Inverter not working

[steve dunham]

I would try disconnecting the 12 VDC feed /power to the inverters ,leave the power disconnected for 10 minutes ,reapply power and reset the inverter. I used to work on industrial electronics and many times the only way to reset a piece of equipment was to power down and allow the internal controls to reset to the default position.

[float5]

Originally Posted by KirkB

If you have a remote panel for the inverter, remove the network cable for the remote from the inverter and try it using the on/off switch on the inverter.

The on/off switch on the inverter should be in the OFF position for the remote to control the inverter.

When my inverter was new, it would not start for me once. After unplugging output and remote, and toggling the on/off switch, it started ok, and has worked fine ever since. Hope that is all it takes for yours.

Called Reace today and the problem was nothing more than not pushing the reset button right. We had the same trouble with the 19'. We knew it had to really be pushed in and we thought we had done that again and again but today when talking to Reace --- of course --- I pushed it and could immediately tell that it worked differently from all of the other tries. That simple.

Reace also said that there is a little green button that will light up in the middle of the outlet on the Samlex inverter. Well, just about impossible to see. Or impossible! Don't know if I saw it or not but the reset button was then "in" this time instead of sticking out, and that's all we needed, that and pushing it in with the inverter turned on, for anyone else who needs to do this. That is after pulling out the GFCI plug on the inverter. This was done with the idea that we had tripped the inverter's GFCI when using it. Don't know how we did that though so will have to pay attention the next times.

I happened to ask what you brought up --- why is the rocker switch on the inverter supposed to be off. And he said it is to use the remote display instead.

Anyway, as far as we see now, it is working and we will try using it again in the next couple of days. Thanks for the info, Kirk and all.

By the way, I asked him why the solar monitor has been moved to above the refrigerator. He did not give a reason. Just moved it.

[jennykatz]

We have the 21 escape we are thinking of adding a 1500-2000 watt inverter .I looked at the twin battery set up looks pretty straightforward . I have some number 6 wire 2 questions will I need a fuse (probably yes) what size 30-40 amp?and is number 6 wire enough ?

[padlin]

If you were to run a 1500 hair drier off the inverter, it'd pull 125A from the batteries. 125A moving less then 10' would require 1awg cable, meaning the inverter should be within 5' of the batteries, cable length wise.

I'd use a 150A fuse.

At least that's what I come up with using this https://www.bluesea.com/products/200...election_Chart , see what others say.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by jennykatz

We have the 21 escape we are thinking of adding a 1500-2000 watt inverter .I looked at the twin battery set up looks pretty straightforward . I have some number 6 wire 2 questions will I need a fuse (probably yes) what size 30-40 amp?and is number 6 wire enough ?

A 2000 watt inverter will draw 166 amps at 12 VDC when operating at 100% of its' rating . Conductors are normally sized at 125% of the equipments FLA . In this case 166 amps x 1.25 = 207 amps.
You will need a conductor / wire that has a minimum ampacity of 207 amps. #6 wire copper wire has an ampacity of approximately 60 amps depending on the type of insulation , ambient temperature and the length of the run ,so it is not suitable for a 2000 watt inverter. You will need a 3/0 or 4/0 copper conductor for a 2000 watt inverter. If you wish to use #6 then buy a smaller inverter , where #6 can handle the load safely ( 500 to 700 watts).
Be aware that 3/0 & 4/0 copper wire is expensive but it's still cheaper than a fire .

[padlin]

No to mention very hard to work with.

[Rossue]

Check out donrowe.com- they will make your cables with connectors at a reasonable price. Thought I needed a 3000 watt inverter for our vitamix and ordered everything from them. They took it all back with custom made cables for a nominal re-stock fee after Escape had installed a 1500 watt by mistake and it ran the Vitamix.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by padlin

No to mention very hard to work with.

Another good point . 3/0 & 4/0 standard building wire is hard to bend . We used hydraulic wire benders on large wire because of this fact. Where we required flexibility and it met the code we often used fine strand welding cable but the welding cable is more expensive than standard building wire . In our case we had to factor in labor & material costs but labor is not an issue in this case.

[jennykatz]

I might have to rethink this inverter deal maybe a 1000 watt will do the trick its for a 700 watt microwave and a small hairdryer less then 1000 watts. My run would be less then 2 ft .It would be right next to the battery box .I think the number 6 wires came with the 1000 watt inverter i put into our boat .Maybe bring my microwave down to the boat see if the 1000 watt will run it and my wife's hairdryer ? On my boat i had a about a 20ft. run from battery to inverter then back to batteries . I think I used a 75 amp circuit breaker and a number 02 or 04 awg ? I think I'll go down to the Boat

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by jennykatz

I might have to rethink this inverter deal maybe a 1000 watt will do the trick its for a 700 watt microwave and a small hairdryer less then 1000 watts.
...
Maybe bring my microwave down to the boat see if the 1000 watt will run it and my wife's hairdryer ?

A "700 watt" microwave oven should have 700 watts of output (microwave) power, so it will likely use around 1000 watts of input (120 V AC) power.
Very few hair dryers are less than 14000 watts on the high-heat setting, but at least one low-heat setting is likely under 700 watts... or you might find a small one with a high-heat setting of less than 1000 watts.

The "1000 watt" inverter can probably run higher than 1000 watts for brief periods, but as Steve explained that takes a lot of current - 75 amps wouldn't be quite enough for 1000 watts.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Very few hair dryers are less than 14000 watts on the high-heat setting,

Heck, I want to get one of those hair dryers. There are times when my heat gun just doesn't put out enough heat.

Ron

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Very few hair dryers are less than 14000 watts on the high-heat setting,

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Heck, I want to get one of those hair dryers. There are times when my heat gun just doesn't put out enough heat.

Ron, you can always use a serious propane torch.

I actually saw that typo, but forgot to fix it before hitting "Submit".
1400 watts, of course.

[jennykatz]

I went to Blue Sea for wire size I put in there formula
12 volts times 85 amps =1020 watts 3ft of wire It came up with number 6 AWG
So if I use num 6 AWG and put in a 100 amp fuse or circuit breaker? will that be safe

This is all predicated if my microwave works and my wife's hair dryer works . Ill find that out today .I looked at a few videos that show a 1000 watt will work a microwave and hairdryer on low we will see ?

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by jennykatz

I went to Blue Sea for wire size I put in there formula
12 volts times 85 amps =1020 watts 3ft of wire It came up with number 6 AWG
So if I use num 6 AWG and put in a 100 amp fuse or circuit breaker? will that be safe

This is all predicated if my microwave works and my wife's hair dryer works . Ill find that out today .I looked at a few videos that show a 1000 watt will work a microwave and hairdryer on low we will see ?

#6 AWG copper wire has an ampacity of 65 amps when installed in a raceway or part of a cable assembly
#6 AWG copper wire has an ampacity of 95 Amps in "Free Air"
The above ampacities are based on the NEC using the 75 deg table
.
If you use the listed Free Air ampacity of 95 amps for a #6 AWG conductor and since 95 amps is not a standard fuse size ( Art 240) , you can move up to the next standard size fuse , which is 100 amps.

Be aware that by code definition and most inspection suthorities that if the #6 conductors are run inside the trailer , they are NOT in free air and you must then use the standard ampacity of 65 amps.

Wires enclosed in stud space , enclosures , structures , wiring gutters compartments are normally not considered to be in " Free Air ".
The issue is heat and its' affect on wire insulation , terminations and electrical equipment. Free Air allows heat to dissipate from the conductor plus lessen transfer heat to terminations and equipment. This cooling effect does not occur at the same rate when the wires are in a confined space thus the lower allowable ampacity

It's your decision , I am only informing you of what the NEC says.
Again the standard rule for electrical is to multiply by 1.25 or derate to 80 %
IE You limit the continuous load on a 20 circuit breaker to 16 amps --- The 80% rule
You multiply the full load amps of a piece of equipment by 1.25 to determine wire size--- The 125% rule.

The length of the wire can limit its' ampacity and affect the sizing of overcurrent devices because of the voltage drop limit rules. A short run of wire such as 3 ft does NOT allow you to exceed the wires listed ampacity , it just has less voltage drop .

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

A "700 watt" microwave oven should have 700 watts of output (microwave) power, so it will likely use around 1000 watts of input (120 V AC) power.
Very few hair dryers are less than 14000 watts on the high-heat setting, but at least one low-heat setting is likely under 700 watts... or you might find a small one with a high-heat setting of less than 1000 watts.

The "1000 watt" inverter can probably run higher than 1000 watts for brief periods, but as Steve explained that takes a lot of current - 75 amps wouldn't be quite enough for 1000 watts.

I have a 1000 watt, Xantrex ProWatt SW sine wave inverter & it would not run any of the 700 watt microwaves I've tried. I found a Westinghouse WCM660B 600 Watt, .6 cu ft Microwave that does. On high, it draws a continuous 95 amps on the input to the inverter. Wiring is about 8' of #0 cable. The excessive cable length is due to the location of the batteries in a 17, i.e. cross over cable & that they are on the rear bumper.

It works, but without a generator, I only use it for short periods. I've found that you have to increase the cooking times by about 1/3rd to make up for the low wattage. While I have 355 watts of solar to recharge the batteries, on days like today (heavy fog & rain) I'm only get 1.4 amps of charging current from the panels.

[fudge_brownie]

I installed an after market inverter from Krieger, 1500 watts. Here is a link to Amazon. It operates the Escape provided microwave (700 watt) very well, also a 110 volt Shark vacuum. We have never tried it with a hair dryer.

What I liked about the unit was it came with cables and a fuse. The cables were only three feet long which assured the proper location near the battery. Mounting the unit was harder than the actual connections. Of course deciding if and how many outlets to connect is another issue.