Question about installing Inverter

Well I just installed inverter today and this was the outcome but I only run microwave on it. I have a 400w for my t.v.

 

Did you read post 19?

 

Forgot what web site I saw it on, but it was saying that you need to times the watt of microwave by 3 or 4. That means that your 1050 watt microwave would need 3150 to 4200 watts to run. If you get a 5000 watt inverter you should have no problem running a 1050 watt microwave.

 

That is correct. The reason your 1050 watt microwave is causing your 1500 watt inverter to shut down is because of the power surge that takes place as the Microwave is starting. Better to have a larger inverter anyway. Aluminum power cables can cause problems too. they form a corrosion a the end connections. There is a special compound used on these connections on industrial applications. I would recommend to buy a pair of copper wire jumper cables and use the wire cables to power your inverter unless you can find an electrical supply that sell the cable. I suggested jumper cables because I imagine being in a truck stop, needing to power your inverter NOW.

 

You are both saying the same thing but one is AC and the other is DC. Kirchhoff’s law doesn't change. The formula is correct for both AC and DC. The AC side will push 16A but the consideration is for the DC side. The batteries will flow 166A for a 2000w inverter. This power is inverted and outputted on the AC side as 120v 16A. So the DC side fuses needs to be at minimum 166A. Since they don’t have a fuse that size, it has to be a higher fuse. Normally the next size up is a 200A fuse. However it is possible to find a thermal breaker switch made by MP ( mechanical products) that's U.S. made by the way that will do the job. Keep in mind that the fuse protection is designed to protect the WIRES! Not the device! So you have to check your wire gauge chart to see what gauge wire to use and at what length. 2 gauge wires will not be enough to handle 2000w effectively. Use 2/0 gauge. You also have to factor in power surge. So use a high quality thermal breaker switch that will allow for surge as it will trip with a time delay. So what I am saying is you need a thermal breaker switch for daily surge protection and then you must have a catastrophic fuse as per NEC code within 18" of the positive battery connection and that's for wire that is shielded. If not shielded it has to be within 7" of the positive battery terminal. The fuse should be a Class-T type even though an ANL type will work. The Class-T type meets UL approval for installs and any quality inverter is UL 458 rated. Don't skimp on your inverter, wires, connections, or grounding. There’s also the issue of voltage drops. Primary power has to be less than 3% loss. If you have more than .5v loss you will have problems pulling power for high loads and surge. You will get error codes and shutoffs. Preferably .25v. Once you review the charts you will see that 2 gauge is vastly inadequate. (not to be confused with 2/0 gauge). Use a voltage drop calculator or chart to determine what length and what size cable you need. If you don't properly crimp your cables you will have excessive resistance at each terminal connection resulting in the aforementioned problems above. I highly recommend a real hydraulic crimping device (10 ton etc.). Lastly use a min of 6 gauge wire for grounding for a 2000w inverter. This is the most neglected wire in the system because it’s a non-current carrying wire people use small wire. Even the manufacturers don't seem to care much about it.

 

Wanting to hook back up my 2500w inverter. I can't find the cables though and when I bought then it was a crisp Benjamin to pay for them. I was looking in the truck stop and they have the kits. Gauge is the same as my last setup but the length has me concerned. There are already pre drilled holes right by the battery box, goes right up into my cabinet. But I thought to get optimum performance, you never hook the cables into one battery. You hook hot to one then hook ground on the last battery in the box. My last setup was perfect, the cables were long enough and the holes were opposite side of the truck. Any ideas? My son suggested heavy duty booster cables. I could see it working if the gauge was correct but don't like the idea of buying cables to use like that.

 

I have always used welding cable and soldered lugs on... never a problem.

 

Solder is a good idea unless you needed to pull the inverter it isn't it?

 

Solder is never unwise. For instance, when we install anything over 400 watts, we melt solder into a good copper terminal lug cup. Use a small butane torch and a pair of vice grips. Then put the wire into the terminal cup and carefully crimp and remove the heat. This promotes the lowest possible resistance connections on terminals, but still allows bolt-on, bolt-off of the wires. And naturally, do not use crappy low-grade bolts, nuts, and washers on any connections. You can also tighten the terminals on the back of the inverter itself (if you have the type with terminals instead of hard wires coming from it) and put a few drops of solder on those too. Any nuts or bolts can expand and contract over time with heat/cooling and get loose. And again, this type of granularity gets more important as the wattage goes up. If I do a 3000/4000 watt, then every detail from wire gauge, lengths, and connections is important or "bad things" can happen later.