Signature Solar said "Will Prowse setup is wrong and dangerous"

[mikefitz]

you need breakers/fuses and RCD on the AC output

RCD, GFCI, will only protect if the power source in grounded and there is a neutral to protective earth bond.

 

[Jmhai3]

You pretty much understand. You do not want TWO different grounds from your gear to earth. Only one. If the stuff you are powering is going to be connected to house ground (Generally should not be if you unplug it) say thru a different grounding mech, you would want to use that ground only.

Yes 2 power strips with breakers would act like a breaker panel with two circuit breakers. Spend a few extra and get a couple of nicer (Ebay used?) 20A PDU's for computer gear that have a more robust breaker. I'd look at the Cyberpower rackmount units. The breaker is sized for the wiring not the source output, so with a 3KW unit you would you could push lopsided, but still protect the wiring from cooking A 20A PDU is de-rated to 16A, so more inline with your max output as well. They usually have longer pigtails, you could rig them to detach from your cart, or just trim the pigtails and stuff them into the inverter, mount it up like a generator. Use a Ferrule to combine the leads, make sure your phasing is the same in both strips.

Very helpful thanks,

Will look into the better quality 20A PDUs you mentioned.

 

[Jmhai3]

This may be common knowledge but if I was to have the EG4-3k cart setup plugged into the house wall outlet while the power is out and it running a refrigerator plugged into the power strip, the system is technically grounded thru the house outlet for AC charging cord and if the power comes back on during the night the system will start charging the battery and continue to run the fridge. Right?

This will be the likely use for this system for me. Solar will be a stand alone function not running anything off of it as during the day I have a generator to handle day time needs during power outages.

 

[ksmithaz1]

This may be common knowledge but if I was to have the EG4-3k cart setup plugged into the house wall outlet while the power is out and it running a refrigerator plugged into the power strip, the system is technically grounded thru the house outlet for AC charging cord and if the power comes back on during the night the system will start charging the battery and continue to run the fridge. Right?

This will be the likely use for this system for me. Solar will be a stand alone function not running anything off of it as during the day I have a generator to handle day time needs during power outages.

Really, really, really bad idea.
Really bad, no really.

Magic smoke time.

 

[ksmithaz1]

This may be common knowledge but if I was to have the EG4-3k cart setup plugged into the house wall outlet while the power is out and it running a refrigerator plugged into the power strip, the system is technically grounded thru the house outlet for AC charging cord and if the power comes back on during the night the system will start charging the battery and continue to run the fridge. Right?

This will be the likely use for this system for me. Solar will be a stand alone function not running anything off of it as during the day I have a generator to handle day time needs during power outages.

You need a transfer switch/interlock if you want to connect to your house wiring. Rolling a cart over and plugging in a couple of TV's and fridge is one thing. The minute you tie it to your house wiring you completely changed the paradigm. A suicide cord is a bad idea.

 

[SamDeleted]

This may be common knowledge but if I was to have the EG4-3k cart setup plugged into the house wall outlet while the power is out and it running a refrigerator plugged into the power strip, the system is technically grounded thru the house outlet for AC charging cord and if the power comes back on during the night the system will start charging the battery and continue to run the fridge. Right?

This will be the likely use for this system for me. Solar will be a stand alone function not running anything off of it as during the day I have a generator to handle day time needs during power outages.

You mean plugged into the AC IN on your eg4, so power passes through?


Or are you trying to send your house electric circuits live during a powercut (power outage) ?

 

[Q-Dog]

Really, really, really bad idea.
Really bad, no really.

Magic smoke time.

If the inverter's power input is plugged into the wall, nothing bad will happen.

 

[Jmhai3]

Really, really, really bad idea.
Really bad, no really.

Magic smoke

You mean plugged into the AC IN on your eg4, so power passes through?


Or are you trying to send your house electric circuits live during a powercut ?

You mean plugged into the AC IN on your eg4, so power passes through?


Or are you trying to send your house electric circuits live during a powercut ?

Yes the AC in to the EG4 so power will pass thru once power is restored.

Since we were talking about grounding would it (the cart system) not be grounded this way?

 

[SamDeleted]

Yes the AC in to the EG4 so power will pass thru once power is restored.

Since we were talking about grounding would it (the cart system) not be grounded this way?

Where's @timselectric when you need him?

 

[ksmithaz1]

If the inverter's power input is plugged into the wall, nothing bad will happen.

Huh? There is a reason they are called suicide cords. If he's talking unplug fridge plug into cart, plug cart into fridge outlet for grid bypass, then yes, no problem. If he's talking plug a suicide cord into the outlet the fridge is plugged into not so much.

 

[Q-Dog]

As far as the grounding is concerned, there should be no difference between plugging into the wall and hard wiring the input. AS LONG AS THE WIRING IS CORRECT.

 

[Brucey]

Huh? There is a reason they are called suicide cords.

Input of eg4, not the output of the eg4. He's just charging from the grid, a normal configuration.

 

[SamDeleted]

Huh? There is a reason they are called suicide cords.

Inverters INPUT , not output

 

[Q-Dog]

Huh? There is a reason they are called suicide cords.

Reading comprehension? The grid INPUT of the inverter, not the output.

 

[SamDeleted]

Reading comprehension? The grid INPUT of the inverter, not the output.

I've got to admit I was confused at first

 

[ksmithaz1]

So if he's putting the cart BETWEEN the outlet and the fridge, that would give you the ground, bond it to the cart. No different than A simple UPS

 

[Jmhai3]

Huh? There is a reason they are called suicide cords. If he's talking unplug fridge plug into cart, plug cart into fridge outlet for grid bypass, then yes, no problem. If he's talking plug a suicide cord into the outlet the fridge is plugged into not

No suicide cord. Wall to EG4 input and cart to fridge. Sorry for the confusion. Like I said not just learning but also learning the lingo.

 

[Jmhai3]

So if he's putting the cart BETWEEN the outlet and the fridge, that would give you the ground, bond it to the cart. No different than A simple UPS

Yes, you answered my question with a much better response than how my question was phrased.

 

[ksmithaz1]

I edited my post when I caught the drift but that is not what I read in my brain, sorry. You are just building a UPS with a solar input. Not a problem will work as you desire.

 

[ksmithaz1]

I edited my post when I caught the drift but that is not what I read in my brain, sorry. You are just building a UPS with a solar input. Not a problem will work as you desire.

Having said that, ... A quality line-interactive UPS would be better for your TV's. Laptop, or anything that has a nice power supply in the front it won't matter, and the fridge won't care.