My LED lights flicker every time AC compressor kicks on, using same inverter for both.

[TommyinMiami]

I have a Gowise 1500/3000w 12v pure sine inverter on my shed. It has 2 outlet plugs but they are combined together in parallel inside the inverter so I cant use them as 2 separate isolated outlets. All wires are oversized and battery bank is 400ah lifepo4.

I have a small 5000btu AC in the shed and some 120v landscape and sting lights connected also and nothing else. Every time the AC compressor kicks on (and maybe off, unsure) (about every 20-30mins) it will cause the landscape lights to flicker or if they are off it will cause them to flash on for a brief second. Also weirdly enough my wireless lightning detector weather station also beeps, not every time but like 60% of the time. The lightning detector is not near my shed but it is 6 ft away from 1 section of the string lights.

I tried 2 different surge protectors and it didnt help, I bought a USP battery backup with surge protection and it didnt help (although its not constant on (AC-DC-AC), it clicks over to battery backup only upon power failure). I also tried adding like 10 ferrite core rings on all the wires involved and it didnt help.

Anyone else have this issue with putting a brief load on an inverter? I measured the DC side (battery to inverter) the AC draws 10-12amps constant and 100-125 amps for a super split second when compressor kicks on. (Mesured by fluke multimeter, china multimeter couldnt even catch it). I have a 100 amp terminal fuse, and its fast enough that it doesnt trip it.

Is it just voltage surge spilling over to the LED landscape lighting, or would it be EMF, EMI, RFI, RF, static electricity, etc...? My lighting detector goes off 60% of the time at the same exact time, not sure if that's a reliable indicator of what it could be.

How best to correct this? Power line conditioner? Voltage regulator, high end surge protector with EMI/RFI filters, constant on UPS battery backup, or some kind of DC car audio system capacitor between battery and inverter, or AC start capacitor between the air conditioner and the inverter?

Any ideas or suggestions to try? I have a 3000/6000w gowise inverter but im using it for something else already.

 

[chrisski]

Can you add a soft start to your AC?

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This will significantly reduce surge.

Air conditioners can require two to ten times their Rrunning power to cover surge. The easy start helps a smaller inverter run the same AC.

 

[RCinFLA]

Your most cost-effective solution for such a small system is a separate small inverter for LED lights and other lighter loads. A soft starter for a 5k BTU unit will cost you two to three times what you likely paid for the 5k BTU air conditioner.

All inverters have a reaction time to compensate for sudden significant load addition or removal and many LED lights are very sensitive to AC line voltage variation.