Question about Battery Load / Inverter Capacity
Hello everyone!
I'm almost embarrassed to ask this, because I've read so many articles, posts about the topic - but I STILL can't figure it out. Here is my scenario :
I have (2) 12v AGM batteries wired in Parallel. I have 4 gauge wires coming off of one of the batteries, about 9 feet, to an inverter. First, I was using a PowerBright 1500W (3000 peak) inverter. I tried to run a Keurig Mini (1350W requirement) and then a very small heating device (1200W requirement) Both of them "tripped" the inverter and wouldn't. I wasn't totally shocked - especially with the Keurig, I know that the startup time to heat the water may exceed even their "peak" limits since it goes longer than a few seconds.
After talking to someone on the phone from PowerBright, they said that the inverter wouldn't handle the Keurig, but that the 2300W model would definitely handle it. So I purchased one of those. Same problem.
I've checked all of the obvious things (the Keurig definitely works, all connections are tightly connected, and the inverter DOES work for other devices, with smaller wattage requirements)
This leads me to what I'm wondering/thinking. Is it POSSIBLE, that my BATTERY BANK is what is limiting the running of the Keurig? I can't seem to find a simple equation or explanation as to how to calculate what load the inverter can handle. Meaning.... I *think* that even though the inverter can handle 2300 Watts - if the battery bank can't handle it... it doesn't matter what size inverter you have. I would think that 2 AGM (34M) Interstate batteries could handle a minute at 1350 watts draw...but perhaps not, as this is the only factor that I can't seem to clarify and would certainly explain why neither inverter worked!!
I'm hoping someone here with good experience/knowledge can please enlighten me. I'm not sure how else to test without adding more batteries (and I'm not even sure that's a logical solution). Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
Thank you,
Tom
I'm almost embarrassed to ask this, because I've read so many articles, posts about the topic - but I STILL can't figure it out. Here is my scenario :
I have (2) 12v AGM batteries wired in Parallel. I have 4 gauge wires coming off of one of the batteries, about 9 feet, to an inverter. First, I was using a PowerBright 1500W (3000 peak) inverter. I tried to run a Keurig Mini (1350W requirement) and then a very small heating device (1200W requirement) Both of them "tripped" the inverter and wouldn't. I wasn't totally shocked - especially with the Keurig, I know that the startup time to heat the water may exceed even their "peak" limits since it goes longer than a few seconds.
After talking to someone on the phone from PowerBright, they said that the inverter wouldn't handle the Keurig, but that the 2300W model would definitely handle it. So I purchased one of those. Same problem.
I've checked all of the obvious things (the Keurig definitely works, all connections are tightly connected, and the inverter DOES work for other devices, with smaller wattage requirements)
This leads me to what I'm wondering/thinking. Is it POSSIBLE, that my BATTERY BANK is what is limiting the running of the Keurig? I can't seem to find a simple equation or explanation as to how to calculate what load the inverter can handle. Meaning.... I *think* that even though the inverter can handle 2300 Watts - if the battery bank can't handle it... it doesn't matter what size inverter you have. I would think that 2 AGM (34M) Interstate batteries could handle a minute at 1350 watts draw...but perhaps not, as this is the only factor that I can't seem to clarify and would certainly explain why neither inverter worked!!
I'm hoping someone here with good experience/knowledge can please enlighten me. I'm not sure how else to test without adding more batteries (and I'm not even sure that's a logical solution). Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
Thank you,
Tom
