Inverter question

[Jim D]

Added a 1000watt inverter today on my hunter 34. works good on stand alone. i tried to use a pig tail into the shore power so i can use all sockets. just to try and i got a reverse polarity condition on the panel. question is why. is it becaude of a modified sine wave or maybe a ground issue? everything worked fine but i did not care for the reverse polarity light on.
jim

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

It has nothing to do with the wave form. The light indicates current between neutral and ground. Sounds like either a reversed polarity on your pigtail or multiple grounds.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Unlike domestic AC, marine AC is mandated to ALWAYS have the hot terminal hot and the neutral neutral. I suspect if you test your inverter you will get a reverse polarity condition straight out of the inverter outlet. Pretty easey to rewire but you should not have to do that with a quality product. Perhaps it was constructed on a Monday

 

[Don12364]

It is quite likely that neither side of the inverter output is grounded. This would most almost certainly cause your reverse polarity neon to come on but one cannot say for certain because it depends on the inverter's internal circuitry.
The info which came with the inverter should give advice.

What is needed is a bond between the neutral side of the inverter output and the boat's earth wiring. HOWEVER THIS MUST BE BROKEN WHEN PLUGGED INTO SHORE POWER because the shore power will have its own independent ground.

One way to achieve this is to make a connection between the neutral and ground at the inverter and then connect it to a lead with a Marinco 3 pole free socket and use this to plug the inverter into the shore power fixed plug on the boat. (Or whatever connector is used on the shore power input lead). This way the inverter will have been unplugged before the shore power can be connected.

If you do not fully understand this make sure you consult a pro.

 

[Benny17441]

Ill give you a quick test. Hook up a lamp to one of the boat's outlets. Flip off the breaker to that outlet and if the lamp remains lit you have reverse polarity condition that needs prompt attention. If on the other hand the lamp goes off then likely you just lhave a ground issue. It is common when using inverters with ungrounded outlets to have the warning light go on in the panel. We carry a portable Honda 2000eu and when we connect it to the boat's input plug we get the warning light. The Honda uses inverter technology to produce AC. We do not hook up our inverter to the boat's grid but would not be surprised that if we did we would get the light. I periodically test the outlets to make sure there is no stray current. As a precaution, when working on any AC electrical equipment on the boat you should not rely on the breaker but disconnect the power supply. Oh we do use our Honda generator with no worries about the warning light.

 

[Jim D]

The ground off the inverter is what was the issue. I did not unerstand the reverse polarity light circuit. it seeks the difference of netural and ground. Using the positive and negative leads only on the connection to the inverter does not give a ground to the boat ac ground or earth.

 

[Gypsy Wind]

Hi I am thinking of buying a Honda eu2000. Are you happy with it? Does it have enough power to run the A/C away from the dock?

 

[tomc]

Gypsy Wind, we have a Honda eu2000 on our H-38. It will not run the factory installed AC (showed the overload light after about 5 minutes) but I have read of it powering some AC units on other boats.

Tom