Inverter Woes
I have owned 4 inverters. Most were cheapo units from the auto store. 3 of the 4 have "popped". By "popped" I mean, while sitting there under load, I've heard an electrical zap, and smelled a l...
Forum Discussion
GordonThree wrote:
A good inverter will shutdown before it pops.
I would not guarantee that ! One thing for sure, fuses are a waste of time/money. A fuse is designed to protect against a dead short or several seconds of over current. The transistor(s) will "pop" long before any fuse.
The most common failure on any inverter is the driver MOSFETs (transistors). Non-name brand transistors or, for whatever reason, one of the transistors does not get adequate cooling and it will "pop". Typically, these transistors are in parallel so when one goes, the others try to pick up the load and they all go !
Most quality inverters are repairable by an average electronics technician (several videos on YouTube). If yo are a tech, look to upgrade the MOSFETs. Higher Vdd, higher current, lower RdON.
A known name brand is a good place to start !
