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How to wall mount a HEAVY inverter on a cinderblock wall?

J

JustPractical

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Aug 31, 2021
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I got a Growatt 12kw - it weighs 165 pounds (and apparently I am not in as good a shape as when I was in my 20's). Normally if I have to mount stuff on a cinderblock wall, I first mount a sheet of 3/4" plywood (using 1/4"x20 read heads - expanding sleeve bolts) and then mount equipment to the wood.

BUT...that's not for heavy stuff. I would only be able to use 1" screws/lags to secure the inverter to the plywood and I'm afraid that's not enough (there are spaces for 6 mounting bolts). Is the plywood overkill and I'm better off just mounting to the block? I'm concerned about moisture forming on the surface of the block behind the inverter (figured with plywood there it would not be as bad).
If I do go with plywood, I also had concerns for fire - was pondering putting 1/4" cement board up on top of the plywood.
Opinions?
 
Have you looked up "French Cleat"? That might be an answer to mounting it. Then once it's on the wall use some concrete bolts to secure the whole assembly to the cinder blocks.
 
My Growatt is mounted to a 3/4" sheet of plywood along with the Solar Edge grid tie system. I have wood studs not concrete block, but if I did, would have still done it the same way.

Power Wall.jpgNothing gets hot and is enclosed in a metal cabinet, I have no worries about fire.
 
My inverter is about 120lbs, There was a mounting bracket supplied to hang it on.
I used 6-Tapcons directly into the concrete block.
I don’t see why this would not work for your inverter.
The bolts are in “shear”, not “tension”, so the forces are not pulling them out, they are
perpendicular to the bolt axis.
tapcon_inverter_bracket_wall_mount.jpg

newinverterinstalledjune152021 copy.jpg
 
pvdude said:
My inverter is about 120lbs, There was a mounting bracket supplied to hang it on.
I used 6-Tapcons directly into the concrete block.
I don’t see why this would not work for your inverter.
The bolts are in “shear”, not “tension”, so the forces are not pulling them out, they are
perpendicular to the bolt axis.
View attachment 74351

View attachment 74353
Click to expand...
"sometimes, you gotta go pro."
(and true, they are in shear. I think either way I'll be good. Good to see both methods are holding up
 
Brett V said:
My Growatt is mounted to a 3/4" sheet of plywood along with the Solar Edge grid tie system. I have wood studs not concrete block, but if I did, would have still done it the same way.

View attachment 74352Nothing gets hot and is enclosed in a metal cabinet, I have no worries about fire.
Click to expand...
I see you used the breaker I saw on Amzon with the "Chinglish" instructions. No problems with it? It filled two needs for me (disconnect and fuse/breaker)
 
You can use t-nuts in the plywood before securing the plywood

Those provide a decent coverage on the back and allows you to use bolts.
Much less likely to rip out of the wood compared to the thread of a regular screw


1638569419847.jpeg
 
Maybe it’s just me but I don’t care for mounting straight to the blocks. I’d go well attached plywood and also through bolt the unit through both ply and wall. Or mount some unistrut and mount to that. Either gives you more attachment points to the wall.
 
Can you secure PT 2x4, or 2x6 “ledger boards” with tapcons for mounting points to the blocks then lag to the PT 2x?
 
JustPractical said:
I see you used the breaker I saw on Amzon with the "Chinglish" instructions. No problems with it? It filled two needs for me (disconnect and fuse/breaker)
Click to expand...
That’s a transfer switch so I can feed the growatt with a generator if I need to. No problems at all with it so far.
 
If you use tapcons put them into the web, not the mortar joints. Joints are unpredictable on mortar depth, especially the vertical joints. You can also use an adhesive like PL400 if you use a wooden mounting board or cleats. The strongest option is to put a piece of threaded rod all the way through the block with a nut and washer on the outside of the wall. Not a very attractive option but unless the wall falls over, you know you're good.
 
Is the block wall concrete filled or hollow. My walls are concrete filled, and I used RedHead bolts to anchor things to the walls. A hammer-drill with a 1/4" carbide bit will go effortlessly through concrete. You just tap the redheads in with a hammer, and they automatically lock in place once you start tightening the nuts.

1638648800467.png
 
Last edited:
Bluedog225 said:
Maybe it’s just me but I don’t care for mounting straight to the blocks. I’d go well attached plywood and also through bolt the unit through both ply and wall. Or mount some unistrut and mount to that. Either gives you more attachment points to the wall.
Click to expand...
I think I'll be doing the "mount the plywood and trhen through bolt the Growatt to both. Probably wayyyyy overkill, but not a load more work, and it makes me happy. The only annoyance with this method is planning out where to send the 6 thru bolts to avoid morter joints.
 
I ended up attaching two pieces of unistrut to the cinderblock wall with 6 beefy Hilti toggles (it's hollow block). Then I used 1/4-20 bolts to secure the inverter to the unistrut. On the plus side there is room behind for air to circulate. It was a heavy SOB and took some creative rigging to lift into place (ratchet straps, a come along, a snatch block lagged into the joists, a 55 gallon drum under it, and then an assortment of wood cribbing). Once close to in place, I got one screw in, and tehn used a floor jack to lift the other edge, and walked it into final position. It is not going anywhere. I earned my dinner that day.
 
These go right into a drilled hole, in concrete.
 

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DThames said:
These go right into a drilled hole, in concrete.
Click to expand...
I had cinder block. It tends to crumble with many fasteners. Red heads would blow it apart I think. I have used those bolts to install server racks. Not my favorite since I'm not super careful and if you wiggle the bit too much in the hole, those won't grab. I've seen other installers use tehm with no problem, so I think it's a me thing.
 
Uninstrut is overlooked for many applications. I like the toggle bolts in cinder block as it spreads the load out.
 
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