Xantrex inverter and generator issue with Air con start.
I installed a Xantrex inverter a couple of years ago to run off batteries. I did this when installing a solar system on the roof. The system works great with one exception. When I turn on air conditioner the surge current needed to start ther a/c is enough to drop the generator voltage for a second and the inverter decides the voltage is not good and shuts it off. This shifts the a/c to my batteries and if I'm not fully charged I get a low voltage error for the dc.
I've tried several things. The generator is running good and I added a new start capacitor and hard start cap to the a/c on the roof hoping to help it over the starting issues.The issue still happens.
Were heading out next week and so I decided to rewire the incoming voltage and bypass the inverter with my air conditioning load. My incoming line now goes to a 30A circuit breaker and the output goes to the inverter and another 20A circuit breaker. The 20A circuit breaker goes to the air conditioning hot line in the RV's stock circuit breakers. Inside my new circuit breaker box I tied the nuetral's together and tied the grounds together. Assuming everything is ready I plugged in shore power to our house with circuit breakers off.
When I plugged in I immediately tripped the GFCI in the garage. This is with no voltage being passed.I thought the box had an issue with the neutrals and so removed them and wire nut them together. Same issue. I'm assuming it's something with the grounds and nuetrals and the way.
During my troubleshooting I removed the nuetral wire connection for the new air conditioning line that goes from the 20A circuit breaker into the old RV circuit breakers. The wiring to the actual air conditioning unit still has the nuetral connected to the bus and also the main line output from the inverter still has nuetral connected in the old rv circuit breaker.
With the nuetral for that one line disconnected my gfci trip went away. I enabled the new 30A circuit breaker and the incoming shows on the xantrex gauge. Next I enabled the 20A circuit breaker and the air conditioning fired up. Everything works and also the generator fires up the airconditioning without issue. The inverter still shuts off the mainvoltage output during air conditioning srtatup but since I wired around the inverter, the air conditioning starts fine and after a few seconds the voltage output is restored to the inverter.
Right now I'm just checking if anyone has an idea why the nuetral connection tripped gfci when this is the same way it was always wired without the inverter. The old main input would be wired to the main circuit breaker and not the airconditioning though.
I'm going to try to maker a schematic for what I did next week to help someone give better feedback.
I've tried several things. The generator is running good and I added a new start capacitor and hard start cap to the a/c on the roof hoping to help it over the starting issues.The issue still happens.
Were heading out next week and so I decided to rewire the incoming voltage and bypass the inverter with my air conditioning load. My incoming line now goes to a 30A circuit breaker and the output goes to the inverter and another 20A circuit breaker. The 20A circuit breaker goes to the air conditioning hot line in the RV's stock circuit breakers. Inside my new circuit breaker box I tied the nuetral's together and tied the grounds together. Assuming everything is ready I plugged in shore power to our house with circuit breakers off.
When I plugged in I immediately tripped the GFCI in the garage. This is with no voltage being passed.I thought the box had an issue with the neutrals and so removed them and wire nut them together. Same issue. I'm assuming it's something with the grounds and nuetrals and the way.
During my troubleshooting I removed the nuetral wire connection for the new air conditioning line that goes from the 20A circuit breaker into the old RV circuit breakers. The wiring to the actual air conditioning unit still has the nuetral connected to the bus and also the main line output from the inverter still has nuetral connected in the old rv circuit breaker.
With the nuetral for that one line disconnected my gfci trip went away. I enabled the new 30A circuit breaker and the incoming shows on the xantrex gauge. Next I enabled the 20A circuit breaker and the air conditioning fired up. Everything works and also the generator fires up the airconditioning without issue. The inverter still shuts off the mainvoltage output during air conditioning srtatup but since I wired around the inverter, the air conditioning starts fine and after a few seconds the voltage output is restored to the inverter.
Right now I'm just checking if anyone has an idea why the nuetral connection tripped gfci when this is the same way it was always wired without the inverter. The old main input would be wired to the main circuit breaker and not the airconditioning though.
I'm going to try to maker a schematic for what I did next week to help someone give better feedback.
