Inverter question for the electrical gurus (1 Viewer)

[Wanderlust]

Hello peeps,
I have purchased a Votronic 1700w inverter for various bits inthe van, mainly 2 x ebike batteries but occasional toaster and remoska use this is getting wired in to the 240v system by Roadpro in June along with a b2b and all the necessary extras, all good so far however I bought the inverter early so I could wire in to my battery bank (300ah lithium) and be able to charge the bike batteries via the inverter socket as we are away a few times before June. I have all the votronic recommended cables and 250A in line fuse so that will work fine then my light bulb moment last night, can I run my normal hookup cable from the inverter into the van hookup connection as if connecting to shoreside power, this should give me power to all van sockets not just the one in the garage (where inverter is located) will turn off the mains charger so not charging in a loop and also fridge and heating on to gas. I can't think of a reason for this not to work ok short term, only downside will be garage door slightly open to let cable out. Is there some reason not to do this ? Sorry for long winded post but thought it best to explain fully, @lennyhb or funflair and the many other electrical experts.
Thanks in advance

 

[Tombola]

Yes you can do this, fused plug at invertor end, if possible plugged into a power break if you have one. Not 100% required but no harm

 

[TCG]

That's exactly what we do, gives all sockets power from inverter. i did check this out with Sargent electrical.
Fridge on manual gas. turn off battery charger and good to go

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[Wanderlust]

Thanks for the replies, will give it go this weekend in Bamburgh.

 

[Tombola]

If youve got 300ah lithium and enough solar you could even run the fridge.
I ran my fridge the last 24 hours while wilding in North Wales and still had plenty ah left in the morning of my 200ah lithium.

 

[DBK]

I'm a little unclear which sockets your inverter is connected to. If it only feeds into a new socket you are adding in the garage which is not connected to the rest of the 240v system in the vehicle then as suggested, this will be fine. But your mention of a toaster and Remorska made me wonder if it also feeds a socket in the kitchen.

It will not work if there is a socket connected to both the inverter and EHU.

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[John H.]

Turning off the charger is important. Otherwise, the charger puts a load on the inverter which draws current from the battery which then needs charging which draws more current from the battery .....

 

[Raul]

I'm a little unclear which sockets your inverter is connected to. If it only feeds into a new socket you are adding in the garage which is not connected to the rest of the 240v system in the vehicle then as suggested, this will be fine. But your mention of a toaster and Remorska made me wonder if it also feeds a socket in the kitchen.

It will not work if there is a socket connected to both the inverter and EHU.

He’s not doing that. It simulates the ehu with the inverter output. The output goes to the ehu plug in outside. That way you can’t have both. It’s a work around.

 

[DBK]

He’s not doing that. It simulates the ehu with the inverter output. The output goes to the ehu plug in outside. That way you can’t have both. It’s a work around.

Thanks, I did mis-read it!

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[Wanderlust]

Tombola I was going to have a wee experiment with the fridge on inverter for an hour or two, its a newish van to us so not sure how well the fridge runs on gas plus we are in a field on a slope, roughly how much did you use out of your 200 ah ?

 

[Tombola]

Tombola I was going to have a wee experiment with the fridge on inverter for an hour or two, its a newish van to us so not sure how well the fridge runs on gas plus we are in a field on a slope, roughly how much did you use out of your 200 ah ?

It draws about 10ah -12h, but goes on and off remember. (you can even turn your fridge off overnight as long as its chilled own already wont do much harm in this weather) or have it on the lowest setting
I had 60% left in the morn but I didnt check what it was on before bed and my fridge wasnt on lowest setting.
my b2b and solar soon topped me back up

 

[cmcardle75]

Tombola I was going to have a wee experiment with the fridge on inverter for an hour or two, its a newish van to us so not sure how well the fridge runs on gas plus we are in a field on a slope, roughly how much did you use out of your 200 ah ?

Absorbtion fridges often have elements around 125W. That's around 10A at 12V, and you'll have some inverter losses to cope with as well, so call it 12A. However, it won't run continuously. It is hard to estimate, but assuming it is already cold, I'd guess around 50% duty cycle, you will average 6A. Assuming you have 200Ah of lead acid and don't want to go below 50% charge, you would last around 17 hours, assuming nothing else used (or restored) any electrical power.

A similar sized compressor fridge will average about 1A under similar conditions, which is why they are installed when electrical refrigeration is desired.

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[Wanderlust]

Thanks for the detailed reply, based on those estimates a fully charged 300ah system should be fine for a weekend, have 200w solar too and Friday we have sunshine allegedly.

 

[cmcardle75]

Thanks for the detailed reply, based on those estimates a fully charged 300ah system should be fine for a weekend, have 200w solar too and Friday we have sunshine allegedly.

I think it would be marginal. It could plausibly last the weekend, provided you didn't drain too much elsewhere and the assumptions made were correct.

 

[EuroTrotters]

That can be a complex issue. depends on of you have an AES fridge and if you can easily switch off the battery charger.

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[Tombola]

Ill order you as much sun as poss

Just look at it as an experiment, you can always turn the bugger off after 24 hours testing, warm beer never killed anyone.

have fun and not AH anxiety

 

[Wanderlust]

Was only going to try it for an hour or two as an experiment, talking hypothetically for a weekend, sorry for the misunderstanding, as for warm beer..just no.

 

[Raul]

Don’t worry, you will be fine, you got at least 250ah: 3kwh before you need to worry about reserve. Plus the solar will harvest 500-600wh daily, maybe more.

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[gerrym11]

That's exactly what we do, gives all sockets power from inverter. i did check this out with Sargent electrical.
Fridge on manual gas. turn off battery charger and good to go

Sorry if I am being thick, how do you turn off the battery charger so it doesn't go in to a loop?

 

[Lenny HB]

It's OK plugging the inverter in like you say is OK but for long term it's better to fit a changeover relay so that your sockets swap over automatically.

I wired my AES fridge to the AES output on my solar regulator (Votronic), when the batteries are full and there is enough solar my fridge switches to 12v it does it in 30 min blocks so you don't flatten the batteries.

 

[jako999]

A simple through switch between sockets out and switch between inverter in and main board in is much simpler and easy to fit if your electrically minded, but doing mods that cant be fully removed and leave no evidence of being fitted will screw the warranty.
Depending on the way your electrics are ran? Ours all link back to set of plugs in the main electric box so in theory all the sockets go back to the same point and are not singly connected to the board if that is the case then I can see no reason why you can’t just have a short lead with a 13amp plug on each end plug one into the inverter and one into the garage socket, no need to go outside. 1700w is only 7 amps

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[Googlebot]

A simple through switch between sockets out and switch between inverter in and main board in is much simpler and easy to fit if your electrically minded, but doing mods that cant be fully removed and leave no evidence of being fitted will screw the warranty.
Depending on the way your electrics are ran? Ours all link back to set of plugs in the main electric box so in theory all the sockets go back to the same point and are not singly connected to the board if that is the case then I can see no reason why you can’t just have a short lead with a 13amp plug on each end plug one into the inverter and one into the garage socket, no need to go outside. 1700w is only 7 amps

That isn’t advisable, ever.

Not only do you have the problem of a live plug if you forget to switch off, you can also still plug in the hookup lead and have the same issue.

Not forgetting you may energise the inverter or mains supply the wrong way and electrocute the sparky trying to restore the supply.

You also lose all circuit protection.

It will work, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

 

[jako999]

I agree totally but then if your trying to do it on the cheep no way will be as safe as proper fit

 

[Richard n Ann]

A simple through switch between sockets out and switch between inverter in and main board in is much simpler and easy to fit if your electrically minded, but doing mods that cant be fully removed and leave no evidence of being fitted will screw the warranty.
Depending on the way your electrics are ran? Ours all link back to set of plugs in the main electric box so in theory all the sockets go back to the same point and are not singly connected to the board if that is the case then I can see no reason why you can’t just have a short lead with a 13amp plug on each end plug one into the inverter and one into the garage socket, no need to go outside. 1700w is only 7 amps

That's how I got power to the TV in our caravan when not on hook up. You have to be careful, no absent-mindedness

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[gerrym11]

A simple through switch between sockets out and switch between inverter in and main board in is much simpler and easy to fit if your electrically minded, but doing mods that cant be fully removed and leave no evidence of being fitted will screw the warranty.
Depending on the way your electrics are ran? Ours all link back to set of plugs in the main electric box so in theory all the sockets go back to the same point and are not singly connected to the board if that is the case then I can see no reason why you can’t just have a short lead with a 13amp plug on each end plug one into the inverter and one into the garage socket, no need to go outside. 1700w is only 7 amps

LOL, I guess you are not a Sparkie

 

[xsparks]

Very bad advise don't do what jako999 says .