Power Star LW 3000 12v inverter Problem

PeterCarole29

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Renault Master Fleetwood
Exp
20 years
To be honest i bought this by mistake ,I thought i was buying the same as i had in a past van being a sterling power.
before i fitted it i realised my mistake but thought oh well.

It has been working fine 2 months old.

I suspect 2 weeks ago in france i connected to the mains on Reverse polarity and it has caused a problem.

It works perfect on mains charges batteries as it should and is quiet and sockets all work.
When you disconnect from mains and it kicks into using 12v to invert to 240 it races -bangs and all sorts of things on the digital panel.

The instructions that came with it mention nothing about reverse polarity and the info book is 8 pages, but i today printed of a manual on th internet that is 16 pages long and in it it states reverse polarity will damage your inverter.

I have had so far no reply from where i bought it but i emailed them on saturday so not expecting a reply but also doubt it is covered by warranty.

Does anyone that knows where it can be repaired as i have looked on the internet with no success.

Or what damage and part might be needed.

Or in fact any help at all
 
You need to be sure what the phrase 'reverse polarity' is referring to. In the manual there are a few references to reverse polarity of the 12V DC connections to the battery. This is of course reversing the positive and negative DC connections. This is likely to damage the electronics, if it doesn't have suitable protection.

I have the impression that you are referring to reversing the live and neutral AC connections in the incoming mains connection - something that many people on here loosely call 'reverse polarity'. Note that 'AC' means Alternating Current. The voltage and current go from positive to negative and back to positive, 50 times per second.

The issue with 'live and neutral' is which of the two connections is held at zero voltage, so that the other one can go positive and negative 50 times per second. Reversing live and neutral normally has no effect on the functioning of an appliance. The only issue is safety if anything goes wrong inside the appliance. I can't see anywhere in the manual that talks about this kind of reverse polarity.

However as you say, something has gone wrong with the inverter, whatever the reason. I think I'd start by asking Photonic Universe, who sell them, if they can recommend anyone for service/repair. If no luck, maybe try Apuljack Electronics, who repair all kinds of motorhome power boxes and chargers.
 
Yes, get in touch with the retailer that supplied it. If it was new it will have come with a warranty and the retailer should accept it back to be assessed and repaired or replaced.
 
Hi Thankyou for the explanation and i have re looked at the reference to reverse polarity, and you suspect correct it refers to the battery cables. (in my case always been correct.)
Having read your explanation i am fully understanding why AC reverse polarity on 240v mains hook up would not cause damage .

Thankyou again and will follow up your suggestions .

Cheers Peter
 
Yes, get in touch with the retailer that supplied it. If it was new it will have come with a warranty and the retailer should accept it back to be assessed and repaired or replaced.
I dont hold out much hope but may be surprised .I bought it new in February from Ebay and not all shops honour on such a costly item.

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Not sure about eBay but did you pay with a credit card by any chance?
 
I dont hold out much hope but may be surprised .I bought it new in February from Ebay and not all shops honour on such a costly item.
If you bought it from the photonic universe eBay shop you shouldn't have a problem, get in touch with them directly as suggested above 👍
 
If you bought it from the photonic universe eBay shop you shouldn't have a problem, get in touch with them directly as suggested above 👍
I bought it from a company called Ultraedge they have good feedback.
Not sure about eBay but did you pay with a credit card by any chance?
I would have paid by paypal that is then paid by my credit card is there any comeback through them ?
 
It might just need a reset. Have you disconnected it from the batteries and all inputs, Leave it for an hour, then reconnect it in the same order as though fitting it new. ie battery first usually.
 
Yes i did .I have removed it and connected it to a single battery that was fully charged although only a car battery.
I will do it all again just to be sure on the camper batteries now

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It had been left disconected all night just reconnected to the van and has still does the same . But it was worth a try
 
If it’s a inverter charger with mains feed in, I should work as it will synchronise to whatever power it’s connected to, even if the life neutral are reversed. That’s not a issue. It may been a spike and may be lucky and have some fuse inside, or some caps may have swollen. Take the cover and have a look. If AC leaked to DC side, then it won’t invert from DC anymore, could be the hole DC bridge gone.
 
Thanks that explains it plainly in my situation no comeback. but very helpfull will be changing how i pay for things.
Many thanks.
You may not have any comeback from PayPal but in your case the last paragraph of the following would still apply and the retailer must accept a return for a repair or refund.

What if you buy something faulty online?​

Faulty goods have been protected under the Consumer Rights Act since 2015, so if you buy something that doesn't work or isn't as described, you're entitled to seek a refund.

We can seek a refund if the goods we purchase:

  • Are not of a satisfactory quality
  • Are not fit for purpose
  • Are not as described or do not meet our expectations
What this means in practice is that, if we buy something online that doesn't work properly, doesn't match what we thought we were receiving or is of poor quality, we can legally request a refund.

Thanks to the CRA, consumers have clear timeframes to work with if something goes wrong or we're unhappy with the goods received:

  • Within 30 days of purchase, we can request full refunds for physical goods if they're not up to the expected standards or we can request partial refunds or repairs
  • Within 30 days of purchase, we can ask the retailer of a digital product to fix a problem before we're entitled to ask for a refund
  • Within six months of purchase, we can ask for a faulty product to be replaced/repaired then, if that doesn't fit the issue, we can request a refund
Have a Google for more information.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
You may not have any comeback from PayPal but in your case the last paragraph of the following would still apply and the retailer must accept a return for a repair or refund.

What if you buy something faulty online?​

Faulty goods have been protected under the Consumer Rights Act since 2015, so if you buy something that doesn't work or isn't as described, you're entitled to seek a refund.

We can seek a refund if the goods we purchase:

  • Are not of a satisfactory quality
  • Are not fit for purpose
  • Are not as described or do not meet our expectations
What this means in practice is that, if we buy something online that doesn't work properly, doesn't match what we thought we were receiving or is of poor quality, we can legally request a refund.

Thanks to the CRA, consumers have clear timeframes to work with if something goes wrong or we're unhappy with the goods received:

  • Within 30 days of purchase, we can request full refunds for physical goods if they're not up to the expected standards or we can request partial refunds or repairs
  • Within 30 days of purchase, we can ask the retailer of a digital product to fix a problem before we're entitled to ask for a refund
  • Within six months of purchase, we can ask for a faulty product to be replaced/repaired then, if that doesn't fit the issue, we can request a refund
Have a Google for more information.
Thanks Bought in February 20022. even though only fitted 2 months so past the 6 months. I am still hoping the company will come good with the years warranty i am happy to pay for return and collection
 
Thanks Bought in February 20022. even though only fitted 2 months so past the 6 months. I am still hoping the company will come good with the years warranty i am happy to pay for return and collection
Ah, I thought you had bought it in June. Good luck with the warranty, let us know how you get on 👍
 
If it’s a inverter charger with mains feed in, I should work as it will synchronise to whatever power it’s connected to, even if the life neutral are reversed.
It has a mains feed-in, but I don't think it mixes the EHU and inverter AC power, like a Multiplus does for example. I think it just has a fast transfer switch, plus a built-in charger that automatically charges the batteries when EHU is available. So it will never need to synchronise to the mains.
 
Not to impressed.
Received back an inverter Not mine but second hand ,one with a loose transformer bolts. only consolation is it works i think.

I have tightened the bolts up and tested it.

But oddly using a hair drier on full power it made a small humming noise but on half power made load humming and vibrating .

Anyone got any ideas
 
Load to high for the transformer. It’s normal to hum under load but not excessive. If hum is like ark welder noise, the transformer is overloaded and the core can’t keep up with the coil, hence humming. Transformer is intended to sustain longer and larger surge after the caps, but not long sustained overload. Best transformer for this purpose are toroidal coils, like victron uses. Transformerles inverters do not have this capabilities, only a fraction of a second surge.
 
I will reconnect it up and do another test but in the meantime .The model of inverter is 3000w and on battery 12v connection turned on 1200w hair drier

































Load to high for the transformer. It’s normal to hum under load but not excessive. If hum is like ark welder noise, the transformer is overloaded and the core can’t keep up with the coil, hence humming. Transformer is intended to sustain longer and larger surge after the caps, but not long sustained overload. Best transformer for this purpose are toroidal coils, like victron uses. Transformerles inverters do not have this capabilities, only a fraction of a second surge.
Hi thanks for the reply . I will reconnect up again and test it so i am sure my description is correct as from memory it hummed quietly with the 1200w hair drier on full but when after 5 seconds switched the hair drier onto a lower setting the inverter vibrated like you mented a welder. so using more power it was quieter than using less power.
I wondered if this was that the inverter doesnt cope with the change of power fluctuation. is this a manufacturers fault or design fault
 
It could be the electronics in the hair dryer that takes the half step. On difficult loads the reactive power is larger, hence humming. This reactive power is equal to the power factor of the load, and returns back to source, then cycle repeats. If the load is 1000w power factor 0,8, then you have 800w absorbed as active power and 200w as reactive that goes back. This is not to bad, in fact quite acceptable.

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