LVX6048 adding capacitor to AC output to handle surges and dips.

What size capacitor would I need for mitigating power dips and spikes when larger loads start or stop? AC, stove, washing machine, etc....

Also my washing machine does not like the power output from a single LVX 6048, it does better when I run 2 in parallel but it is still not working properly, it works fine on grid power. Will a capacitor help with this problem?

Doesn't work that way. A DC capacitor will help with a DC load, but an AC capacitor (sort of) passes everything thru with a slight phase shift.

A capacitor alone on the AC side is only going to give you a 1/2 cycle boost, 1/120th of a second or 8ms. Then the capacitor itself becomes a load that competes for power along with the appliance trying to start up. So realistically a capacitor could make it worse. Not an expert on LC circuits but perhaps an Inductor or combination of inductors and capacitors. That's an electronics engineering issue not to mention the cost of large copper wound coils and large caps for 6kW or 12kW output is going be maybe higher than had you just purchased a good LF inverter.

If you want to roll cheap try a big thermistor.
You'll probably want the 10018 18A / 10Ohms cold. You can put it inline, but note they can hit 200C

Big capacitors go on the DC INPUT (battery) side. Which is why some inverters scare the crap out of you when connecting them without precharging first.

Big spark.

ksmithaz1 said:

If you want to roll cheap try a big thermistor.

MS35 Inrush Current Limiters

Inrush Current Limiters capable of handling up to 900 joules of energy and 50 amperes of steady state current.

www.ametherm.com

You'll probably want the 10018 18A / 10Ohms cold. You can put it inline, but note they can hit 200C

Click to expand...

I keep thinking about wiring one of these into the pressure switch at my well pump to help with the surge. I should probably try it on the air compressor first, it would be a lot easier to replace a motor at ground level...

I also have a TP6048, LVX6048 brother. It doesn't like my washing machine, the lights flicker anytime it agitates. I did add a cheap capacitor to the AC out to try and help, it did nothing that I noticed. (Mental reminder to remove...)
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Brettw said:

What size capacitor would I need for mitigating power dips and spikes when larger loads start or stop? AC, stove, washing machine, etc....

Click to expand...

Use smaller separate inverter for sensitive electronics and leave heavy loads on big inverter. You can even set it to search mode and save on standby loss.

With AC, think of a capacitor sort of like a broken diaphragm pump without the check valve. You push the electrons in, then you pull them right back out, 60 (or 50 or whatever) times / sec. This creates a delay because of the elasticity of the diaphragm, that is your 'phase shift. If the agitator on your washer is causing problems, then you just need a better inverter, as it is reacting to motor stress not surge. A washing machine should not really use that much electricity in the grand scheme. Even a fridge. Well pumps and swimming pools can be rather demanding, but your talking about 1/2 horsepower and up motors. The only downside of a pure current limiter is you may not get enough kick to actually start the motor, but it it should not generally let you burn up the windings and such.

42OhmsPA said:

I keep thinking about wiring one of these into the pressure switch at my well pump to help with the surge. I should probably try it on the air compressor first, it would be a lot easier to replace a motor at ground level...

I also have a TP6048, LVX6048 brother. It doesn't like my washing machine, the lights flicker anytime it agitates. I did add a cheap capacitor to the AC out to try and help, it did nothing that I noticed. (Mental reminder to remove...)
uxcell Ceiling Fan Capacitor CBB61 20uF 450V AC 2 Wires Metalized Polypropylene Film Capacitors 58x31x57mm for Water Pump Motor Generator https://a.co/d/0K8vKw9

Click to expand...

You don't really want to arbitrarily put a capacitor inline with an ac motor. Smaller a/c motors can have the start winding and cap built in but the only reason to put a capacitor on an AC motor would be to start it spinning in the right direction, and it needs to be sized properly for the winding it will feed. 3-phase a/c motors don't have starting capacitors. A DC motor would be different, in that case the capacitor is being used as a filter making the voltage/current more stable. A thermistor is just a device that lowers it's resistance as it heats up. So when it's 'cold' It might have 5-10 ohms of resistance. As you apply current, it rapidly heats up and the resistance drops to like 0.05ohms or something. So for example if you put 240v on 10ohms you limit current to I=E/R = 240/10 = 24A for a second.