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Space heater trips inverter breaker (R-Pod 195) |
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Olddawgsrule 
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Joined: 20 Sep 2017 Location: New Hampshire Online Status: Offline Posts: 1014 |
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 Topic: Space heater trips inverter breaker (R-Pod 195)Posted: 19 Dec 2019 at 11:46am |
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Your inverter does have the switch I mentioned earlier according to the spec's you supplied.
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp 
Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128 |
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Posted: 19 Dec 2019 at 11:22am |
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Can you post a picture of your solar controller? Many have an inverter switch or selection on them.
the owners manual you linked says the inverter comes with a switch and a 20 foot cable.. but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Bob at the factory to bin those and wire it straight in some manner.. However.. if the tech is recommending it be "left on".. that implies it can be shut off. That is the correct answer, if left on, it has a steady draw, just idling. |
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Pod_Geek
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Joined: 04 Dec 2019 Location: Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 260 |
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Posted: 19 Dec 2019 at 11:06am |
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Ok...I think I finally get it.
Inverter is WFCO WF-5110R (FR sent me the manual). Shore Power first passes through the Inverter. Any outlets on the circuit connected to the inverter are limited to 12A due to the Inverter breaker, which will be the first to trip (as I experienced). Some outlets will work off the inverter when not on shore power if the inverter is on, which it probably wasn't (althogh see note from FR tech support below). Current draw would be limited to around 8 Amps (1000 watt/120V). I say some outlets because the fridge outlet is on the GFCI circuit and is supposed to work only on propane/shore power. WFCO Tech Support suggests always leaving the Inverter on. Here is the latest from FR tech support: The solar panel powers the invertor and the invertor powers the GFI’s so I’m sorry there is no switch on the controller. If the invertor isn’t getting enough power from the solar panel then it will not power the GFI’s. That would imply that the inverter will not run purely off battery power (e.g., at night if boondocking). Really??? We shall see. Lastly, again from FR: This is currently a new system for us so we are learning right along with you. Further comments/questions/concerns welcome, as you guys are a smart bunch. Thanks for the feedback so far.
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Olddawgsrule
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Joined: 20 Sep 2017 Location: New Hampshire Online Status: Offline Posts: 1014 |
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Posted: 19 Dec 2019 at 7:45am |
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Okay, I think I mis-read earlier. I see the 12a fuse as part of the inverter now. Is this correct? If so, makes sense, 1000w inverter would only produce 9amps at 110v's. Path of power: Solar panel > Controller > Battery > Inverter > outlet or appliance. Take the panel or the controller (or both) out of the equation, the battery still runs the inverter. Remove the Battery or inverter, no appliances run. With this only being a 1000w inverter, it wouldn't surprise me that only 'a' outlet is wired to it. Add shore power to mix. Most all inverters quality inverters will only produce (send power) if they do not read another source, much like an auto transfer switch. If FR says to shut it off while on shore power, do so. That questions the quality of the inverter though.. If the brand/model number comes up, we can answer the pertaining questions. |
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GlueGuy
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Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2630 |
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Posted: 18 Dec 2019 at 6:09pm |
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It would take a mongo solar power to run a space heater on 120VAC. A 12amp breaker would trip at around 1400 watts or so. If the space heater is 1500-2000 watts, then forgetaboutit.
If the panel(s) are 12V, the load would be pretty large; something like 120 amps. That would be a solar array like you would use on a house, not an RV.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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Pod_Geek
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Joined: 04 Dec 2019 Location: Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 260 |
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Posted: 18 Dec 2019 at 4:31pm |
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No...I pasted the verbatim reply in my post. I did ask them for clarification. It is confusing, because the inverter would take 12V DC battery power and output 120V AC, so there is some reason to believe that the outlets could be powered by solar via the battery. The solar panels of course produce 12V DC that is stored in the battery. Still, why would the system use the 120V AC from the inverter when there is shore power available, especially when there's a 12-Amp limit on the inverter?
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TheBum
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Joined: 26 Feb 2016 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 1407 |
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Posted: 18 Dec 2019 at 4:21pm |
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Are you sure he didn't say "CONverter"? A solar charging system would need to have a converter to adjust the solar voltage to a battery charging level. An inverter would jump the solar power input up to 110 VAC.
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod" 2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4 Three cats |
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Pod_Geek
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Joined: 04 Dec 2019 Location: Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 260 |
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Posted: 18 Dec 2019 at 3:38pm |
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This just gets weirder. The Forest River folks said this:
If your solar controller [is on] then everything will run off of that even if you are plugged in. you will have to turn the controller off. That just makes no sense to me. Heck, I don't even think the controller can be turned off, but I'll have to check. As I mentioned, I tested the microwave on shore power and it fired right up, and I think it's on a 20-Amp circuit. Also, my understanding is that the solar is dedicated to charging the battery, not running any appliances or outlets. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I would hate to think that I'm limited to 12 Amps on the GFCI circuit that includes all outlets and the fridge. I guess that's not a huge drop from the 15 Amps that the breaker label indicates, but still... If anyone's interested it's a Go Power GP-PWM-10-SQ controller, and I see no way to turn it off in either the manual or specs, and I certainly didn't notice a power switch while I was operating it. It's a 1000-watt inverter...not sure of the brand. |
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TheBum
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Joined: 26 Feb 2016 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 1407 |
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Posted: 18 Dec 2019 at 3:06pm |
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Yeah, a 12A breaker seems small for a space heater.
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod" 2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4 Three cats |
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Olddawgsrule
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Joined: 20 Sep 2017 Location: New Hampshire Online Status: Offline Posts: 1014 |
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Posted: 18 Dec 2019 at 1:34pm |
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From what I know, little, it's only a 1000 watt inverter. The inverter should have tripped as it was over-loaded, not the fuse on the feed line. This raises concerns of the inverter. All the inverters I have owned scream at me if I over-load or they are under-powered.
Does anyone know the brand of inverter? Then of course a model number so it could be investigated further?
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