60+ Volts between ground and hot on 120vac PSW inverter??!! Is this a hazard?

[PopDBop]

I just got a little BISTEK 1200W purse sine wave inverter. It works well enough, but I happen to get the meter out and check the numbers, and noticed there was ~60V between ground and hot. I get the same number between ground and neutral.

Why?

Is this a hazard, considering plugged in device grounds will be bonded to this ground?

 

[RCinFLA]

This is common for an H-bridge output inverter. There are likely relatively small EMI capacitors from each side of AC output to the case ground. This can cause a little shock from a metal case of plugged in device to inverter case but it if not dangerous.

Most inverters these days have opto-isolated feedback control for DC to HV DC converter that may allow one leg of AC output to be grounded. Would have to check manual to see if it has groundable neutral on AC output.

 

[efficientPV]

It is the full140V, the 60V is just the average. You will feel it a lot more than touching a 48V battery which can be real close to 60V. The Bestek I have seen are not an isolated output.