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Inverter Issue


Nick D

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I have a Vetus 3000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter and not had any problems so far. This afternoon, after several hours cruising we went for a walk having turned the inverter off before we left.  When we got back and turned it on, nothing happened - no lights, no beeping. Tried a few times and no different.  Then it emitted a very shallow beep and each time it got slightly louder until eventually a full set of all lights came on before going out, but still no power.  On the final time it came on as usual, a few beeps and the green light settling on the correct voltage.  Now it's working fine though I'm a bit apprehensive about turning it off, though I must when we go to bed later. The batteries were fully charged after a day's cruising.  Any ideas?

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6 minutes ago, Nick D said:

I have a Vetus 3000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter and not had any problems so far. This afternoon, after several hours cruising we went for a walk having turned the inverter off before we left.  When we got back and turned it on, nothing happened - no lights, no beeping. Tried a few times and no different.  Then it emitted a very shallow beep and each time it got slightly louder until eventually a full set of all lights came on before going out, but still no power.  On the final time it came on as usual, a few beeps and the green light settling on the correct voltage.  Now it's working fine though I'm a bit apprehensive about turning it off, though I must when we go to bed later. The batteries were fully charged after a day's cruising.  Any ideas?

What voltage does it show? Why do you believe you have to turn it off? Mine is on all day every day 24/7 365.

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12 minutes ago, philjw said:

How do you know that the batteries are fully charged? Is it possible that the alternator is not providing the charge you would expect from a full day of cruising?

I thnk I should be checking the tightness of the inverter cables first. 

Sorry, excuse my ignorance but what/where are the inverter cables?  The voltmeter shows the batteries at 12.8

12 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

What voltage does it show? Why do you believe you have to turn it off? Mine is on all day every day 24/7 365.

I thought that inverters drained the batteries?  I don't have solar

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1 minute ago, Nick D said:

Sorry, excuse my ignorance but what/where are the inverter cables?  The voltmeter shows the batteries at 12.8

I thought that inverters drained the batteries?  I don't have solar

Nick

much depends on what ampage the inverter uses just sat switched on doing nothing, there are posh names for it but mine draws 0.3 of an amp so next to nowt. What does yours use? do you have any monitoring equipment?

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Just now, mrsmelly said:

Nick

much depends on what ampage the inverter uses just sat switched on doing nothing, there are posh names for it but mine draws 0.3 of an amp so next to nowt. What does yours use? do you have any monitoring equipment?

I don't know how much it uses and I don't have any monitoring equipment yet as I'm waiting for a battery monitor to be fitted.  I'm sure I was told on a previous thread to turn it off when it wasn't being used!

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Our inverter is a Sterling 3kw PSW but could be a dfferent one than yours. On ours the large DC input cables are connected via two allen screws. It is a good idea to nip these up now and again. A special insulated key was provided with our inverter.

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9 minutes ago, Nick D said:

Sorry, excuse my ignorance but what/where are the inverter cables?  The voltmeter shows the batteries at 12.8

21 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

There will be some chunky cables going from the batteries to the inverter with a big old fuse in one of them. Check all the connections are sound

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3 minutes ago, Nick D said:

I don't know how much it uses and I don't have any monitoring equipment yet as I'm waiting for a battery monitor to be fitted.  I'm sure I was told on a previous thread to turn it off when it wasn't being used!

Ours is always on, because the fridge needs it. It is set to standby and consumes very little power except when the fridge cuts in.When/if I replace the fridge with a 12V one, the inverter will be switched off except when needed (washing machine/powers tools.)

1 minute ago, philjw said:

There will be some chunky cables going from the batteries to the inverter with a big old fuse in one of them. Check all the connections are sound

Fuse connections are a good bet. Ours were loose on battery charger last week and caused charging probs.

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Vibration causes copper cables to creep until loose in connectors. Tighten all from battery terminals to the inverter. Is there a nasty red key isolator switch in the feed to the battery?  They are junk, fail regularly. If so replace with something decent costing £30 +

I have known the little on/off switches on inverters to go high resistance leading to intermittent starting.

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Thanks all for your help on this. I switched the inverter on this morning and it came on fine. I’ve since checked all the cables and connections to the battery and they seem fine too. I’m going to leave it on tonight and see what power it consumes (the best I can with current monitoring equipment). It has a power save mode so I’m hoping it should be ok.

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24 minutes ago, Nick D said:

Thanks all for your help on this. I switched the inverter on this morning and it came on fine. I’ve since checked all the cables and connections to the battery and they seem fine too. I’m going to leave it on tonight and see what power it consumes (the best I can with current monitoring equipment). It has a power save mode so I’m hoping it should be ok.

Be aware that the power save mode is (often) a two edge sword - the unit won't come out of save mode until quite a large load is applied. I tested two that wouldn't sense a modern 240v fridge starting up!

 

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1 hour ago, Nick D said:

I’m going to leave it on tonight and see what power it consumes (the best I can with current monitoring equipment). It has a power save mode so I’m hoping it should be ok.

Ok, if you don't post by 10am I'll be round with the jump leads! :D

 

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2 hours ago, OldGoat said:

Be aware that the power save mode is (often) a two edge sword - the unit won't come out of save mode until quite a large load is applied. I tested two that wouldn't sense a modern 240v fridge starting up!

 

The fridge light is enough to wake my inverter.  A fridge starting needs about 7amps to start, possibly your fridge has posh electronics to control the temp and they don’t load the inverter enough to power up, so the fridge never ‘wants’ to start up.  Something to bear in mind if that is correct when buying a new fridge.

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16 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

The fridge light is enough to wake my inverter.  A fridge starting needs about 7amps to start, possibly your fridge has posh electronics to control the temp and they don’t load the inverter enough to power up, so the fridge never ‘wants’ to start up.  Something to bear in mind if that is correct when buying a new fridge.

This is the thing with living with boat electrics. Even a proper expert cannot answer all each individuals questions as some mixes of inverter/appliance work and another the appliance simply may not, pure sign or otherwise it realy is suck it and see. As a for instance my inverter is set to saver mode and switching the tv on will not wake it but the tv and a fone charging is enough to wake it and the fridge is no problem.

19 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

The fridge light is enough to wake my inverter.  A fridge starting needs about 7amps to start, possibly your fridge has posh electronics to control the temp and they don’t load the inverter enough to power up, so the fridge never ‘wants’ to start up.  Something to bear in mind if that is correct when buying a new fridge.

This is the thing with living with boat electrics. Even a proper expert cannot answer all each individuals questions as some mixes of inverter/appliance work and another the appliance simply may not, pure sign or otherwise it realy is suck it and see. As a for instance my inverter is set to saver mode and switching the tv on will not wake it but the tv and a fone charging is enough to wake it and the fridge is no problem.

Bloomin crap signal today ?

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