EG4 3kW won't charge with a generator

[guyroch]

Hi,

I have the EG4 3kW inverter (3000EHV-48). It charges over 120v AC 'house' power, but not 120v AC power from a generator? Generator is a 3000w Champion, and I have the AC max charge set to 18amp on the inverter, so plenty of 'generator' juice to charge, but it refused to charge.

When I plug the inverter into 'house' AC it charges without changing any settings on the inverter. What I'm I missing?

This setup does not have solar panels connected to it, I mainly use it for a backup power during extended power outages.

Thank you.

 

[Rednecktek]

Is it an inverter generator or an open frame? There might be a setting in the EG4 to open up the frequency range so it's more forgiving of its AC input range.

 

[saggys]

I am new to these AIO inverters but experienced the same problem with a SRNE AIO clone. I had a non inverter type generator powering the AC input and the frequency varied between 59-60hz and the AIO would not recognize that input. I then connected a inverter type generator and it showed a constant 59.9hz and worked perfectly.

I guess you could power a stand alone battery charger with your Champion generator to charge your batteries but kind of defeats the convenience
of the AIO in my opinion. Option B is try an inverter type generator and see if it works. Good luck, there seems to be a few undocumented "features" on these AIO's.

 

[guyroch]

Interesting you say this. The 3000W Champion generator has a 30amp NEMA L5-30R outlet (#3 in the image), and I was using that 30 amp outlet. I wonder if I had used one of the 4x NEMA 5-20R 120v 20amp (#5 in the image) if it would have made a difference - worth a try.

 

[Mattb4]

Hi,

I have the EG4 3kW inverter (3000EHV-48). It charges over 120v AC 'house' power, but not 120v AC power from a generator? Generator is a 3000w Champion, and I have the AC max charge set to 18amp on the inverter, so plenty of 'generator' juice to charge, but it refused to charge.

When I plug the inverter into 'house' AC it charges without changing any settings on the inverter. What I'm I missing?

This setup does not have solar panels connected to it, I mainly use it for a backup power during extended power outages.

Thank you.

Try plugging in a load into the generator of a few 100w's and see if the power stabilizes enough to power your AIO

 

[guyroch]

Is it an inverter generator or an open frame? There might be a setting in the EG4 to open up the frequency range so it's more forgiving of its AC input range.

The EG4 manual says it has a GEN setting that is more forgiving a little bit, but when I access the settings panel on the EG4 it only has APL and UPS... GNE is not even an option, so I can't even select it as an option. Why can't these things just be plug-n-play

 

[Rednecktek]

Huh. The UPS mode should be plenty wide, but there might be another setting for frequency range. The other option, as mentioned above, would be to throw a small load on it so the voltage regulator can settle out a bit. A small heater or the like in the 100-200w range should be plenty.

 

[Steve_S]

I have 2 Champion Gennies....
The Big 7200/9000W Construction genny works with my system because I tweaked the Charger to handle the dirty power by allowing it to take from 57-63 Hz and to tolerate 118-122 voltage float. NOTE that I use a Samlex EVO which allows for that and can limitedly compensate for it. I must also point out that being a Mod-Sine (all construction genny's are) the dirty power does have a knock on effect with the passthrough as it passes the sine wave as well. The end result is LED Clocks (microwave, coffee maker etc) lose time when under 60Hz and gain time when above 60Hz, which also affects computer & other electronics. The Smaller Generator is a 4650W Inverter Generator that outputs a clean 60Hz Pure Sine that only floats between 119-121V depending on load. Digital clocks etc keep proper time and everything runs better.

Do note the sound your fridge & other "motored" devices when running with a Mod-Sine Construction Genny compared to an Inverter Genny that is Pure Sine & clean... The fridge motor etc will be quieter & actually will run cooler. The simplest test for that, is a 120V house fan, run that on a construction genny and you'll hear the motor growl a bit while it will not do so on Pure sine Inverter Genny.

BTW: MANY people can verify that their clocks lose or gain time when using gennies but most often they are unable to tell you why because they simply don't know. Old-timers like me who've been at this a fair while see these things as pretty obvious after many hours of troubleshooting & reaseach + experience.

 

[Rednecktek]

BTW: MANY people can verify that their clocks lose or gain time when using gennies but most often they are unable to tell you why because they simply don't know. Old-timers like me who've been at this a fair while see these things as pretty obvious after many hours of troubleshooting & reaseach + experience.

Yeah, this is a common issue on ships where they like to run the generators a bit high (61.5Hz) so they stay at 60Hz when fully loaded. Every couple weeks you have to adjust the minutes back on the clock when you're doing the time zone change. ?

 

[Steve_S]

Sadly there is also a GOTCHA on the cheaper Inverter/Charger or AIO Combo's. The cheaper models often do not output a consistent 60Hz or 50Hz (pending on model) and very often will output at 49 or 59hz and in cases like 120V may only output 119V. While this is not significant enough to be a problem, over time things will "slip" accordingly like wall powered clock time.

 

[guyroch]

Throwing this into the conversation... would a power conditioner like this Tripp-Lite work?

https://www.amazon.ca/Tripp-LC1800-Conditioner-Outlet-6-Feet/dp/B0000514G8

 

[Mattb4]

I have 2 Champion Gennies....
The Big 7200/9000W Construction genny works with my system because I tweaked the Charger to handle the dirty power by allowing it to take from 57-63 Hz and to tolerate 118-122 voltage float. NOTE that I use a Samlex EVO which allows for that and can limitedly compensate for it. I must also point out that being a Mod-Sine (all construction genny's are) the dirty power does have a knock on effect with the passthrough as it passes the sine wave as well. The end result is LED Clocks (microwave, coffee maker etc) lose time when under 60Hz and gain time when above 60Hz, which also affects computer & other electronics. The Smaller Generator is a 4650W Inverter Generator that outputs a clean 60Hz Pure Sine that only floats between 119-121V depending on load. Digital clocks etc keep proper time and everything runs better.

Do note the sound your fridge & other "motored" devices when running with a Mod-Sine Construction Genny compared to an Inverter Genny that is Pure Sine & clean... The fridge motor etc will be quieter & actually will run cooler. The simplest test for that, is a 120V house fan, run that on a construction genny and you'll hear the motor growl a bit while it will not do so on Pure sine Inverter Genny.

BTW: MANY people can verify that their clocks lose or gain time when using gennies but most often they are unable to tell you why because they simply don't know. Old-timers like me who've been at this a fair while see these things as pretty obvious after many hours of troubleshooting & reaseach + experience.

Sorry but all generators are pure sine. It takes an inverter to do modified square wave.

RV Electricity – Does a construction generator make clean AC power?

By Mike Sokol Dear Mike, I understand the concept of inverters, but what about generators? Does a construction-type generator put out a clean sine wave,

www.rvtravel.com

 

[guyroch]

Trying to get this to work still. So more info.... the power coming out of the generator is 123v and 61.5 to 62.0 hertz. It's not an inverter type generator, it's an open frame one.

Would the 62 hertz be enough for the EG4 to ignore the generator AC power and not charge? The EGE does make a 'click' sound as if it is trying to, but it refuses to charge with the generator.

What is the best way to regulate the frequency?

Thoughts?

 

[guyroch]

Ok, I think this issue is with setting #3, where my EG4 is not giving me the option to select "GNE" as an AC generator power source. The reason I say this is that I also have a Growatt 3000W AIO and this unit behaves the same as the EG4 in that it will not charge with a generator.... with the exception that the Growatt does have the option "GNE" as an AC power source, and when all settings are equal, the Growatt will charge and only charge when I select "GNE" as AC power source on the Growatt

So, I guess the real question is why my EG4 does not give me this option despite the manual indicating this option should be there.

I'm I missing the obvious? Is there another setting on the EG4 what would see this "GNE" option being hidden?

 

[guyroch]

Try plugging in a load into the generator of a few 100w's and see if the power stabilizes enough to power your AIO

Tried this to no avail

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Too bad that this keeps coming up over and over and over on MPP Solar, Growatt and EG4 units.

To reliably charge with these AiO, an inverter generator that puts out very clean power is required. Signature Solar recommends this, and they have gone so far as to introduce the "Chargeverter" to enable separate charging from a generator.

Decrease utility charging to 10A. If it doesn't charge, your generator produces power that's too dirty. If it does, increase utility charging until it doesn't. Then fall back to the last setting that it did. That's all you get.

 

[Browse]

^ This. Personally, I would never use a non-inverter generator for anything other than power tools on a job site. Either upgrade to an inverter generator or get a Chargeverter to extend battery run time.

 

[guyroch]

^ This. Personally, I would never use a non-inverter generator for anything other than power tools on a job site. Either upgrade to an inverter generator or get a Chargeverter to extend battery run time.

I'm not looking to power anything for now, I just want to "charge" the batteries.

 

[guyroch]

Too bad that this keeps coming up over and over and over on MPP Solar, Growatt and EG4 units.

Agreed. This said, my 3000W Growatt does charge with the same generator, the EG4 does not.

To reliably charge with these AiO, an inverter generator that puts out very clean power is required. Signature Solar recommends this, and they have gone so far as to introduce the "Chargeverter" to enable separate charging from a generator.

One of the reasons why I purchased the EG4 is because EG4 Chargeverter specifically states that "Deriving technology from the EG4 3kW All-in-One Solar Inverter, the EG4 Chargeverter is a powerful 48v battery charger capable of charging at 100 amps or over 5000 watts."

This took this at face value, thinking the EG4 3kW AiO already had that same chargeverter technology.

Decrease utility charging to 10A. If it doesn't charge, your generator produces power that's too dirty. If it does, increase utility charging until it doesn't. Then fall back to the last setting that it did. That's all you get.

Interesting, I'll give this a try.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Have you tried charging with the inverter in the OFF position? This would more closely simulate the "chargeverter"