What output power cord is best??

[Sleepless solar]

I had a 15 amp 6 outlet extension cord conneted to my outlet to power need appliances in my greenhouse, but once I turned on my 24 volt inverter it fried the fuse in the extension cord...
What amperage do I need to safety hook up to my outlet for power to my greenhouse..

 

[MichaelK]

What exactly are the loads plugged into that cord? That's the yellow thing in the pic? Can you show a pic of the wiring going into the inverter?

 

[Sleepless solar]

What exactly are the loads plugged into that cord? That's the yellow thing in the pic? Can you show a pic of the wiring going into the inverter?

No load as of yet.. future load will be heaters fans and lights.. the inverter poped the fuse on the 15 amp (yellow) extension cord I had screwed into the output side of the inverter.
Black-line, White-neutral and green to ground. I disconnected the output as it was throwing fault code #5 for output short circuit.

 

[MichaelK]

No load as of yet.. future load will be heaters fans and lights.. the inverter poped the fuse on the 15 amp (yellow) extension cord I had screwed into the output side of the inverter.
Black-line, White-neutral and green to ground. I disconnected the output as it was throwing fault code #5 for output short circuit.

Something is wrong here? That's why I would like to see a pic of the wiring doing into the inverter. I would start with disconnecting the extension, opening it up, and looking for shorts with an Ωmeter.

 

[Bud Martin]

Also once you remove that outlet extension cord from the inverter, you should check the resistance between L-N, L-G, N-G of that outlet extension (switch in the on position) to see what you get.

 

[Hedges]

The yellow power strip with 115V sockets?

What are the specs of the PowMr inverter? 230 VAC by any chance?

Does the power strip have a "surge arrestor" feature?

 

[Sleepless solar]

Something is wrong here? That's why I would like to see a pic of the wiring doing into the inverter. I would start with disconnecting the extension, opening it up, and looking for shorts with an Ωmeter.

I removed the yellow extension cord as it was giving me a fault code. What is currently attached is my ac input for connecting to utilities.. I also took a pictured of the back of the yellow cord for amperage and the output voltage of the inverter when on.

 

[Sky-HHI]

Your yellow power strip is 115 VAC and your inverter output is 230 VAC . That is your problem, are you in North America?

 

[Sleepless solar]

Your yellow power strip is 115 VAC and your inverter output is 230 VAC . That is your problem, are you in North America?

Yes I'm in north America.. this seems to be my blind spot with this whole setup.

 

[Sky-HHI]

You need an inverter that is 120 VAC output for north America, plugging into a 230 vac with a 115 vac is dangerous, thanks goodness for fuses. Can you return it for a 120 VAC unit? Please do not try to use a transformer to convert it to 120 vac, as you will be asking for more trouble.

 

[Sleepless solar]

You need an inverter that is 120 VAC output for north America, plugging into a 230 vac with a 115 vac is dangerous, thanks goodness for fuses. Can you return it for a 120 VAC unit? Please do not try to use a transformer to convert it to 120 vac, as you will be asking for more trouble.

Wouldn't that down grade my unit to a 12 volt unit? I would also have to rewire my batteries? Right now they are in series.

 

[WYtreasure]

Do you know how many volts your solar panels are sending into your charge controller? Reading and understanding the product manuals may prevent a fire or worse.

 

[time2roll]

Wouldn't that down grade my unit to a 12 volt unit? I would also have to rewire my batteries? Right now they are in series.

120v inverter is available in 12v, 24v, 48v battery. Even a few 36v.

 

[Sleepless solar]

Do you know how many volts your solar panels are sending into your charge controller? Reading and understanding the product manuals may prevent a fire or worse.

At full sun I was getting 23 volts from the solar panels.

 

[Hedges]

D*mn I'm good! ?‍?‍

Returning it for a 120V or 120/240V split-phase inverter would be best.

Running off-grid, you could certainly get away with converting 220V to 120V using a transformer. Have to do it right, make sure you don't end up with neutral at 120V (as happens with some travel converters used carelessly.)
Also have to configure inverter for 60 Hz if presently 50 Hz.

At full sun I was getting 23 volts from the solar panels.

23V is not enough to charge a 24V battery.
Better post a picture of PV panel label, and draw a schematic of how the panel(s) are connected.

 

[Bud Martin]

BTW, at this point the outlet extension may damaged so I would not connect it to the new SCC/Inverter unless you check it out really good first for shorted circuit inside the outlet extension.

 

[Hedges]

At least it failed safe (if it did fail).
I saw a surge arrestor strip smoldering on a coworkers desk, because neutral opened somewhere in the wall, and it was getting more like 208V.
The MOV was only meant to eat a brief spike, and couldn't pull enough current to trip the breaker.
She wasn't supposed to have a space heater plugged into the cubical outlets. But the organization shouldn't have had a large laser printer plugged into it, either.

 

[Bud Martin]

Op said the SCC shows output short error, so not sure if the short circuit has gone open now, I.E. MOV activated and blow the fuse/breaker of the strip, that is why I suggest to test the outlet extension before hooking it back up to the unit if there is short circuit in the extension, or he should just get the new strip.

 

[WYtreasure]

At full sun I was getting 23 volts from the solar panels.

Hedges is correct, we need to see a drawing and panel info if you want us to help figure out what's going on.

Can you confirm that you are trying to get 120 volts in your greenhouse?
What do you plan to power with your solar system?

There is no reason to leave your array connected to the controller. If you are unfamiliar with electricity you should get some help.