Inverter to 50amp plug???

[tinyhouse831]

Hi ya’ll!! I need to some help. I’m starting to design an off grid system for my tiny house, and i can’t understand how to get the power from the pure sine inverter, to the 50amp plug on the outside of my tinyhouse. Can i just use a 15amp to 30amp to 50amp pigtail adapter? I’ll likely be using a 3000watt inverter. Don’t roast me too bad!

 

[snoobler]

What does the plug look like?

 

[tinyhouse831]

It's just a standard 4 prong 50amp plug. Same as most RV's. Runs to my main breaker panel.

 

[snoobler]

One of these:



If you use 15-30-50A adapters, your power will be crippled. Does your inverter have terminals for attaching bare wire?

 

[tinyhouse831]

One of these:

View attachment 21553

If you use 15-30-50A adapters, your power will be crippled. Does your inverter have terminals for attaching bare wire?

Okay cool! I haven't picked out an inverter yet. Any recommendations? 24V Pure sine, 2000-3000watt, also a charger, built in transfer switch.

 

[snoobler]

Victron Multiplus 3000/24

Has AC input from grid or generator with built in ATS.

 

[tinyhouse831]

Victron Multiplus 3000/24

Has AC input from grid or generator with built in ATS.

Why does it cost like 3x as much as other 3,000 watt inverters i'm finding???

 

[snoobler]

Because it's not a Chinese-made piece of shit. There are the types of hardware you buy that you expect you last 20+ year: outback, midnite solar, trace, Schneider, Victron , Xantrax. There are the kinds you hope to last longer than the warranty period - MPP Solar, Growatt, etc.

Victron is among the most spendy, but they are well built.

The cheapo-s have poor surge capability for starting anything with a motor - A/C, refrigerators, microwaves, etc. with surges rated in milliseconds vs. the high-end units with REAL surge ratings rated in minutes or 30 seconds.

 

[HaldorEE]

Why does it cost like 3x as much as other 3,000 watt inverters i'm finding???

Because it actually works.

If you think a $400, 3000W inverter is going to do what you need, I have some land I'd like to sell you.

Seriously read some of the threads here where people try to actually get those things to do what they claim to be able to do. Go look, I'll wait.

And don't forget a Multiplus includes an automatic AC transfer switch AND an AC battery charger. Add the cost for that to your $400 inverter and the difference becomes more like 1.5X. Do you expect to be able to start motors or power a microwave oven? Think again, those $400 inverters measure their surge capability in milliseconds. The Victron can deliver surge power for minutes.

One more minor point. How much are you investing in your batteries? Saving a couple of hundred on the inverter/charger could result in the premature death of those $$$$ batteries.

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. People who pay for Victron, Samlex or Magnum equipment are not looking for ways to throw their money away. They just want what they buy to actually work and keep working.

 

[HaldorEE]

I have found that Victron equipment is actually reasonably priced. They simply refuse to not include the functionality that we end up realizing we need by the time we get done with a project. It is a lot cheaper to start out buying the system you end up with rather than buying equipment you have to replace because it fails or won't do what you need it to do.

A perfect example is the Victron BMV-712 battery monitor. $200 for a battery monitor seems high until you realize it includes the ability to turn off your battery chargers when the battery voltage drops below freezing. That is a pretty darn useful feature for lithium batteries that I don't think anybody else has. A lot of battery BMS don't include a cold temperature charging cutoff feature but as long as you have a BMV-712 in your system, you don't have to care.