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perth
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Joined: 25/11/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 12

Posted: 01:10am 13 Dec 2012

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iv got a 48v 2kw inverter and i tried to use it after a year of it sitting on the shelf but now it doesnt work.
when i plug the 4 batteries to it, the red light flashes and it beeps constantly.
i took the lid off and its also making a clicking noise.
when i plug a lightbulb to it the lightbulb flashes on and off aswell.
iv checked the fuses and theyr all fine.
anyone got any ideas?

Tinker

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Joined: 07/11/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 1904

Posted: 03:18am 13 Dec 2012

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Perth, do you own a multimeter? If not you should get one, there are digital ones for under $ 20.- around that are good enough to take some measurements to diagnose your inverter problem.
Without posting some meter measurements all you are doing is inviting wild guesses from those who are not familiar with your inverter or, if they are, have not experienced your symptoms.

So, set your meter range to measure 48V DC and measure the battery terminal voltage without inverter connected.
Then, leaving the meter connected also connect the batteries to your inverter. Make sure you can see what happens at the moment of connection and after when your "red" light flashes with beeping accompanied.

Report back here with the meter readings.

Also, if you can find the instructions for your inverter - they may be on the net BTW - read the section about fault indicators thoroughly and, perhaps, you can solve your problem right away

Klaus

Downwind

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Joined: 09/09/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2333

Posted: 04:11am 13 Dec 2012

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My take is its not the inverter at all, its the batteries being used that are the problem, in other words the batteries have died not the inverter.

Sounds like the inverter switches on and the battery voltage drops so the inverter switches off....repeating.

Until you try it with newly charged good batteries, or give better information thats the most obvious cause.

Pete.

Sometimes it just works

perth
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Joined: 25/11/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 12

Posted: 12:35am 20 Dec 2012

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqME_K320h8

the drill batteries are fresh off the charger and the car battery came straight out of my car (suzuki mighty boy) so they should be good unless theres some reason drill batteries dont work well with inverters.
the wire is just test light wire but its good enough to make the inverter work with no load atleast.
iv also checked the fuses in the inverter and they r all good

edit: made the link in to a linkEdited by perth 2012-12-21

Downwind

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Location: Australia
Posts: 2333

Posted: 01:20am 20 Dec 2012

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Hi Perth,

Nothing wrong with the inverter its the battery bank you are using.

What happens is, i think the inverter has a 52 volt low shut off, and with coupled with a low capacity battery supply, the inverter draws a power surge greater than the battery bank in use can supply, so the battery voltage falls below the shut off point for the inverter, so it switches off, then the battery voltage rises and it switches back on ...... repeating.

If you tried it on 4 x series 12 volt car batteries (48 volt) fully charged, i would well expect it will work as normal.

Pete.Edited by Downwind 2012-12-21

Sometimes it just works

perth
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Joined: 25/11/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 12

Posted: 04:34am 20 Dec 2012

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problem is, i tried that up the farm with 3 car batteries and a tractor battery and same thing.
but if its 48v its operational range should be between 40-60 volts (according to ebay) and its running at 51-52v
maybe its dropping to below 40 so fast that the multimeter doesnt read it?
ill have to try it with thicker wire as this is like speaker wire.

Downwind

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Joined: 09/09/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2333

Posted: 04:54am 20 Dec 2012

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Sounds like a plan to me.

The cable size will need to be like car jumper leads with at least 10-16mm2 copper conductor area if not even bigger, it all depends on the length of the cables too.

Speaker wire is like dental floss to an inverter, what is the voltage at the inverter terminals with the dental floss for wires, im guessing it drops much lower than the video showed.

Pete.

Sometimes it just works

perth
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Joined: 25/11/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 12

Posted: 05:05am 20 Dec 2012

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the video had the multimeter connected to the inverter terminals

Downwind

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Joined: 09/09/2009
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Posts: 2333

Posted: 05:10am 20 Dec 2012

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So whats the brand of inverter.. Power Jack??

Sometimes it just works

perth
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Joined: 25/11/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 12

Posted: 02:37am 21 Dec 2012

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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330621752 956

this is the one

edit: fixed the linkEdited by perth 2012-12-22

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