Forum Discussion
horton333
Jun 16, 2013Explorer
If the problem is wire size (which if the lead is only 2' seems unlikely unless it was put in with lamp cord!) then why a 4 second delay before shutting down ....? I guess it is possible that the Microwave takes a while before demanding power, but 4 seconds seems a very long time.
I looked at the specs on this inverter, it seems to be 2k continuous (4k surge) so it is not likely any surge on the Microwave as a 4 second surge like that would blow most 15 amp circuits in a house and a microwave would have no real inductive load like a motor does.
I am guessing you may not have proper instruments like a voltmeter so two simple things to try would be to look at the voltage monitor and see if it dips with time and where it is when the shutdown happens (you did confirm the 115 volt power does go off to everything correct?). If the voltage goes low on the monitor then there is something wrong with the battery or, less likely but possible, the connections to/within/fuse at the battery. The monitor is (well should be) a separate circuit to the battery so it is isolated from any voltage drop in the leads to the inverter. If the voltage is dipping try changing the battery, almost any reasonable battery should do for a 10 second test, use a car battery with jumper cables even (disconnect one lead of the 6 volt battery)
also
Try hooking up an electric space heater to the inverter and run it on a high setting (which would typically be around 1500 watts to see if the microwave is getting 'confused' with dirty power. It should not with a pure sine, but who knows. If the heater works then the inverter is highly likely the fault. Trying a lower power setting on the space heater could also give more time to look at a marginal condition (What does it do on low setting for the space heater, which is likely 500 watts)
If this fails to make the problem stand out bring it back to the people who installed it who will have a voltmeter and who can properly trouble shoot it, hopefully on ‘warranty’ :)
I looked at the specs on this inverter, it seems to be 2k continuous (4k surge) so it is not likely any surge on the Microwave as a 4 second surge like that would blow most 15 amp circuits in a house and a microwave would have no real inductive load like a motor does.
I am guessing you may not have proper instruments like a voltmeter so two simple things to try would be to look at the voltage monitor and see if it dips with time and where it is when the shutdown happens (you did confirm the 115 volt power does go off to everything correct?). If the voltage goes low on the monitor then there is something wrong with the battery or, less likely but possible, the connections to/within/fuse at the battery. The monitor is (well should be) a separate circuit to the battery so it is isolated from any voltage drop in the leads to the inverter. If the voltage is dipping try changing the battery, almost any reasonable battery should do for a 10 second test, use a car battery with jumper cables even (disconnect one lead of the 6 volt battery)
also
Try hooking up an electric space heater to the inverter and run it on a high setting (which would typically be around 1500 watts to see if the microwave is getting 'confused' with dirty power. It should not with a pure sine, but who knows. If the heater works then the inverter is highly likely the fault. Trying a lower power setting on the space heater could also give more time to look at a marginal condition (What does it do on low setting for the space heater, which is likely 500 watts)
If this fails to make the problem stand out bring it back to the people who installed it who will have a voltmeter and who can properly trouble shoot it, hopefully on ‘warranty’ :)
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