Why won't my inverter put out?
I feel there should be a 'That's what she said' joke in here somewhere... I booked a camping site that I thought had hookups, but when I got here: no hookups. I needed more juice than my house ...
Forum Discussion
Thanks, guys, for all the helpful info. I will try to understand it :).
Ah, ok, very useful. My alt is 105 amps, so that was maybe the problem when I had the inverter on the alternator system.
It was over 14 without the freezer. I didn't check with the freezer because the inverter freaked out as soon as I plugged it in.
Only a few. Can you, or anyone recommend a cheap, decent ampmeter?
When I was running the van last night, the charger clicked off the leads to the two smaller batteries -- they were done. I even disconnected and reconnected, swapping leads, to be sure. The big one, no.
Dang, I wish I had brought mine from my S&B!
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,
Find out what alternator you have. I would not count on doing more than about 30 amps (300 watts) of load from a 130 amp alternator.
Ah, ok, very useful. My alt is 105 amps, so that was maybe the problem when I had the inverter on the alternator system.
Connect up the loads, watch the voltage on the battery. If it goes below 13.2 consider reducing the load. If it goes below 12.9, you are pushing the envelope. If it goes to 12.2 reduce the load immediately, or be prepared to purchase a new alternator shortly.
It was over 14 without the freezer. I didn't check with the freezer because the inverter freaked out as soon as I plugged it in.
jrnymn7 wrote:
Does your multimeter measure amps? You really need to determine the charging current, before anything else.
Only a few. Can you, or anyone recommend a cheap, decent ampmeter?
Then, if you know the batteries are in fact being charged, then you can confirm (roughly) their state of charge, at rest, with an ocv (open circuit voltage) reading. Should be around 12.8-13v on a full bank; after the surface charge has been burned off, using a small load for a few minutes.
When I was running the van last night, the charger clicked off the leads to the two smaller batteries -- they were done. I even disconnected and reconnected, swapping leads, to be sure. The big one, no.
Next, you check each load, individually, only for about 10-30 seconds, noting how much peukert effect each load has on the bank at that particular soc.
Then start pairing loads to see the peukert effect.
This is where a power audit comes in real handy. A Kill-A-Watt meter is very helpful in this regard. It will tell you ac line voltage from inverter, amp and wattage draw of 120v loads, and even accumulated kilowatt hours consumed. All relative to your situation.
Dang, I wish I had brought mine from my S&B!
