Inverter problem

[Deleted member 6679]

Hi last year I bought a flamezum 2000/4000 pure sine wave inverter but I’ve only just fitted it. When it was all connected I tried a few electrical items just to see if it’s working correctly. Tv worked fine. When I tried the kettle which is 1700/2200w the inverter kept tripping out same when I tried hair dryer which is 1800w. Am I supposed to turn it on for any length of time before I use it or should it work right away?or do I need to just get a bigger inverter. I thought the 2000/4000 would have been fine for those items. I also tried a 2000w heater it worked fine on setting 1 but when I put it on full 2000w the inverter tripped straight away. I know not to use the heater on the inverter but I was just trying it. Any suggestions please?

 

[mistericeman]

Hi last year I bought a flamezum 2000/4000 pure sine wave inverter but I’ve only just fitted it. When it was all connected I tried a few electrical items just to see if it’s working correctly. Tv worked fine. When I tried the kettle which is 1700/2200w the inverter kept tripping out same when I tried hair dryer which is 1800w. Am I supposed to turn it on for any length of time before I use it or should it work right away?or do I need to just get a bigger inverter. I thought the 2000/4000 would have been fine for those items. I also tried a 2000w heater it worked fine on setting 1 but when I put it on full 2000w the inverter tripped straight away. I know not to use the heater on the inverter but I was just trying it. Any suggestions please?

Chinese Watts.....

Only the likes of Victron etc will output anything like the ratings they state
some brands stick on the label stuff that is almost comedic.

 

[jeffmossy]

Have you got enough battery power? if you have not got enough power the inverter will trip

 

[Deleted member 6679]

I have 2x110amp lithium batteries 100% soc.

 

[AndyGoPro]

Most devices quote the output wattage.

Also, batteries have a maximum current output

 

[Buckby]

I have a flamezum inverter it is 3000 wat but that is only peak the run wattage is about 1500 which runs the wife travel hairdryer and it will run the microwave just

 

[Bigshug]

What size of cable are you using to connect?

 

[wildebus]

Hi last year I bought a flamezum 2000/4000 pure sine wave inverter but I’ve only just fitted it. When it was all connected I tried a few electrical items just to see if it’s working correctly. Tv worked fine. When I tried the kettle which is 1700/2200w the inverter kept tripping out same when I tried hair dryer which is 1800w. Am I supposed to turn it on for any length of time before I use it or should it work right away?or do I need to just get a bigger inverter. I thought the 2000/4000 would have been fine for those items. I also tried a 2000w heater it worked fine on setting 1 but when I put it on full 2000w the inverter tripped straight away. I know not to use the heater on the inverter but I was just trying it. Any suggestions please?

so you have a 2000W Inverter (the 4000W thing is a supposed peak which may allow for 1 cycle (50th of a second) so ignore the 4000W bit)

2000W heater is right at the limit so likely not to work
a 2200W Kettle would never work.
a 1700W or 1800W appliance *should* work, but as mentioned by others, it is rarely the case they will deliver to the rating. Sounds to me like the inverter is not working to the rated specs, but IS working as would be expected (which is of little consolation to you, of course).

It is a shame you didn't check it when first bought, but next time ....
The only ones that you can really be sure of delivering as rated are the inverters that you pay the big money for, such as Victron.

 

[Trotter]

Phil explained it to me thus:-
An inverter should be expected to work at around 95% of it's rating. Victron excepted.
A low end Chinese one could be as low as 85% efficient.

Bearing that in mind. I would keep the inverter you have. And buy a low wattage kettle. That's what I've done. Mine is rated at 650w. It takes a little longer to boil
Although, I do cook on a 1200w hotplate, when batteries have a high enough charge. I have also used a 800w micro wave. The fan does kick in, but the warning noise only starts if I have the hotplate on too high.
I'm working on the theory of, I've paid up front for the batteries and solar panels. Therefore FREE energy . I have to pay for LPG,
Hope this helps

 

[ozzy1955]

I chatted to an installer about microwaves and an inverter, he showed me via a meter that a 700W microwave actually shoots to 1450w when switched on, my wifes 700W hair drier does the same.
Just make sure you have enough batt bank.

 

[mistericeman]

I chatted to an installer about microwaves and an inverter, he showed me via a meter that a 700W microwave actually shoots to 1450w when switched on, my wifes 700W hair drier does the same.
Just make sure you have enough batt bank.

Need to remember that MOST microwaves the '700w' figure will be cooking power NOT input power.

Input power will usually be stated on manufacturers label somewhere.

 

[Trotter]

I chatted to an installer about microwaves and an inverter, he showed me via a meter that a 700W microwave actually shoots to 1450w when switched on, my wifes 700W hair drier does the same.
Just make sure you have enough batt bank.

800w Microwave.
Ten minutes trial run last night, on frozen jacket potatoes, don’t ask. We have frozen mash, frozen rice and all sorts.
I used the kitchen Microwave. Still deciding whether to give up with the Ramoska, cooking takes forever, and buy a 700w microwave to replace it. I haven’t the room to carry both. I’m pretty laid back, but when I’m hungry, I need feeding NOW. LOL. Oven chips do perfectly well in the Ridgemonkey. No, that should read equally well.

I reckon I have somewhere around 330ah useable now, so as long as the following day is going to be sunny, or I’ll be driving, the batteries should cope with the load.
Life’s good init.

 

[mistericeman]

800w Microwave.
Ten minutes trial run last night, on frozen jacket potatoes, don’t ask. We have frozen mash, frozen rice and all sorts.
I used the kitchen Microwave. Still deciding whether to give up with the Ramoska, cooking takes forever, and buy a 700w microwave to replace it. I haven’t the room to carry both. I’m pretty laid back, but when I’m hungry, I need feeding NOW. LOL. Oven chips do perfectly well in the Ridgemonkey. No, that should read equally well.

I reckon I have somewhere around 330ah useable now, so as long as the following day is going to be sunny, or I’ll be driving, the batteries should cope with the load.
Life’s good init.

We used a low wattage kettle/microwave/slow cooker etc from a mod sine wave inverter for years when we had the transit...

Never had a moments problem....

Yes the low power stuff takes longer to heat stuff (ultimately the amount of power it takes between low power stuff and high power stuff is nigh on identical....)
Lower power stuff just means smaller inverter and less sudden demand on the batteries.
It's why a 2000w microwave is faster than a 1000w one....

 

[Eaglesman]

Hi last year I bought a flamezum 2000/4000 pure sine wave inverter but I’ve only just fitted it. When it was all connected I tried a few electrical items just to see if it’s working correctly. Tv worked fine. When I tried the kettle which is 1700/2200w the inverter kept tripping out same when I tried hair dryer which is 1800w. Am I supposed to turn it on for any length of time before I use it or should it work right away?or do I need to just get a bigger inverter. I thought the 2000/4000 would have been fine for those items. I also tried a 2000w heater it worked fine on setting 1 but when I put it on full 2000w the inverter tripped straight away. I know not to use the heater on the inverter but I was just trying it. Any suggestions please?

I bought a Micky Mouse Chinese inverter which quoted rediculous values (as mentioned elsewhere here) which I thought may do the job. No. I bought a 3kw inverter and made sure that I used 2 x 10sqmm cables to each connection. Otherwise the current draw will heat the cables when drawing 2kw. Works fine with 800w microwave and hairdryer I have 2 large leisure batteries and solar panel. Be aware that the draw from the batteries when using 2.2kw is huge and restoring the charge back requires either a lot of sun, a lot of driving or long charge on EHU. I use the inverter very sparingly. Didn’t quote specific current to keep explanation practical.

 

[CriftinsCampers]

Something to always remember is Victron quote output in VA not Watts, easy to get caught out by the numbers!

E.g. their 2000VA inverter may be able to handle a 2000w resistive load with a power factor (pf) of 1 e.g. a kettle but possibly not a 2000w inductive load.

The blurb says it is actually rated at 1600w continuous this is because they have made the assumption that the average inductive load may have a power factor of 0.8 however if the pf was 0.5 then the limits circa 1000w

Pulling the sort of current required to power a 2kw kettle at 12v requires some serious and as short as possible cabling, scrupulously clean terminals and connections a battery bank with 150-200A sustainable output and most important of all, good ventilation for the inverter as it will be working absolutely flat out.

For these sorts of loads a low frequency inverter would be my personal preference, the downside is they are heavy by comparison to high frequency inverter but that’s because they have a chunky transformer in them rather than discrete electronics switching their socks off!

 

[wildebus]

I chatted to an installer about microwaves and an inverter, he showed me via a meter that a 700W microwave actually shoots to 1450w when switched on, my wifes 700W hair drier does the same.
Just make sure you have enough batt bank.

Indeed so.
My 800W Microwave pulls 1250W when running.
I am able to run it sucessfully using my 1300W Inverter as it is a Victron model (specifically a 12/1600 Multiplus) so will actually run to the rated value, but if I went for a different brand, I would have gone for a 2000W Inverter.

 

[wildebus]

800w Microwave.
Ten minutes trial run last night, on frozen jacket potatoes, don’t ask. We have frozen mash, frozen rice and all sorts.
I used the kitchen Microwave. Still deciding whether to give up with the Ramoska, cooking takes forever, and buy a 700w microwave to replace it. I haven’t the room to carry both. I’m pretty laid back, but when I’m hungry, I need feeding NOW. LOL. Oven chips do perfectly well in the Ridgemonkey. No, that should read equally well.

I reckon I have somewhere around 330ah useable now, so as long as the following day is going to be sunny, or I’ll be driving, the batteries should cope with the load.
Life’s good init.

You know what? Microwave Chips are actually pretty decent when you just NEED chips and need them NOW! One box makes enough for a generous butty, takes just a couple of minutes and costs under 50p (I bought a pack of 6 McCain boxes today for £2.35).

 

[mistericeman]

You know what? Microwave Chips are actually pretty decent when you just NEED chips and need them NOW! One box makes enough for a generous butty, takes just a couple of minutes and costs under 50p (I bought a pack of 6 McCain boxes today for £2.35).

I love the similar frozen ones for the air fryer....

Identical to maccy ds fries

 

[Trotter]

You know what? Microwave Chips are actually pretty decent when you just NEED chips and need them NOW! One box makes enough for a generous butty, takes just a couple of minutes and costs under 50p (I bought a pack of 6 McCain boxes today for £2.35).

I love the similar frozen ones for the air fryer....

Identical to maccy ds fries

Diet? What a joke. Give the Pall bearers a work out.

 

[trevskoda]

Use gas to cook and boil water for tea etc, 12v for tv not a mains unit, small inverters are ok for light duties but not really the thing for vans, I have a tiny 600w which in fact puts out just over 450w and runs a small 400w plug in heater at my wife feet until the van heater takes over, it also runs a small table top fridge with no bother.