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diy solar

Open Ground when testing outlets on inverter

Just an update. I had contacted the seller again before posting the original post. They changed their mind, and sent me instructions to fix the grounding issue. I'm posting what they told me to do. I'll follow up with my results.

They want me to bond the neutral to ground, like I thought
View attachment 17412

They also want me to disconnect the below blue wire below. According to them that blue wire connects the yellow ground wire to the inverter shell.
View attachment 17413
I did this conversion today. It works..!!! There were actually 3 blue wires connected to the Chassis grounding screw. I took the 2 that were attached to the Outlets, clipped the loop-connectors and used a Wirenut to connect them, then re-fastened the PC board-to-chassis ground to the original screw. I then attached a short loop of 12ga green-coated wire between the Ground & Neutral at the 30amp outlet.IMG_7482.JPGIMG_7485.JPG
 
There was also another problem. After I did the "conversion" and tested the outlets, my 2 hard-wired 120vac tested just fine. However the 2 internal outlets tested "Hot & Neutral reversed". Since the cover was still off, I looked around the unit. I didn't really wish to re-solder the connections at the rear of the internal outlets, so I followed the wires to the circuit board. They were attached using spade clips. I just swapped the spade clips at the board. All is well now.IMG_7483.JPGIMG_7484.JPGIMG_7486.JPGIMG_7489.JPGIMG_7491.JPG
 
Woodshed,
That’s awesome news. Before you performed the fix, were you getting the half voltage issue when measuring from hot to ground then, neutral to ground? If so is it fixed after?

I’ve been too chicken to do it to mine
 
Forgive me if this is a question of brimming with nerp.
Is this quirk the reason these units are relatively cheap?
 
Cheap in that they simply do not care about the situation in which their device is going to be used? Yes.
Cheap in that they simply don't know any better? Perhaps.

The savings over doing a proper single phase, intended to be hard wired to the premises, inverter vs what they have done is IMO minimal but in a country where they will use an elcheapo knock off of a reputable microcontroller*, that costs 10 cents, as opposed to the knock off that costs 9.5 cents, it's not surprising.

*actual real world example, dig into the FTDI USB serial port debacle for more
 
There was also another problem. After I did the "conversion" and tested the outlets, my 2 hard-wired 120vac tested just fine. However the 2 internal outlets tested "Hot & Neutral reversed".

Did you attempt to duplicate my test (before wire modifications) by bonding the neutral with a small fuse?
 
Cheap in that they simply do not care about the situation in which their device is going to be used? Yes.
Cheap in that they simply don't know any better? Perhaps.

The savings over doing a proper single phase, intended to be hard wired to the premises, inverter vs what they have done is IMO minimal but in a country where they will use an elcheapo knock off of a reputable microcontroller*, that costs 10 cents, as opposed to the knock off that costs 9.5 cents, it's not surprising.

*actual real world example, dig into the FTDI USB serial port debacle for more
Since I have been in the Automotive repair business nearly my entire life, I thought it may be the case of a "Friday or Monday" build, from the factory.
 
Woodshed1

thanks. I’ll give mine a shot since yours didn’t blow up lol

it appears yours is the 5000 watt model as well. Other than this issue the inverter has been rock solid for me.
 
Woodshed1

thanks. I’ll give mine a shot since yours didn’t blow up lol

it appears yours is the 5000 watt model as well. Other than this issue the inverter has been rock solid for me.
Actually mine is the 3500-watt version, 48vdc. I installed mine in June, right out of the box and never checked the outlets with a tester until last week. I remembered reading about a "fix", which led me to your Post on here. So, much Thanks for your original post.!!!
 
Just an update. I had contacted the seller again before posting the original post. They changed their mind, and sent me instructions to fix the grounding issue. I'm posting what they told me to do. I'll follow up with my results.

They want me to bond the neutral to ground, like I thought
View attachment 17412

They also want me to disconnect the below blue wire below. According to them that blue wire connects the yellow ground wire to the inverter shell.
View attachment 17413
Have you tried this modification? Did it work?
could I do the same and connect the neutral/ground wire to power my airstream too (shore power with ground bonding)?
Please let me know.
Josef
 
Have you tried this modification? Did it work?
could I do the same and connect the neutral/ground wire to power my airstream too (shore power with ground bonding)?
Please let me know.
Josef
I would start by putting a light bulb between neutral and ground of inverter output.
If it lights up, don't short it with a wire.
If a meter shows zero volts across the bulb, then a shorting wire is OK.
 
Josef,

I did not. I agree with hedges about the lightbulb.

I might not perform the fix. The inverter is outside the return window and I don’t trust the eBay seller to honor the warranty. I had a 2kw inverter where I did perform this fix and I can report that it did work. I was able to plug my car charger in and it detected the ground. It however did not have the half voltage issue this one has.
 
Since I have been in the Automotive repair business nearly my entire life, I thought it may be the case of a "Friday or Monday" build, from the factory.
Woodshed1,

I know this is an old thread but, I finally wrestled up the courage to open the inverter and make the changes. My inverter was exactly like yours, and I ended up performing the same fix, including having to swap the hot and neutral wires on the two standard outlets.
 
Woodshed1,

I know this is an old thread but, I finally wrestled up the courage to open the inverter and make the changes. My inverter was exactly like yours, and I ended up performing the same fix, including having to swap the hot and neutral wires on the two standard outlets.
to steviep19... I hope you have as good Luck as I have. Mine has been working flawlessly since my October post. Thanks for the Reply.
 
Just an update. I had contacted the seller again before posting the original post. They changed their mind, and sent me instructions to fix the grounding issue. I'm posting what they told me to do. I'll follow up with my results.

They want me to bond the neutral to ground, like I thought
View attachment 17412

They also want me to disconnect the below blue wire below. According to them that blue wire connects the yellow ground wire to the inverter shell.
View attachment 17413
This completely did the trick for me and now my car will charge off my inverter with no warning lights. Thank you
 
Not all of the 120V single phase bodge 60-0-60 models have the ground terminal, that is between the current carrying terminals on the case, tied to the 0V point of the inverter's output. It's 'safe' for them to have that central ground terminal tied to one of the current carrying terminals, as you have done. Nothing blows up.

The trouble is, you don't know what you have purchased until you get it and check. Most people don't even know that they need to check. Even people here weren't necessarily aware of the issue with this make inverter.

I have a Giandel 4000w inverter that has the 60-0-60 on the ground plug. How do I test this inverter to see if it is grounded “properly” and will be ok if I hardwire it to my home breaker panel?
 
Measure voltage between neutral and ground. Then wire a lightbulb between neutral and ground, and measure again. That will show if it is driven or floating.
 
I have a Giandel 4000w inverter that has the 60-0-60 on the ground plug. How do I test this inverter to see if it is grounded “properly” and will be ok if I hardwire it to my home breaker panel?
Per page #2: for testing I connected a neutral inline 5A fuse in the event of a 60V short. Load it to 500W and if the fuse survives you are good to bond the inverter neutral. I always have my Reliable connected before powering it on.
 
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