4000w Inverter won't work my 190-900W Travel Kettle

[scallywag70]

Hi, Could anyone explain why my 4000W Inverter won't work my small Travel Kettle which according to the spec plate underneath is rated at 190-900W. When i connect it the warning beep from the inverter is continuous and the Kettle doesn't turn on rather than a short beep when turned on at the Inverter switch. Have contacted the retailer of it and they couldn't help me so i,m just hoping that someone on here might be able to offer a solution.
Thanks in advance....

 

[Jim]

Beeps from an inverter often show the battery is low or in overload, or could have failed a self-test. Do you have a manual for the inverter?

 

[scallywag70]

Battery shows 12.6v and works the Inverter ok for lower wattage appliances.It does have a manual. What do you mean by self-test?

 

[eddie]

Battery shows 12.6v and works the Inverter ok for lower wattage appliances.It does have a manual. What do you mean by self-test?

12.6 VDC isn’t fully charged, but, measur the voltage as you turn the kettle on and see how low the voltage drops

 

[Kannon Fodda]

4000W inverter, that's a lot of power, presumably you have a lot of batteries to support that level of current - some 350Amp at 12V assuming the inverter is quite efficient. Travel kettle at it's max 900W shouldn't put the inverter under strain, but if your battery bank is undersized, or the cabling between the battery bank and inverter is too thin (you probably need at least 70mm sq) at full pelt things on that inverter would go awry.

You may need to post the make and model of your inverter to give us a better clue.

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[scallywag70]

actual battery voltage shows 12.96..when kettle connected and inverter turned on battery voltage varies between 11.30-1190.

 

[busbuddy]

Does the kettle work anywhere else

 

[scallywag70]

No, i don't have loads of batteries!! just thought buying an oversized capacity might be better than an undersized one,only going to run the kettle,tv,low voltage light,probably not all running at once either. Cheap ebay inverter,make is ROHS FC if that means anything to you.

 

[scallywag70]

yes,works as it should

 

[Fontie]

I think you said the reason it doesn't work without realising. "Cheap eBay Inverter" I'd contact the seller and ask for a replacement or refund

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[Kannon Fodda]

You'll have to subscribe to MHF for further posts.

The answer is now clear, bigger is not always better. Your battery cannot supply the power needed for that size of inverter, nowhere near close.

That the voltage is dropping as low as 11.3v is taking too much out of the battery and the inverter beeps show it is not getting enough power to be able to output. Every battery has a maximum amount of current it can discharge at once (there are also limits on the charge rate). Look for information on the battery "C" rate. Exceed that and the battery won't be happy and can be damaged.

 

[Jamesh]

Try it with the engine running this boosting to battery voltage - that will show if your battery or your inverter is goosed?

 

[Badknee]

Hmmm, 4000w inverter. That’s an awful lot of wattsits

 

[Itsmcb]

A 900 watt kettle will pull at almost a 100 amp rate from your battery. If you have a single 90 or 110 amp battery it will struggle to supply enough current to the inverter. The other cause is usually the cables between the battery and the inverter are too small restricting the current flow.

 

[Itsmcb]

Hmmm, 4000w inverter. That’s an awful lot of wattsits

Probably a 2000watt (max 4000 for a second or two)

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[Reallyretired]

It would appear from the postings that there may only be a single battery. The inverter seems to be working as it should by cutting out at low battery voltage. At a pinch 900w could be supplied by two batteries but more would be better with meaty wiring.

 

[pappajohn]

Kettle at 900watts is pulling 75amps from the battery...plus conversion losses ...maybe 80amps.
Another couple of batteries and the kettle will work fine.
Or you could buy a whistling Billy kettle and use gas.

 

[Lenny HB]

No, i don't have loads of batteries!! just thought buying an oversized capacity might be better than an undersized one,only going to run the kettle,tv,low voltage light,probably not all running at once either. Cheap ebay inverter,make is ROHS FC if that means anything to you.

Always best to buy an inverter that is slightly over the max you are going to use it for. The bigger the inverter the higher the standby and operating current so you are just wasting power.
To run a 4000 watt inverter at full power you will need at least 1500ah of batteries (15 x 100ah batteries).

To run your kettle you really need at least another 2 batteries even then you only want to do it ocassionaly to preserve your batteries.
We have 3 batteries and a 800 watt kettle only ever use the kettle from the inverter when waiting for a ferry or on the tunnel when the gas is turned off.

 

[PDrill]

First thing that comes in to my mind is the inverter cables thickness. How long cables from the battery and how thick are they? Most inverters seem to come with so thin cables that they are barely enough for the length they are, and if continued (with the same thickness) they just aren't up to the job. The longer the thicker they have to be. An inverter that's asked for hundreds - yet thousands - of watts has to have something better than old speak wires

In any case one would think trying the kettle at it's lowest setting (190w) should work on 'any cables' and even a decent battery. Have you tried these lower settings or only full power?

 

[autorouter]

Cheap ebay inverter,make is ROHS FC if that means anything to you

I don't think that's the make/model. ROHS is a label to show it is compliant with environmental standards in manufacture (lead-free solder, no cadmium, etc). FC is a type of inverter technology (Flying Capacitor). Maybe there's another label on there somewhere.

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[autorouter]

In any case one would think trying the kettle at it's lowest setting (190w) should work on 'any cables' and even a decent battery. Have you tried these lower settings or only full power?

I don't think there are any settings. The kettle will have a single element, probably about 53 ohms resistance. It will be specified as suitable for a voltage from 100V to 240V. At 100V it will produce 190W, and at 240V it will produce 900W. The inverter will have a fixed output voltage, probably 230V.

 

[PDrill]

Oh well, I thought that "spec plate underneath is rated at 190-900W" means it has somekind of adjustment.

 

[EML]

No, i don't have loads of batteries!! just thought buying an oversized capacity might be better than an undersized one,only going to run the kettle,tv,low voltage light,probably not all running at once either. Cheap ebay inverter,make is ROHS FC if that means anything to you.

All bad. Don't over-spec inverters.

Even a "good" inverter may need you to run at 50% of rated power to get to a 90% power factor (in other words, efficiency). You're trying to run at less than 25% of rated power, with a cheap unbranded inverter, so you're going to be lucky to get a 50% power factor.

What does this mean? You're trying to get 900W out of the inverter. It's not magic, and it's probably running at less than 50% efficiency, so you need to get 1800W into the invertor. That comes from the battery, which is ~12V. So you need to get 1800/12 = 150A out of the battery, and through the cabling, for the entire time that your kettle is on. It's a non-starter, unless your electrical system is specifically designed to handle this, and you can cope with a very hot inverter (in your case, probably as hot as your kettle).

And note that a kettle is the easiest possible load to drive from an inverter. If you're trying to drive a TV, or something else complicated, it's a completely different ball game, and you'll probably need a proper well-designed inverter.

 

[Oldbob]

If you read a lot of the cheap inverter blurb on fleabay it says 4000w inverter, but then says peak 4000w, but constant 300w ! It is just a way of getting you to buy it. I have a 1500 watt inverter in my work van, runs a compressor, chargers, angle grinder etc, and the inevitable kettle, obviously not all at once, and it says max 2000w, constant 1500w, 1 leisure battery on a split charger.

 

[two]

Oh well, I thought that "spec plate underneath is rated at 190-900W" means it has somekind of adjustment.

Probably purchased from the same fleabay outfit...

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