escavader
Veteran Member
HI
Ididnt know the answer so ill ask you folks,you always come thru for me.
Since 2000 we have been powering our remote cabin with a generator ,and an inverter-battery bank when the generator isnt running.We havent had to many problems,but recently due to the tangled mess of extention cords in the camp,i decided to install a 100 amp panel and some breakers.What i had before was a #10 under ground wire run from the shed to the camp direct to a plug in for the fridge.I had teed off from that outlet to another.Basically i have been running the fridge,a fan,a couple radios,and a coffee maker.[note only the generator would power thiscoffee maker ,it was too much for the 600 watt inverter.]
What i do is run a tank full of gas [2 hrs] thru the generator,and charge up the battery bank.Then when it runs out of gas,i unplug the line to the camp from the generatoroutlet and reinstall in the inverter and turn it on.running time depends on how hot it is and how much the fridge runs.On adverage i can go 8 hours until recharge time.
Like said before ,i wanted more than this tangled mess of cords,and thought id hook up a panel for safety reasons[having breakers.So i go to lowes buy a panel,some wire ,outlets etc100 amp main,ground rod etc.Being no stranger to household electricity,i get it all hooked up,and it works flawlesly with the generator,but when i turn on the inverter it immediately kicks to fault mode.
Thinking this inverter might be too small to power this box,i shut off the main,and it still goes to fault.I unhooked the ground cable at the camp,same thing Weird part is every thing works fine with generator power feeding this line.I cant understand with the main off why the inverter kicks off.
When i put my electric tester in the inverter outlet,i have correct voltage ac same as the gen when its running 120or something.I have 13 something volts dc at the terminals on the back of the inverter.I tryed a radio direct in the inverter and it worked.I tryed a skilsaw and it wouldnt even start to turn it.Ihad nothing else up there to try,short of lugging the fridge to the generator shed .Although i have a new panel and new wiring,i am not trying to power any thing extra them before.
My wife said before all this ,the fridge had been acting funny,not running when it should etc,only on inverter not generator power.Could thes inverter have gone to pot?its a portawattz 600 modified sine wave type.If you think i should replace it what do you reccomend?
Im showing a bunch of pics,mabey you can see something screwy.I have not altered a thing in the generator shed,its all still as it was before i rewired the camp.Would appreciate any thoughts.
Ididnt know the answer so ill ask you folks,you always come thru for me.
Since 2000 we have been powering our remote cabin with a generator ,and an inverter-battery bank when the generator isnt running.We havent had to many problems,but recently due to the tangled mess of extention cords in the camp,i decided to install a 100 amp panel and some breakers.What i had before was a #10 under ground wire run from the shed to the camp direct to a plug in for the fridge.I had teed off from that outlet to another.Basically i have been running the fridge,a fan,a couple radios,and a coffee maker.[note only the generator would power thiscoffee maker ,it was too much for the 600 watt inverter.]
What i do is run a tank full of gas [2 hrs] thru the generator,and charge up the battery bank.Then when it runs out of gas,i unplug the line to the camp from the generatoroutlet and reinstall in the inverter and turn it on.running time depends on how hot it is and how much the fridge runs.On adverage i can go 8 hours until recharge time.
Like said before ,i wanted more than this tangled mess of cords,and thought id hook up a panel for safety reasons[having breakers.So i go to lowes buy a panel,some wire ,outlets etc100 amp main,ground rod etc.Being no stranger to household electricity,i get it all hooked up,and it works flawlesly with the generator,but when i turn on the inverter it immediately kicks to fault mode.
Thinking this inverter might be too small to power this box,i shut off the main,and it still goes to fault.I unhooked the ground cable at the camp,same thing Weird part is every thing works fine with generator power feeding this line.I cant understand with the main off why the inverter kicks off.When i put my electric tester in the inverter outlet,i have correct voltage ac same as the gen when its running 120or something.I have 13 something volts dc at the terminals on the back of the inverter.I tryed a radio direct in the inverter and it worked.I tryed a skilsaw and it wouldnt even start to turn it.Ihad nothing else up there to try,short of lugging the fridge to the generator shed
.Although i have a new panel and new wiring,i am not trying to power any thing extra them before.My wife said before all this ,the fridge had been acting funny,not running when it should etc,only on inverter not generator power.Could thes inverter have gone to pot?its a portawattz 600 modified sine wave type.If you think i should replace it what do you reccomend?
Im showing a bunch of pics,mabey you can see something screwy.I have not altered a thing in the generator shed,its all still as it was before i rewired the camp.Would appreciate any thoughts.
