Inverter consumption

[Viola]

My inverter is Always hot also if no condumption is it normal?

[WotEver]

Depends on the inverter. If it's a cheap one then yes. If it's not being used why not turn it off and save on battery wear & tear.

?

[bottle]

It should not be hot but possibly warm, check there is not a load on the inverter

 

A good one just sitting there doing nothing (switched on) will load the batteries to about 0.5 amp.

 

A bad one will load more, maybe 2 amps.

 

Check specification for quiescent load, idle, stand-by.

 

So good will be 12 amp.hrs over 24 hours

 

Bad will be 48 amp.hrs over 24 hours

 

If the battery bank is say 100 amp.hrs then the bad one will reduce your batteries to about 50% SOC, the lowest they should go if guidelines are adhered to and you still have not used them for anything else.

 

As per WotEver, turn it off if you do not need it to supply 230v ac.

[Chewbacka]

Get yourself a DC clamp meter (the Uni T203 seems to be the meter of choice for most as it is low cost) and measure the current going in when it is not powering anything. That will tell you the 'wasted' power.

[ditchcrawler]

Get yourself a DC clamp meter (the Uni T203 seems to be the meter of choice for most as it is low cost) and measure the current going in when it is not powering anything. That will tell you the 'wasted' power.

Will that measure 1 amp accurately?

Edited September 30, 2016 by ditchcrawler

[Robbo]

Will that measure 1 am accurately?

A clock.

[ditchcrawler]

A clock.

Some people P you off

[Top cat]

Will that measure 1 amp accurately?

I'm not sure of the exact spec and it depends what you consider accurate enough.

When I compared it to a conventional in line meter it was pretty close down to 0.5A, I consider that good enough for most diagnostic work on a boat

 

Top Cat

[Onewheeler]

If the battery charger is plugged into the invertor it might get hot. For a while anyway.

[Chewbacka]

If the battery charger is plugged into the invertor it might get hot. For a while anyway.

Do you mean an inverter/charger combi? In which case I agree, but if a separate charger, why would the inverter get hot?

Just realised what you meant

[mross]

My DC clamp meter reads about 1.6 amps when not around any conductor. I think the cheaper ones are wildly inaccurate.

[WotEver]

My DC clamp meter reads about 1.6 amps when not around any conductor. I think the cheaper ones are wildly inaccurate.

Odd, mine reads zero.

[bottle]

So does mine, well nearly always. and it's one of the cheap ones always lauded on here, the Uni-T.

 

I just make sure it is not near anything electrical, metal and push the middle (REL) button to zero it