360V DC input split phase 120V/240V AC inverter

[yabert]

One clarification I will ask, your "Vanabolt" hehe ... the car is not shutting itself down due to perceived parasitic draw on the AC HV output? I saw an post in this thread on that, but it wasn't clear the outcome to me.

The Bolt don't care a second to have parasitic load on the AC HV output.
The subject discussed on this thread was about the manner to allow the Bolt to stay ON and don't turn OFF by itself after 1-2h... Camp mode ? or power outage mode ?

 

[Gimpster]

The Bolt don't care a second to have parasitic load on the AC HV output.
The subject discussed on this thread was about the manner to allow the Bolt to stay ON and don't turn OFF by itself after 1-2h... Camp mode ? or power outage mode ?

Thank you for the response, and yah.. the Bolt tends to annoy people who car camp/want it to stay on until they learn all of the secret handshakes

Like I said, I'll update if/when I decide to do this. I am hoping for some sort of holiday sale or something, $1400 + parts is a bit past my "why not" price right now. I do think that EG4 unit seems promising though.

 

[summit]

Really interesting. Sure I'm interested.

Neutral is grounded before W10 bolt removal:

this was from PowMr support:

below is from my PowMr5.5K48, still with W10 label

 

[summit]

Ben at 300mpg.org has also implemented V2H using a solar inverter, using an iMiev (only 16kwh pack). He cleverly access the HVDC via the Chademo DC port. I have an iMiev and trying to source an inexpensive Chademo plug, as well as looking into accessing the HVDC at the AC/Heater plug

 

[summit]

But yah the That EG4 unit (actually made by Luxpower) seems to be everything I want, and everyone says no need for an auxiliary battery with it.

that's a good point, hadn't thought about running without an auxiliary battery pack. The solar inverter would just throttle conversion as needed by the loads, but then the EV would have to be "ON" all the time.

My old 2016 90D got a software update with camping/dog mode; so it suggests a potential for V2H possibility, once it's out of warranty

 

[Gimpster]

that's a good point, hadn't thought about running without an auxiliary battery pack. The solar inverter would just throttle conversion as needed by the loads, but then the EV would have to be "ON" all the time.

My old 2016 90D got a software update with camping/dog mode; so it suggests a potential for V2H possibility, once it's out of warranty

I don't own it anymore, but I used to be a 2012 Model S (P85) owner. I can't speak for the "D" models, but on mine the battery coolant loop PTC heater was just right below the frunk trim, and worked much like the Bolt. By that I mean, if the car was "on", it was hot at pack voltage.

I will say, at least on NEWER cars... not on my 2012... Tesla is a bit more miltant on monitoring for parasitic loads. Who knows on a pre-refresh Model S though.

 

[yabert]

The EG4 6000 XP... ummm the deal is almost done in my head. This is the inverter I'm waiting for since 4 years now.
Split phase, good value and the possibility to plug my EV on it to power the house or power my EV from the house ?
Almost too good to be true.
I still have hard time to find a supplier who can ship to Canada at good price.
There is some supplier in Canada, but they ask 2900$ CAD when I can have it for 1400$ US.
There is powersolarstore who sell an identical Luxpower inverter for a reasonable 1850$ CAD (Luxpower LXP6K).
Strangely it's only 2 years warranty and weight 33 lbs instead of 53 lbs ?

 

[summit]

I will say, at least on NEWER cars... not on my 2012... Tesla is a bit more miltant on monitoring for parasitic loads. Who knows on a pre-refresh Model S though.

the current software revision now has a "camp mode" & "pet mode", which keeps the HVAC on; so I think there's a way to by-pass the Tesla police.

 

[summit]

The EG4 6000 XP... ummm the deal is almost done in my head. This is the inverter I'm waiting for since 4 years now.
Split phase, good value and the possibility to plug my EV on it to power the house or power my EV from the house ?

are you envisioning to operate without an external low voltage battery ?
you can charge your EV with your current system now, albeit at level 1, right ?

I still have hard time to find a supplier who can ship to Canada at good price.
There is some supplier in Canada, but they ask 2900$ CAD when I can have it for 1400$ US.

may be another road trip for the Vanabolt ?

There is powersolarstore who sell an identical Luxpower inverter for a reasonable 1850$ CAD (Luxpower LXP6K).
Strangely it's only 2 years warranty and weight 33 lbs instead of 53 lbs ?

the 20-lbs delta sounds suspiciously like a transformer. The EG4 6000XP claims to be transformerless

 

[yabert]

are you envisioning to operate without an external low voltage battery ?

Not at all. I have 282 kWh LFP sitting in my garage ?

What 282 kWh CATL LFP look like

I was really lucky and was able to bought new old stock of four 70.5 kWh CATL batteries built to be use on electric truck (class 6-7... you know, big truck, but not semi). I didn't really know what was inside at the time of purchase except they are 70.5 kWh, 96S (309V nominal) and 228Ah cells...

diysolarforum.com

Really, my plan is to keep 70 kWh for the house and sell 210 kWh.

you can charge your EV with your current system now, albeit at level 1, right ?

Well, yes. At 1.5kW of solar installed and with my current tiny 3 kWh 24V battery it will take few weeks to charge my EV.

may be another road trip for the Vanabolt ?

This sound like a great idea.

 

[summit]

wow, good find with those CATL, feeling a bit FOMO

 

[W8SRD]

As a 46 yr exp Electrical Engineer and computer geek and licensed amateur radio operator, I can't help reply.
Way back when this thread started, the guy is looking for an auto transformer. Why ?? If you want to transform 240 ac into split phase try a step down transformer around 7000 w with primary 240/480v primary and a 120/240v secondary. Readily available. Wire the primary in parallel, the secondary in series. you got 240 to 240/120 split phase.

The reason I came here is that I have a creek behind my house on the farm that I guesstimate could produce up to 10-20KW output. I'm, looking for a 400vdc 15-50hp 500rpm (slow is best) used dc motor with separated field control. In the past I found an inverter which could invert 300+ volts dc to 240vac output, don't know who made it. The next step is to back feed the secondary of a "pole peg" transformer (7200v 4160v, or what ever, to 240/120v single phase output for residential load), with the 240vac which will result in the high voltage (7200/4160v). Run the high voltage 1/2 mile to the house, transform down to 240/120v, to a transfer switch and then to the house.

I'm looking for the equipment to do it.

Thanks Stan

 

[Hedges]

If you want to transform 240 ac into split phase try a step down transformer around 7000 w with primary 240/480v primary and a 120/240v secondary. Readily available. Wire the primary in parallel, the secondary in series. you got 240 to 240/120 split phase.

Which member's tag line is, "Works in theory ..."?

I'm going to say this approach will not present the nicest load to an inverter, and some may complain more than others about suffering with this.

Pop quiz: What is the no-load primary current waveform?

Answer: I measured it for you. Check out what I got, driving various windings at various voltages:

transformer excitation current - isolation transformer used as auto-transformer

So you think you can backfeed a transformer secondary, either as step-up or as auto-transformer? Turns out these things aren't so ideal and reversible as one might expect. It isn't just the greater inrush (primary is often wound outside secondary to reduce inrush current), but also idle current...

diysolarforum.com

The next step is to back feed the secondary of a "pole peg" transformer (7200v 4160v, or what ever, to 240/120v single phase output for residential load), with the 240vac which will result in the high voltage (7200/4160v).

While I haven't tried that type of transformer, I did try backfeeding. See above link.


By feeding primary at 1/2 rated voltage, I got better behavior. For the isolation transformer, that unfortunately means you need two. Or, one can be used as auto-transformer. As for your pole pigs, you'll have to see how driving their secondary behaves.

 

[Travis]

I have used the Delta h6 PV input tethered to the high voltage battery of my car. It works great if you take it apart and disable the arc fault protection. I've also tied into its DC bus which is 516 volts with a 65KWH lithium iron phosphate battery. I've been running my house like this for years. PV by day and Prius hooked to the PV input when I need to run it as a generator for cloudy months. I will warn you this inverter randomly explodes loudly with red flaming bits smoke trailing out from it.

I've also used several Chinese all-in-one inverters the same way and they work great except they shock you a little bit in several different ways. Some of the Chinese units are not batteryless despite the ads claim and won't work like this without some kind of small 48 volt battery or capacitor bank on its battery connection. Some of them have a lithium wake up feature which will try to charge the battery even if it doesn't know it's there. This would quickly charge up a small capacitor bank to stabilize the 48 volt side.

I've also tied a midnite classic 250 charge controller to the high voltage battery in my Prius with limited success to charge my 24 volt house battery. The Chinese all in one hybrid inverters do a lot better job.

PS, you won't find the answers to your questions. You just have to put on some safety goggles and give it a try.

 

[Travis]

I've been buying the cheaper 5KW Auto transformer from Amazon. I take it apart to utilize the center tap neutral and it's been working pretty good. When running over 2.5 KW of imbalance I put a fan on it. Doubtfully it could continue much more than 3KW without a fan.

 

[summit]

I've been buying the cheaper 5KW Auto transformer from Amazon. I take it apart to utilize the center tap neutral and it's been working pretty good. When running over 2.5 KW of imbalance I put a fan on it. Doubtfully it could continue much more than 3KW without a fan.

same here, though I try to put the heavy loads (mini-split/HPWaterHeater) on the 240vac. The remaining 120vac load is nominally less than 1kw, may be 2kw with the coffee maker/juicer running, but momentarily.

 

[solar8484]

same here, though I try to put the heavy loads (mini-split/HPWaterHeater) on the 240vac. The remaining 120vac load is nominally less than 1kw, may be 2kw with the coffee maker/juicer running, but momentarily.

Did you ever get the inverter working with a Bolt?

 

[summit]

Did you ever get the inverter working with a Bolt?

not yet but about to, have been trolling various junk yard for an HV cable, finally ordered a decent priced heater cable ~$65, brand new to boot: https://a.co/d/jcIPRWB

In fact, just re-read this thread to refresh myself. Am a little wary of Yabert's turning on sequence, of turning on the Bolt last, may experiment with pre-charge resistor

 

[summit]

a quick update: it was a success repeating Yabert path, at least as a bench test. I tapped the Bolt's heater plug, driving the PowMr5.5K PV input. My bench test load was only a 350-w 120vac heater through an auto-transformer. The PowMr outputs at 240vac only. It was tested with and without an external 48v battery connection. Next to test is on the MPP-U5648 all-in-one inverter.

 

[yabert]

I tapped the Bolt's heater plug, driving the PowMr5.5K PV input.

Nice!
I can't wait to receive my 6000XP. Bellow it's not mine, but same kind of EV (Mach-E) to MPPT input