Background - learned all electric stuff in order to build my camper van. Most everything works great, but I have some inverter issues.
Setup - 3x 200W solar panels in series, MPPT controller, 2x 100Ah LiFePO4, Renogy 2000W inverter ("new" version as of 3 years ago). No shore power.
The Renogy inverter has floating neutral, does not permit neutral ground bonding, and does not have continuity between output ground and the case/DC ground.
Initial setup - Wired 3 outlets in series w/ 12AWG, first is GFCI. Inverter is fused on battery terminal w/ 225A fuse. Inverter chassis is grounded to DC side, which is connected to van chassis through starter battery/DC charger. Did not ground chassis to AC side initially...
First problem - LED lights flickered when inverter was on. Solution: discovered some kind of interference with the AC outlets, solved by grounding the chassis to AC ground (via jumper between DC and AC ground lugs on the inverter).
Now we are at the current set up - AC ground, DC ground, all metal in van, connected. No bond anywhere between AC neutral and ground.
Current problem - most everything with a ground plug trips the inverter's built in ground fault detection when plugged in. Use of a 2 prong adapter does not trip the ground fault.
1) how is this possible? Assuming the inverter trips by detecting current in ground, or maybe a change in potential relative to hot/neutral, how would this happen if there are no faults from hot or neutral to ground?
2) if there is a fault, without ground-neutral bonding, will the GFCI outlet even work, or will it just cause voltage in ground causing the inverter's built in GF protection to trip?
3) is grounding the chassis to AC ground safe in this case?
4) one idea thrown around to "solve" the issue is to disconnect ground from the inverter, and instead bond it to neutral output. This way the inverter won't see the bond and won't know there is a ground wire, but the GFCI should work.
Any input?
Setup - 3x 200W solar panels in series, MPPT controller, 2x 100Ah LiFePO4, Renogy 2000W inverter ("new" version as of 3 years ago). No shore power.
The Renogy inverter has floating neutral, does not permit neutral ground bonding, and does not have continuity between output ground and the case/DC ground.
Initial setup - Wired 3 outlets in series w/ 12AWG, first is GFCI. Inverter is fused on battery terminal w/ 225A fuse. Inverter chassis is grounded to DC side, which is connected to van chassis through starter battery/DC charger. Did not ground chassis to AC side initially...
First problem - LED lights flickered when inverter was on. Solution: discovered some kind of interference with the AC outlets, solved by grounding the chassis to AC ground (via jumper between DC and AC ground lugs on the inverter).
Now we are at the current set up - AC ground, DC ground, all metal in van, connected. No bond anywhere between AC neutral and ground.
Current problem - most everything with a ground plug trips the inverter's built in ground fault detection when plugged in. Use of a 2 prong adapter does not trip the ground fault.
1) how is this possible? Assuming the inverter trips by detecting current in ground, or maybe a change in potential relative to hot/neutral, how would this happen if there are no faults from hot or neutral to ground?
2) if there is a fault, without ground-neutral bonding, will the GFCI outlet even work, or will it just cause voltage in ground causing the inverter's built in GF protection to trip?
3) is grounding the chassis to AC ground safe in this case?
4) one idea thrown around to "solve" the issue is to disconnect ground from the inverter, and instead bond it to neutral output. This way the inverter won't see the bond and won't know there is a ground wire, but the GFCI should work.
Any input?
