Samlex Power Inverter

Overly sensitive perhaps. Until you prove zero leakage in the freezer motor nothing has been proofed. I looked at 300-watt unit. It's main duty is to power a BiPap, 36-volt LED light and compiter brick during an outage. The unit plays the part of a UPS so when the power shuts down at 0230 I never know it. I wouldn't trade my Samlex for all the maple syrup in Quebec. Wait! That's going too far! I like tea -can't use that one. OK I'll just keep it. I like stuff that doesn't break or send up a brooding dark cloud.

First, I have been turning the inverter on before applying the load.
Second, The ground fault is tripping.
I also have been waiting until the freezer is in the off cycle to change over to the inverter. The last two times, it has worked. Any of the times that it has been able to start it the first time, it cycles on and off successfully. To me it seems like an undependable GCFI.

Is the GCFI tripping or is the inverter shutting down? Should be sorta simple to describe as to reset the GCFI means to press the little button on the receptacle.

Install manual does call out that you need to turn the inverter on a few seconds before applying the load.

Any chance you plugged in first and then turned on the inverter?

Manual, see bottom p8

Heezohlacarumba...

Go to a car audio boom-boom-boom store wearing ear muffs. Pick out a TWO FARAD capacitor. Charge the capacitor according to supplied instructions. Pigtail a pair of TEN GAUGE wires off the converter power inlet bolts and connect them to the capacitor. The SAMLEX will then start your freezer without fail. I had to do this with a couple of inverters that push high-inrush loads.

Kountryguy wrote:
MrWizard,
The 600 watt MSW one that I had, worked fine. This pure sine is 1000 watt. No matter how I figure it, It should be enough to start it. I got it to start it this AM and it is still cycling on and off as it should. If it works sometimes, I don't know why it doesn't other times. If anything, the input voltage is lower now than when I started it.
The other thing I have not mentioned is the fact that it states 2000 surge wattage. In my opinion, that should be enough for a 75 watt load.

glad its working .. right now..
but it not the 75w running thats is a problem
its the 900w or more spike on the compressor startup
and OH BTW FYI that 2000w surge might be divided across the outlets
on dual output and NOT all available on one device plugged into one outlet
it could be 500w run 1000w surge per outlet
this has come up before in other posts
and those surge ratings are typically 5~10 Micro-seconds
not the 5 Seconds or more it sometimes takes the compressor to get running up to speed

my Tripp-lite inverter will carry 50% overload for 60min
100% overload AKA 200% rating for 10 seconds
it weighs 23# , it has a nice big heavy transformer in it

thats a universe apart from the average light weight 5# inverter

all that power is available at ONE outlet when needed

Revert to 2 posts above. My error. Should have in ordinal checking with the voltage leak detector at the top of the post. But the Samlex, Prosine, yadda yadda inverter GCFI's are garbage quality compared to Hubbell or Marinco.

Double-check your installation of the unit. If you have even one strand of wire crossing from pos to neg you will trip your GFCI.

Yes, this unit should work just fine. If it isn't your own wiring it might just be the fridge itself. I would not dump the GFCI if it is new; your fridge might possibly be developing a hot-to-case fault, which is a VERY bad thing.

Swap the "Grand Constant Fault Interrupter" for a good 20-amp Hubbell regular receptacle. End of problem. Forever. I only use GCFI on my kitchen counter receptacles, bathroom, and outside weatherproof receptacles. Does your freezer have lots of exposed metal to touch? If no, it's a moot point. if yes, I ground my appliances directly to the bus chassis. A burned-to-the-ground miswired electrical circuit in a Mexican RV park is testimony that safety saves lives.

The Hubbell is ten times the receptacle that Samlex (or anyone else) uses in their inverters. But the inverter itself is a good one - not worth condemning over a chop suey receptacle. A hundred million watt inverter the size of Texas stadium with a chop suey ground fault interrupter will do they same thing. if you are simply infatuated with the process of GCFI yank the garbage and replace it with a Hubbell (or Marinco GCFI)

Wanna see PROBLEMS galore with GCFI? Move here where offshore trade winds bring billows of tropical humid salt air. Yeah. Where many GCFI receptacles get loaded with salt film and don't work or they do not trip - ever.

Go to Harbor Fright. Buy their fat green pen voltage detector. Garbage the batteries. Replace with AAA lithium so they last ten years. Walk through your rig, wave the magic twanger near every single appliance, in fact anything affixed to the rig that's made of metal. If it screams, fix the problem with the appliance. I have a 3/4" old-fashioned D handle single speed drill. Completely aluminum housing. When it gets used, out comes the gloves, 'cause I do not trust salt deposit leakage. Strong boiling hot white vinegar solution cleans off the salt. For motors, trichloroethylene.

LASTLY I chose SAMLEX because down here, everything has a line warranty. What's a line warranty? When it passes under the "Bienvenidos A Mexico" sign, the warranty changes to four letters - S.O.O.L.

Ground fault and overload are two different things.