Does an inverter switched off consume any power?

SimonM

SimonM

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I have been watching my battery monitor for many weeks and can see a small discharge despite everything being switched off.

I have disconnected every circuit to the leisure batteries, not easy as the starter battery is also incorporated via the extra wiring allowing the solar to charge the starter.

then each circuit has been individually tested with a meter to prove there is zero current flow.

putting everything back together all seems well, the solar sticks plenty of power back in, the alternator circuit when the engine is running pumps in plenty too when required and the battery monitor soon shows the system is topped up nicely with amps and volts.

and then overnight it shows anywhere between 85 and 90% full, and starts to rebuild when there’s a bit of daylight around.

the one thing I haven’t taken out of the equation is the inverter which is wired directly to the leisure batteries via a couple of very heavy duty and short wires. It is always switched off.

however, does is consume any power even when it is actually switched off? Reading the instruction manual is shows it has a 0.45a discharge in standby - I was assuming that is switched on but not actually doing anything.

Thought please.
 
Hi sorry can't answer that but I do know that the person who purchased my motorhome of me. He put a thread on the forum stating that he had put a isolator switch between lbatt and inverter and that had stopped the drain on the battery and the batterys now charged to 13.6 So Paul if you read this can you help/advise. Brian
 
It really depends on the inverter I would say.
The more basic the inverter, the more likely 'off' actually means 'off'.
Many inverters have a standby mode (called 'ECO' or 'AES' on Victron Inverters for example) and are monitoring for demand to always switch on. They use power all the time (I think mine consumes 2W & 6W in 'AES' mode)
Other inverters have a 'remote on' feature so you can turn them on and off from a remote panel. They will also be on and consuming a very small amount of energy (bit like a TV on standby but always ready to respond to a remote control).
More basic Inverters have an internal electromechanical relay that will turn them on when the switch is flicked, but even some of them can consume power.

What you can do if you want to make totally sure is to fit an external remote control which will remove the DC power going into the Inverter which will eliminate any possibility of the inverter being on and using battery power whilst actully doing nothing. In this situation, I fit kits like this (with relay and cables matched to the inverter size of course) which will disconnect the inverter from the supply when not needed.
 
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Carrotts said:
Hi sorry can't answer that but I do know that the person who purchased my motorhome of me. He put a thread on the forum stating that he had put a isolator switch between lbatt and inverter and that had stopped the drain on the battery and the batterys now charged to 13.6 So Paul if you read this can you help/advise. Brian
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See post #8
 
@wildebus - the inverter is a Ring Powerplus 2100w. It does have a remote controller but that only operates when the on/off switch is turned on, and it then turns the power on/off remotely (obviously) .

would the isolator relay kit be suitable for 2100w or is the 2000w version the cutoff point?

I think I will go the extra mile when I get a bit of free time and remove the inverter from the system temporarily to get a true idea if it’s causing any issues, I just hoped to get a yes/no answer to save a bit of time and effort (www.lazysods-r-us 😉)

btw, there is a discharge showing even when the alarm system is switched off, so I’m happy to eliminate that from the checks. Ditto the radio.

I’m still convinced the battery monitor tell porkies on occasion 🤬
 
If it was switched on by the rocker on/off switch and then put in standby mode using the remote I’d agree with that. But if the rocker switch itself is off?.......
 
If you have anything like an Electrobloc installed then they have a parasitic load albeit small.
 
SimonM said:
@wildebus - the inverter is a Ring Powerplus 2100w. It does have a remote controller but that only operates when the on/off switch is turned on, and it then turns the power on/off remotely (obviously) .

would the isolator relay kit be suitable for 2100w or is the 2000w version the cutoff point?

I think I will go the extra mile when I get a bit of free time and remove the inverter from the system temporarily to get a true idea if it’s causing any issues, I just hoped to get a yes/no answer to save a bit of time and effort (www.lazysods-r-us 😉)

btw, there is a discharge showing even when the alarm system is switched off, so I’m happy to eliminate that from the checks. Ditto the radio.

I’m still convinced the battery monitor tell porkies on occasion 🤬
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2000w kit would work. The people who get those kits are typically those who have no remote facility for their inverters.
TBH, I would just remove the fuse between the battery and inverter and then see what difference it makes and then decide what needs doing :?
 
Er, is there a fuse in my cables? Not from memory. Actually I’m sure they are heavy cables battery to unit and nowt in between.
‘’oh, bugger, now I’m not happy, I’ll have to go check tomorrow. But then again it’s wired up using the Ring components perhaps the fuse is internal.
 
SimonM said:
Er, is there a fuse in my cables? Not from memory. Actually I’m sure they are heavy cables battery to unit and nowt in between.
‘’oh, bugger, now I’m not happy, I’ll have to go check tomorrow. But then again it’s wired up using the Ring components perhaps the fuse is internal.
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I was hoping you would NOT say that!
Seriously, if you have a direct cable from battery to inverter that is not fused somewhere in the circuit, then it really should be (somewhere close to the battery)
 
My EBL 100-2, indicator bulbs in fridge isolator, pump isolator and the 12v on indicator bulb consume 0.2 amps as a background drain when I am not using anything. When I press any button on the DT100 control panel to look at anything that will consume an additional 0.4 amps. Don’t know if the 99 is any more hungry than mine or not but it’s an insignificant amount unless you are parked for months with no charge source. Bet natural battery discharge isn’t fat off that depending on battery type
 
saxonborg said:
My Nexxo user maual recommends switching off the the Electrobloc when the Moho is not in use because it still draws a small current even when all the consumers are switched off.
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Would that not drain your water as well Eric? I have heard folks with those frost protection valves fitted day their water gets dumped if they turn off power. Maybe not a problem for most at this time of year though especially if laying a van up.
 
The Schaudt units retain power to the frost protection device when the control panel 12 volt off is used.
 
eurajohn said:
The Schaudt units retain power to the frost protection device when the control panel 12 volt off is used.
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I think Eric May mean the main off switch on the EBL but not certain until he replies 👍
 
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