customers followed through with maintenance on the batteries, causing more problems down the line.

  3. Frankly, we sold one unit every 2-3 years, making it an obsolete option.

  If a customer asks, the simplest reply is they are obsolete because there is no validating reason to pay three times the price for an inverter.

Other

• Can you sell (get) exit signs or “wall pack” emergency lights? *Bug eyes? *Emergency to back up 12V heads?

  SHORT ANSWER:  NO

  We get asked this fairly often.  It makes sense.  They all fall under the umbrella of “emergency lighting.”  We decided a few years ago to concentrate ONLY on lighting inverters.  

  Why?

  It’s our strength, our forte, and what we do better than anyone!  We doubled-down to make sure we NEVER make you look bad and always make inverters as EASY as possible for you.