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Sockets won’t work from land power, only when inverter is switched on


Tuttifruity

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The electrics on our boat look like spaghetti junction, and we don’t understand why when we’re plugged into the landline, the sockets only work when the inverter is switched on. Is this normal?

The other problem we had was when we changed a standard 12v ceiling light fitting with what looked like a very similar one, the bulb only lasted a couple of days. The wiring on the new one was a lot thinner than the old wiring coming out of the ceiling. Do we need to put thicker wire in? All advice would be greatly received

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You probably have a Combi inverter charger. This acts as an inverter, providing mains power from the batteries when not on shore power, and when you are on shore power it also charges the batteries.

 

If that is the case then the shore power passes through the Combi inverter to get to the sockets and so yes, it is normal for the Combi inverter to have to be switched on to get shore power to the sockets. It won’t be “inverting” though, whilst shore power is plugged in. What make and model of inverter is it?

 

As to the light fitting, no the thin wires won’t cause that problem. Perhaps you were just unlucky with a defective bulb.

Edited by nicknorman
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We have a plug that connects the 240v system to the source of power, whether that is landline or inverter, so when we connect to shore power we have to move the plug. Do you have anything similar...?

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You may have a selector switch which connects the sockets to either the shore power supply or to the inverter.

to help us make some informed comments please give us the model of inverter or a photo showing it’s name etc.  Otherwise we are just speculating 

 

Added - though we do enjoy a good speculation session..........

 

added - as to your second question, thicker wire is not going to help.  Some 12v bulbs, especially some very low cost  led types from China do not like more than 12v, and when charging your voltage is probably near to 14.4v.   I also had a problem that led bulbs connected to a fitting, close to and on the same supply as a fluorescent light would burn out very quickly, so got rid of the fluorescent.

Edited by Chewbacka
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1 minute ago, Sapphal said:

I have a 3 position switch - shore power/off/inverter. Tho OP may have similar, perhaps hidden in his spaghetti. Curiously, my battery charger is available on inverter power. Using batteries to charge batteries!

I have an extra set of contacts on my change over switch, so the battery charger can only operate on shore power.  As I found before replacing the switch, running the charger from it’s own batteries does not end well...........

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18 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

I have an extra set of contacts on my change over switch, so the battery charger can only operate on shore power.  As I found before replacing the switch, running the charger from it’s own batteries does not end well...........

Thanks for the info. I will investigate the present wiring and hopefully alter it so that the charger is not connected to the inverter output. 

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