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Auto Inverter with 60v across ground will not run switching power supply properly

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harrymanimus

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Apr 3, 2021
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Hi,

I'm trying to get an Inverter to run a switching power supply so that I can use the DC to charge an Ecoflow (EF) Pro. The reason I'm doing this is that I want to charge via DC (off my auto, using it in place of a generator) and let the EF provide AC from the battery (3600w, proper 120v). Charging via AC only passes the AC thru (1500w, 60v issue), NOT what I want.

This setup DOES work if I plug the Power Supply into my home power. I can charge the EF at near 1200 watts DC, stable. If I plug the PS into the Inverter, the reported wattage jumps all around every 2 seconds on the EF. I see 140w, 420w, 715w, on and on. Not sure it's even charging properly, don't want to damage the EF.

The inverter has a common inverter setup where Neutral/Ground is 60v, Hot/Ground is 60v/ and Neutral/Ground is 120v. So my guess is that the the switching power supply does not like this, at all. It wants normal home power setup.
  • Can I fix this? Some grounding fix?
  • Can I buy an inverter that does not do this 60v setup? I can't find ANYWHERE in descriptions of inverters I can purchase that says what setup they have. I've tried 3 different brand inverters, all have the same setup.
GIANDEL Power Inverter 1500W Pure Sine Wave https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0918Y4HYX
Switching Power Supply https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BC9JXDTP

Of course the backup is to just charge the EF from inverter, which does work, but limits my usage of the EF during charging greatly.

Thanks
 
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Will the inverter power other heavy loads? If it can run other loads of 1000W, then the issue would be something about the sine wave generated affecting the input circuits of the power supply. How is the inverter tied to the car? You will probably pull more than 100A from the car.

If you have a plain old incandescent lamp you could plug into the inverter while it was powering the power supply and see if the light flickers.
 
Check with Giandel to see if they support a grounded output. (Some don't)
If they do, add a N/G bond.
 
FYI
It's not a 60v setup.
It's just a 120v inverter that is ungrounded. The 60v that you are reading between "ground" and the two current carrying outputs. Is just the potential voltage, read by a digital meter. Usually the potential is approximately 1/2 the system voltage. When reading between a system conductor and any ungrounded conductor.
 
The inverter will run other heavy loads. 1200w for the EF AC. 1400w for space heater. Etc. I’ve also expiremented with a Handy Power X 1500w inverter, but it has a low overvoltage protection and my Traverse seems to output near 15 volts with no load, making it a challenge to use.

I have a N/G bond plug, but was afraid to try it without knowing more info. If the inverter doesn’t “support grounded” can it hurt something? I can check with them for the official word. Is there a known inverter that does support that for sure, or a specific spec to look for in the spec sheet?
 
harrymanimus said:
I have a N/G bond plug, but was afraid to try it without knowing more info. If the inverter doesn’t “support grounded” can it hurt something? I can check with them for the official word. Is there a known inverter that does support that for sure, or a specific spec to look for in the spec sheet?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't ground it until you know that it's supported.
If not supported, it can definitely damage the inverter. I have ruined a few cheap inverters, because I tried it when I couldn't get an answer.
 
On a side note, I wonder if there is a dc to dc boost converter that could run directly from alternator to your ecoflow mppt. That would simplify somewhat some middle man gear going from DC to AC to DC again.
 
Maybe someone will know if such a DC boost device exists. That would simplify things. I’ve searched in the past, and asked more general solution questions in other threads.

The inverter manual says this about the grounding:
The power inverter has a terminal on the rear panel marked “grounding”. This is used to connect the chassis of the power inverter to the ground. The ground terminal has already connected to the ground wire of AC output receptacle throught the internal connecting wire.
The ground terminal must be connected to the groudn wire, which will vary depending on where the power inverter is installed. In a vehicle, connect the ground wire to the chassis of the vehicle. In a fixed location, connect the ground terminal to earth.

I have not been connecting that to anything. Just using the Positive/Negative to the battery terminals.
 
It seems the EF will take what is available DC wise, specs say 150v at 15amps. But at less than 150v is seems to draw up to 16.6 amps from reading and personal testing. I burned up another PS, it was rated something like 90v and 10 amps. I guess bad protection on that one. It’s unclear what is supposed to happen on the draw protection, is it supposed to shut off, or just provide the max amps?

So next PS I got I went to 20 amp 72v. I think I tested a 48v, 20a PS, had some issue with it, I can’t remember what.

For AC charging you can tell it how many watts to draw. But not for DC.
 
What happens when the EF tries to pull 16.6 amps from that? Does it quit? Does it burn up? Does it provide a stable 10a?

DC DC Voltage Step Up Converter Boost Power Module 10-60V to 12-97V 1500W 30A CC CV https://a.co/d/1voLwYD

I see this. Seems small. Unsure how I’d connect this to an auto battery. I have super thick wires going from the inverter to the auto battery.

, Found this guy talking about one, max output seems to be 360 watts from 12v. That’s not really what I’m after.
 
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Hey, that does look to be a fairly nice option! Input range does say 16v, so I think that would cover my auto overvolting issues.

That looks like it might be a solid backup plan if I can’t figure out my inverter issues. Or perhaps it’s worth it to just have a simpler setup.
 
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If it is not adjustable, it will never have a high enough voltage to charge a battery.
 
That is it. I’m using the solar charging port to get around the low specs of the normal DC charging ports.
 
I wrote Giandel, and can't parse the answer fully. Basically asked if I can use the n-g bond plug with their product, or if there was some other way to get my PS to work.

"Thank you for purchasing our Giandel power inverter.
If you connect the inverter's LN to Ground terminal, this is dangerous, will cause electric shock, also can not pass HIPOT testing. The GFCI outlet or a neutral ground bonded plug can handle this issue.
Even if a GFCI outlet or a neutral ground bonded plug is installed, there is a risk of electric shock. Because this is externally connected to the ground and neutral of the inverter using the GFCI socket. Rather than the GFCI socket that builds in the inverter. Since our inverters are not GFCI receptacles it is difficult to do this. Unless you use an inverter with a GFCI outlet. "

So, looks like they say I need an inverter with a GFCI outlet? Thoughts? If I get this, would I still need a bond plug?

 
They are saying the inverter is not compatible with neutral ground bonding. A GFCI on an unbonded inverter shouldn't change the way the power appears to the eco flow power supply, so it's doubtful that would make a difference.

I think it's highly unlikely that the ecoflow power supply is checking for hot/neutral potential to ground, so I would guess that the issue is something else that it does not like about the inverter's output, and not anything to do with bonded vs. unbonded.
 
Does the switching supply have a ground pin on the plug? Get one of those non-grounded to grounded adapters and see what happens.
 
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