Inverter help

[FNQCairns]

I have just purchased a new inverter as my last one let the smoke out, the instruction manual -yes I read it says to use a chassis earth which can be a green insulated wire that mounts to a small screw on the chassis. With my last one I didn't use a chassis earth.

What is the go with this? Being 240V I cannot rely on my limited understanding of electricity.

The unit will be used mostly in a mobile sense, one day it may be mounted but mostly it probably will sit on the kitchen table or anywhere next to a battery.

Thanks fnq

[disorderly]

What do you actually use it for,Scott??

[Wahoo]

mostly it probably will sit on the kitchen table or anywhere next to a battery.

Thanks fnq

so you have the battery in the kitchen

Daz

[FNQCairns]

This one is bigger than my last one, idea is to have it handy to the cyclone kit for blackouts, lights at night, tv, the net, dvd player, fan - just the little things when night comes with a child in the house.

Might also use it on trips as I have been known to use the old one with one of those cheap pedestal fans when camping to keep the mozzies away at night and for a little comfort, also needed the old inverter once for running repairs when travelling which required a soldering iron, also fast charging aa and aaa batteries, although this one would run a grinder and drill also.

I have found a few reasons over time to own one, not sure what good a full 1200w one will be but it was the right price.

Daz, A Battery in the kitchen yes I have been known to do that

cheers Scott

[disorderly]

The problem with cyclones and power outages is that their can be no power to even recharge batteries ...

As we found out after Cyclone Larry..we were one of the last to get power back...think it was about 4 weeks without mains power...

Ended up getting a Coleman 5100 genny with an inbuilt inverter which will run our whole place...just have to be able to buy fuel...

Scott

[FNQCairns]

yeah Larry was a problem for your blokes down there, the day after we took our chescold + some other stuff and food/water down to friends who had kids.

I have an inverter genny also, not big enough to take the place of mains but, plan use it to keep the fridges/freezers working during the day and charge up any batterys for use in the evening -but it depends on the neighbours if they choose to run a gennie at night we will keep pace, the joys of sardine estate living

cheers fnq

[disorderly]

but it depends on the neighbours if they choose to run a gennie at night we will keep pace, the joys of sardine estate living

cheers fnq

lol...forgot about that aspect of genny's and urban living...fart and your neighbor hears you....

BTW,what sort of batteries are you using for storage??

[FNQCairns]

Half your luck Scott, neighbours are a real lottery, you win it if you have none!

Plan to use the boat battery's in parallel, 3/4 hours use in any 24 should see it Ok.

This chassis earth suspect I can forget about it it or run it with 12v negative, I will be making up the 12v delivery harness/leads tomorrow might ask the blokes at Jaycar what is the go -hope they know.

cheers fnq

[frank100]

M8,
This is a bit tricky, for a definitive answer you would need to talk to someone really familiar with the rules. (ie Ergon ,or Electrical inspectors office in Brissy)
I would suspect though that you should have the chassis earth conected to an earth stake (about 1.8M long) belted into the ground , the earth for your appliance (ie the outlets on the inverter) should be already connected to this chassis earth.
In practical terms most if not all the appliances will be double insulated (they do'nt have metal parts which you can contact on their outer casing/body. In which case they do'nt have an earth connection. The connection to the earth stake bonds the inverter chassis to earth, making it safe to touch.
Hope this helps , I have been out of touch with some of the later rules so I cannot be more definite.

Frank

[FNQCairns]

M8,
This is a bit tricky, for a definitive answer you would need to talk to someone really familiar with the rules. (ie Ergon ,or Electrical inspectors office in Brissy)
I would suspect though that you should have the chassis earth conected to an earth stake (about 1.8M long) belted into the ground , the earth for your appliance (ie the outlets on the inverter) should be already connected to this chassis earth.
In practical terms most if not all the appliances will be double insulated (they do'nt have metal parts which you can contact on their outer casing/body. In which case they do'nt have an earth connection. The connection to the earth stake bonds the inverter chassis to earth, making it safe to touch.
Hope this helps , I have been out of touch with some of the later rules so I cannot be more definite.

Frank

Thanks Frank, I catch your drift, what do you think might be the chassis earth theory if hard wiring an inverter into a fibreglass boat?

cheers fnq

[Grand_Marlin]

Yes, the chassis earth is to prevent a possible (but unlikely) energising of the metal case.
It is possible, given a malfunction, for the case to become live 240v, and if you touch it .... zap !


I have a solution for recharging your battery in a cyclone blackout.

Connect the Inverter to the Battery ....

Plug a 240v Battery charger into the Inverter ....

Connect the Battery Charger leads back to the Battery ....

That way it will recharge itself and you can never run out of power

Cheers

Pete

[FNQCairns]

Yes, the chassis earth is to prevent a possible (but unlikely) energising of the metal case.
It is possible, given a malfunction, for the case to become live 240v, and if you touch it .... zap !


I have a solution for recharging your battery in a cyclone blackout.

Connect the Inverter to the Battery ....

Plug a 240v Battery charger into the Inverter ....

Connect the Battery Charger leads back to the Battery ....

That way it will recharge itself and you can never run out of power

Cheers

Pete

Pete that's top shelf advice, I am right onto it! thanks - you should write a book

cheers fnq

[Blackened]

- you should write a book

cheers fnq

G'day

Don't give him ideas Scott, last thing you want to be doing is having a leisurely look around the shops and see his mug on the front of a best seller series.........

Dave

[2manylures]

Yes, the chassis earth is to prevent a possible (but unlikely) energising of the metal case.
It is possible, given a malfunction, for the case to become live 240v, and if you touch it .... zap !


I have a solution for recharging your battery in a cyclone blackout.

Connect the Inverter to the Battery ....

Plug a 240v Battery charger into the Inverter ....

Connect the Battery Charger leads back to the Battery ....

That way it will recharge itself and you can never run out of power

Cheers

Pete

Doesn't work like that.

Inverter & Charger take more from a battery than the charger can put back in in the same time frame.

[Grand_Marlin]

Doesn't work like that.

Inverter & Charger take more from a battery than the charger can put back in in the same time frame.

So you are telling me that I haven't just solved the quest for perpetual motion / energy?


Are you sure???

Because I had rang my boss and quit my job, then ran down to the patents office to register my new design

Bit like Yahoo Serious actually ....

It was just a frickin JOKE