Renogy inverters (1 Viewer)

[MisterB]

Just make sure that the peak discharge rating of the batteries is not being exceeded. At 3kW you will be pulling around 230A out of the batteries assuming minimal voltage drop. I have 2 x 100ah and the max is 2 x 100A.

Aluminium, if that’s what your cables are, has roughly 50% higher resistance than copper. It does makes the length of the 12V run more important for a given CSA - but a useful test is to feel to see if they get hot. If they did not even get warm (which is OK) after a few minutes of hundreds of amps passing through I’d be a bit surprised at those sizes.

Thanks, I have a 300A Fogstar lithium. Using their App I can see it pulls around 140A when both the microwave and kettle are in at the same time. It has a max continuous discharge rate of 200 Amps, so should cope easily with what I expect to use at any one time ( hence the limiting of sockets supplied by the inverter to just three instead of all six on board sockets) in an attempt to ensure I don't exceed the max discharge rate. The app also has an over current discharge history so can keep an eye on that from time to time.

The cables are now 35mm2 copper as I have ditched the copper coated aluminium cables it came with.

Thanks for your comments/input, theyre helpful for me to double check my thinking!

 

[MitchandJenny]

Hi,
Yes I just kept everything as normal and everything charges as it should ... I, like quite a few others I expect, looked in to the Alternator overload issue, especially a certain Youtube video made by Victron ... but as some others noted their testing procedures were highly suspect and also like others I have more than a suspicion it was made more to get people to fork out a lot of money for something they probably don't need. I can only go by my own experience... I have been running my KS energy Lithiums since last summer...we fulltime in our van so I have given them plenty of use.. Running mostly on EHU through the winter December, Jan, Feb and now purely on solar, Votronic controller with dedicated engine battery trickle charge output which I feed through my EBL , no B2B installed, no issues at all with alternator, batteries working perfectly. We run compressor fridge freezer, 2x TV's, Kettle toaster, Remoska, charging laptops, phones, 2x ebikes and a few other gadgets and the batteries have never dropped below 73% ... here where I am on the Algarve they are back to 100% by 1200 midday

 

[MitchandJenny]

Hi folks.
Can Anyone tell me how you charge your LifePo batteries using an inverter as opposed to an inverter/charger. I don’t have a lot of solar, so presumably the only charging takes place when the engine is running ??
Also, how fast do your LifePo’s recharge ??
Thanks in advance.
Mitch

 

[pat100]

Just a general Renogy comment:
When I bought a controller it was a few pounds cheaper direct from Renogy than from Amazon and I got cashback using topcashback.

 

[stevewagner]

Hi folks.
Can Anyone tell me how you charge your LifePo batteries using an inverter as opposed to an inverter/charger. I don’t have a lot of solar, so presumably the only charging takes place when the engine is running ??
Also, how fast do your LifePo’s recharge ??
Thanks in advance.
Mitch

You don't as the invertor is running form the batteries. You should fit a battery to battery charger.

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[Stewen]

I’ve just bought the Renogy 2000w inverter. It will be powering jus a travel hairdryer for now. I have 2x 104AH AGM batteries. I’ve replaced the supplied cable with 35mm2 and will be upgrading the battery parallel connections to the same. When I eventually upgrade to lithium I’ll rewire in 70mm2 as we will likely want to use more electrical stuff off grid.

Question: For those that have fitted this inverter, did you connect the ground screw to the vehicle chassis? If not connected, are there any safety implications in not doing so? There is nothing I can see about it in the manual. Tia

 

[Stewen]

I’ve just fitted the Renogy 2000w. I questioned Renogy support about the grounding as there is a grounding screw but no info in the manual as to how it should be connected. After a few days of email exchanges they eventually confirmed that it should be connected to the vehicle chassis with 4-5mm2 cable.

I’ve wired in 35mm2 with a 200A mega fuse & a separate isolator switch. Its a short run about a metre. It will only be used for swmbo hairdryer and at low heat & speed it pulled 54A from my two AGM’s (104A each) which is fine. Full heat & speed pulled 3 times as much which would kill the batteries.

I upgraded the battery interconnect cables to 35mm as well. During my brief test there was no warming of cables evident. So I’m happy with 35mm2 - for now.I’ll buy a new low wattage hairdryer just to prevent mishaps.

When I eventually upgrade to Lithium I’ll rewire the inverter in 70mm.

 

[wmstuart]

I fitted one yesterday and connected it direct through the mains 230 volt system so it powers all the existing sockets etc. Tested and appears to be working well. Going away next week so it will get a full user test.

Hi Steve, I am interested in how you got on and have a number of questions if you don’t mind.

What inverter did you fit.
Where did you tie it in to.
Does it auto switch over when shore cable is not connected.
Do you know if it would work just the same with a charger/inverter
Did you heck if you cables got hot

Sorry for all the questions but I am planning to upgrade the solar cab ability on my campervan

Thanks in advance

 

[pat100]

Sorry, rather irrelevant post as I forgot to look at the most recent ones! . . .
I got the 1000W as I’ve only got one battery. Use it for low Wattage kettle and toaster.
Worked fine over 5 weeks away.
The supplied (2 total) cables are pretty thick.
If you buy from Renogy you can get TopCashback.
You may want to mount the wired remote switch upside down for UK match.
The “active” light is a bit dim. (Usually, I complain that they are too bright!)
The total length including cables bent sensibly is roughly 48cm.
I used an extension lead with a double socket with switches and indicator lights. The pass-through is always live if connected. (I thought that the pass-through kettle cable connector was a bit wobbly but it never dropped out)

 

[Lenny HB]

I got the 1000W as I’ve only got one battery. Use it for low Wattage kettle and toaster.
Worked fine over 5 weeks away.

I hope you have Lithium as even a 800 watt kettle will draw around 70 amps so would need 300 ah of lead batteries to support it.

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[MisterB]

Hi Steve, I am interested in how you got on and have a number of questions if you don’t mind.

What inverter did you fit.
Where did you tie it in to.
Does it auto switch over when shore cable is not connected.
Do you know if it would work just the same with a charger/inverter
Did you heck if you cables got hot

Sorry for all the questions but I am planning to upgrade the solar cab ability on my campervan

Thanks in advance

mine is a 3kw renogy inverter
wired direct to the 304ah fogstar lithium
auto switches when disconnected from ehu BUT only if the inverter is actually turned on
?
i didnt use the supplied (4) cables, but installed 35mm2 cable - the runs are only about 150/200mm so not excessive and dont get hot
i can use a microwave, kettle and have power to spare
i have also wired it to the truma heater for hot water heating (but i limit its use)

 

[stevewagner]

Hi Steve, I am interested in how you got on and have a number of questions if you don’t mind.

What inverter did you fit.
Where did you tie it in to.
Does it auto switch over when shore cable is not connected.
Do you know if it would work just the same with a charger/inverter
Did you heck if you cables got hot

Sorry for all the questions but I am planning to upgrade the solar cab ability on my campervan

Thanks in advance

I fitted a Renogy 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter complete with built in automatic changeover switch. I connected it so that it powers all the sockets. I leave the charger switched off.