Restart inverter

[2oldman]

Re: Cotek 4kw 48v inverter.

This unit is difficult to get up and running again after any kind of 48v disconnect.

Simply switching it off, waiting, and then on again rarely works. I have to completely disconnect the 48v feed, wait a few minutes, then reconnect, producing a spark capable of lighting up the Space shuttle. And that doesn't work every time. It can take upwards of 1/2 hour to get it online again.

What are common causes of this behavior?

[BFL13]

2oldman wrote:
I could put it in the same cab with the Li battery.. no fumes there! I'm asking on Amazon if it will operate on its side.

Is it the 4048A you are considering? 94 lbs! The display and controller gizmo is expensive, don't know if it is necessary.

http://www.wegosolar.com/categories.php?category=Off-Grid-Inverters/Outback-Power-Radian

http://www.wegosolar.com/products.php?product=GS4048A-4000W-120%7B47%7D240Vac-Adv-Grid%252dInteracti...

[MrWizard]

IIRC ... 200 ampHrs of 48v lithium battery that charges at 54v

with the power that can deliver, thats quite an inrush current

even at 12v , I don't regularly disconnect my inverter, i just it the off button on the remote
i don't worry about the minor parasitic stay alive of the control circuits

i can't fathom you needing to do battery maintenance and cable cleaning

[2oldman]

I could put it in the same cab with the Li battery.. no fumes there! I'm asking on Amazon if it will operate on its side.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Outback is where 70% of Trace Engineers fled after the Chinese invasion. I do not know of a better inverter on the market. But woowee heavy and expensive.

[2oldman]

time2roll wrote:

2oldman wrote:
Yeah, maybe I'll just toss it and get another. thanks.

I would be looking at Victron or some other brand. How old is it? Seemed to fail too fast.

It's maybe 4. I don't know if it's failing or if that's a feature.

Was looking at Outback.. but it's too tall for my space. Excellent quality... and heavy.

[pianotuna]

There is a member in Montana who can fix it for you. That way you could have a "spare".

Does anyone know if a car stereo shop would have some "soft start" box to prevent the capacitors from frying from inrush?

[time2roll]

2oldman wrote:
Yeah, maybe I'll just toss it and get another. thanks.

I would be looking at Victron or some other brand. How old is it? Seemed to fail too fast.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Salton Sea to San Diego ain't that far...

I would love to diagnose it...

[2oldman]

Yeah, maybe I'll just toss it and get another. thanks.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Car stereo accessory manufacturers learned the hard-way to not allow uncontrolled inrush on their one two or four farad capacitors.

I suspect or or more of your caps have gone bad. Leakage. You might want to verify idle current.


A failed large capacitor can be most unpleasant. I have had to replace blown capacitors in my 4,000 watt 24 volt Trace inverter, twice. The last time I opted to up cap voltage rating by 100+ volts.

[time2roll]

I honestly think one of the biggest stresses is start up on these inverters.
Best to leave them on or leave them off. Seems odd that you are needing to remove DC power so frequently. Mine could go a couple years.

Have you tried leaving Cotek disconnected overnight? Maybe next time.

[2oldman]

time2roll wrote:
Has Cotek always done this or getting worse? Seems almost defective or dying.

Getting worse. I have installed a spst knife switch on the positive. The spark was so bad it was starting to destroy the eye connector and the busbar.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50W-100W-0-01-5k-Ohm-Watt-Shell-Power-Aluminum-Housed-Case-Wirewound-Resist...

Two resistors

Two momentary engine starting pushbutton switches.

Two circuits

Inverter positive to chassis negative

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50W-100W-0-01-5k-Ohm-Watt-Shell-Power-Aluminum-Housed-Case-Wirewound-Resist...

the other

Inverter positive to battery positive

You need to have the big cable battery positive disconnected on the boot down and boot up.

Controlled capacitor fill and discharge. Note the word CONTROLLED.

From reading all your posts you are sharp enough to figure this out 🙂

RAMPING inrush always extends service life of capacitors.

The manual discharge deflects quandaries with complex partially nulled control circuits. Call it a manual reboot.

A three ampere in/out bleed is excellent a 150 watt capacity resistor will work fine for this type of limited duty

[GordonThree]

FYI the big spark is nothing to be concerned about, that's the internal stiffening caps charging up. use a suitably rated ignition protected (sealed) disconnect switch to make/break the connection, rather than just the bolt on terminals.

along the lines of BFL13's theory, could be some sort of microcontroller / processor that has its own backup capacitor, and that needs to drain completely before the reboot.