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Fried inverter?


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I have a 1800w MSW Sterling inverter. Not sure how old it is but guessing it's 10+ years old. (photo attached) Nothing special but has done the job until now.

 

Rather embarrassingly, I think I may have fried it... Recently bought a compact portable air conditioning unit for shoreline use only but didn't realise power was being provided via the inverter when I turned on the air con unit. You can see where I'm going with this - The overload light was illuminated when I went to turn it off. 

 

Now the inverter doesn't seem to work though the green power LED illuminates. Is there anything that can be looked at or is it likely fried?

 

 

IMG_0572.jpg

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Thanks, I took it apart this evening and I was surprised to see not one but several fuses! All of which looked OK at a glance. I then looked at the circuit board with a torch and noticed one diode had completely disintegrated and another was clearly burned. I guess I have answered my own question in that I have fried it.  :(

 

I will need to replace it but I don't want to spend Victron money but equally I don't want to buy junk. Does the inverter linked below look like a suitable replacement or are there others that anyone would recommend for less than £500? I have a separate battery charger which I'd rather retain.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sterling-1800w-Pro-Power-Q-12v-Inverter-I121800-Caravan-Boat-Motorhome/272960377450?hash=item3f8db4d26a:g:pvkAAMXQUY1Q9Wad

 

Cheers

 

Rich

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Yes it’s common practice to parallel several smaller fuses instead of one big’un

 

others will rubbish Stirling products but we’ve had a Stirling 1800 job for 8 years  (fitted just before we bought the boat by the seller) and it seems fine (kiss of death now) 

 

 

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I fitted a Ring inverter to the boat we used to have a share in. They are a reputable manufacturer widely used in the automotive world. http://www.ringautomotive.com/uk/content/in-car-power

It was bought from the chandlery at the bottom of Braunston locks whose name escapes me - its because I'm getting old and forgetful!! Ring do pure and modified sine wave inverters. Google is my friend!!http://www.wharfhouse.co.uk/powerafloat.htm

My current boat has a Sterling one which has given me no problems in the 5 1/2 years we've owned it.

Edited by Richard T
sorted out my forgetfulness
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4 hours ago, RichM said:

Thanks, I took it apart this evening and I was surprised to see not one but several fuses! All of which looked OK at a glance. I then looked at the circuit board with a torch and noticed one diode had completely disintegrated and another was clearly burned. I guess I have answered my own question in that I have fried it.  :(

 

I will need to replace it but I don't want to spend Victron money but equally I don't want to buy junk. Does the inverter linked below look like a suitable replacement or are there others that anyone would recommend for less than £500? I have a separate battery charger which I'd rather retain.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sterling-1800w-Pro-Power-Q-12v-Inverter-I121800-Caravan-Boat-Motorhome/272960377450?hash=item3f8db4d26a:g:pvkAAMXQUY1Q9Wad

 

Cheers

 

Rich

I have stuff repaired by my local tv repair man in the recent past, 1 x speed controller for my electric bathtub, and a MPPT solar controller you never it might be able to be fixed

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12 minutes ago, Gareth E said:

I have a 600w inverter, unknown maker. Would it be reasonably safe to run a 500w angle grinder off it, or is it likely to blow it up?

Is it rated at 600w 'peak' or 600w 'continuous' ?

 

You can run resistive loads (such as heaters, hair dryers etc) at near the rated inverter value, but 'things with motors' tend to have a much higher start-up current for a short time and could damage your inverter if running near the max.

 

I wouldn't recommend you try it.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Is it rated at 600w 'peak' or 600w 'continuous' ?

 

You can run resistive loads (such as heaters, hair dryers etc) at near the rated inverter value, but 'things with motors' tend to have a much higher start-up current for a short time and could damage your inverter if running near the max.

 

I wouldn't recommend you try it.

Thanks, I won't risk it then. My alternative is a petrol generator (Kipor) rated at 750w. If the start up current of the angle grinder exceeded that (can't find the data) would it likely cause the generator to stall, or might it damage it?

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5 minutes ago, Gareth E said:

Thanks, I won't risk it then. My alternative is a petrol generator (Kipor) rated at 750w. If the start up current of the angle grinder exceeded that (can't find the data) would it likely cause the generator to stall, or might it damage it?

 

Yes to both of those, although on my genny a hefty motor just makes the overload button pop out. 

 

A workaround for this is to stop the genny, plug in and turn on the motor appliance e.g. wet and dry vac, start the genny.  After a few hiccups both settle down running nicely. 

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23 minutes ago, Gareth E said:

Thanks, I won't risk it then. My alternative is a petrol generator (Kipor) rated at 750w. If the start up current of the angle grinder exceeded that (can't find the data) would it likely cause the generator to stall, or might it damage it?

Same question (as manufacturers give you the 'best figure')

 

Is 750w the continuous or 'short time' figure ?

 

My Kipor genny is 'rated' as 2000w but the continuous rating is actually 1600w.

I also have a Honda 650w genny - the actual 'continuous rating is 450w.

 

You may find there is very little difference between the rating of your inverter and your generator.

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Same question (as manufacturers give you the 'best figure')

 

Is 750w the continuous or 'short time' figure ?

 

My Kipor genny is 'rated' as 2000w but the continuous rating is actually 1600w.

I also have a Honda 650w genny - the actual 'continuous rating is 450w.

 

You may find there is very little difference between the rating of your inverter and your generator.

This gets a bit complicated! I've looked on the Kipor site max output is 770 rated output is 700. Might the rated figure be the continuous figure?

 

And then... I have lists of various tools/ appliances with their rated power and maximum power requirement but unfortunately an angle grinder isn't on the list. The closest I can find: Disk sander (+20%) drill (+10%). If my assumption in the first paragraph is correct I think it should be ok. There again a belt sander is plus 100% which would be a big no no!  

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2 hours ago, Gareth E said:

 

And then... I have lists of various tools/ appliances with their rated power and maximum power requirement but unfortunately an angle grinder isn't on the list. The closest I can find: Disk sander (+20%) drill (+10%). If my assumption in the first paragraph is correct I think it should be ok. There again a belt sander is plus 100% which would be a big no no!  

 

Any power tool with a variable speed trigger will only draw a small fraction of max power if started at low speed and then increased. So the high start-up currents can be avoided. 

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20 hours ago, Richard T said:

I fitted a Ring inverter to the boat we used to have a share in. They are a reputable manufacturer widely used in the automotive world. http://www.ringautomotive.com/uk/content/in-car-power

Ring may be reputable in the automotive world, but if the 1KW quasi-sine inverter that someone once donated me at a lock side was typical, I wouldn't want to be relying on one.

 

It wasertainly a very much cheaper and more basic offering than many, which I would say is reflected in a typical price charged.

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40 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Ring may be reputable in the automotive world, but if the 1KW quasi-sine inverter that someone once donated me at a lock side was typical, I wouldn't want to be relying on one.

 

It wasertainly a very much cheaper and more basic offering than many, which I would say is reflected in a typical price charged.

When that was claimed I wondered if I worked in a different motor industry to the poster. I agree with you about the typical quality from Ring.

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