When not on EHU should I only turn on my Invertor when I want 240v to charge phones, Mac book etc then turn off again when they are charged

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Langloan

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I have a 130v solar panel / 2 Renology 100a Lithiums /

1 × DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT​

and a Victron Phoenix Inverter smart 12v 1600 (invertor 230c) and a Victron Filax 2 transfer switch.

Seems to me that now have a good set up for avoiding EHU?

When I get to a site i guess all my 12v lights, 12v Avtrex, motorhome wifi, etc work automatically off my batteries and I can monitor their performance on my Renology mobile app?

Questions

1. When i need to power my appliances such as Macbook, charge phone, 700w microwave, etc do I then just pop on the invertor via the Victron mobile app, use the then available 240v then turn it off when finished? Once i have done that then my solar panel replenishes the 2x 100a Lithiums ready for next time that I need the invertor?

2, DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT
Why do I have and what does this actually do for me?

3. What does the Victron Filax 2 transfer switch do?

Many thanks for all the help
 
Langloan said:
1. When i need to power my appliances such as Macbook, charge phone, 700w microwave, etc do I then just pop on the invertor via the Victron mobile app, use the then available 240v then turn it off when finished?
Click to expand...
That's what I do as I was told the invertor will carry on using power if left on.
 
I turn my inverter off when not in use, with regard to charging phones or any usb devices or laptops, you're better of using a 12 volt dc charger as the inverter uses power to turn DC into AC only for the phone charger to turn it back into DC again, I only use my inverter when I must use 240 volts.

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MichaelT said:
We do but your phone should charge off 12v and doesn't need the inverter
Click to expand...
Now this is what I have been thinking lately. I use the cable that came with the laptop and it has a brick, which is just a converter, correct? So usb in the van to usb-c to the laptop and it should work. Same as the phones, the chargers a simple converters it seems, so again, usb to usb-c cable should do it. Or am I mistaken?
 
Barriesimpson said:
Now this is what I have been thinking lately. I use the cable that came with the laptop and it has a brick, which is just a converter, correct? So usb in the van to usb-c to the laptop and it should work. Same as the phones, the chargers a simple converters it seems, so again, usb to usb-c cable should do it. Or am I mistaken?
Click to expand...
Usb chargers can come in different amounts of amps that they can supply, so you need one that can supply sufficient current to power your laptop, but yes, it's more efficient to use a 12 volt usb adapter then to use an inverter.
 
Barriesimpson said:
Now this is what I have been thinking lately. I use the cable that came with the laptop and it has a brick, which is just a converter, correct? So usb in the van to usb-c to the laptop and it should work. Same as the phones, the chargers a simple converters it seems, so again, usb to usb-c cable should do it. Or am I mistaken?
Click to expand...
No you correct
 
ChrisL said:
Usb chargers can come in different amounts of amps that they can supply, so you need one that can supply sufficient current to power your laptop, but yes, it's more efficient to use a 12 volt usb adapter then to use an inverter.
Click to expand...
How would I know the amps supplied in the van?
 
Langloan said:
I have a 130v solar panel / 2 Renology 100a Lithiums /

1 × DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT​

and a Victron Phoenix Inverter smart 12v 1600 (invertor 230c) and a Victron Filax 2 transfer switch.

Seems to me that now have a good set up for avoiding EHU?

When I get to a site i guess all my 12v lights, 12v Avtrex, motorhome wifi, etc work automatically off my batteries and I can monitor their performance on my Renology mobile app?

Questions

1. When i need to power my appliances such as Macbook, charge phone, 700w microwave, etc do I then just pop on the invertor via the Victron mobile app, use the then available 240v then turn it off when finished? Once i have done that then my solar panel replenishes the 2x 100a Lithiums ready for next time that I need the invertor?

2, DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT
Why do I have and what does this actually do for me?

3. What does the Victron Filax 2 transfer switch do?

Many thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
1, yes when the inverter is not needed switch off, it draws about 1A and over few hrs that could be hour lights or other loads.
- solar is tiny, at least double it

2. Dc-dc takes 12 from your alternator while driving and charges the leisure battery; also it's a 2 in one unit, the other bit is fed by your solar and charging the leisure battery.
3. Filax its a very nice digital automatic transfer switch that switches between ehu and inverter without interruption of power, the switch is done in 16 milliseconds.

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That's a good question, you'd need to find the fuse that protects the circuit the socket is on and check its rating, I think they're usually 10 amps but you'd need to check to be sure, have a look at your laptop and see if there's a label that says how much power it consumes, watts/volts = amps so 90 watts say, divided by 12 volts = 7.5 amps.
 
Raul said:
1, yes when the inverter is not needed switch off, it draws about 1A and over few hrs that could be hour lights or other loads.
- solar is tiny, at least double it

2. Dc-dc takes 12 from your alternator while driving and charges the leisure battery; also it's a 2 in one unit, the other bit is fed by your solar and charging the leisure battery.
3. Filax its a very nice digital automatic transfer switch that switches between ehu and inverter without interruption of power, the switch is done in 16 milliseconds.
Click to expand...
Many thanks but please a bit more clarity re Filax - so I am on EHU and the power dies. The Filax kicks in to to the invertor so as to ensure constant uninterrupted power? But I am told not to leave my inverter on when not using so how does it kick in the inverter if it is turned off?

I can see this being useful if say you need to have medical equipment running but when else would it be useful? ie when on site sometimes the EHU stops working and my lights dim so I know it has popped and I fix the issue or stay on 12v
 
Yes its mostly used for critical equipment, and yes you do need to have the inverter on.

But I would do as I mentioned previously, when inverter is not needed I switch it of. The filax will still work a a change over from grid to inverter.
 
Many thanks

You say “ But I would do as I mentioned previously, when inverter is not needed I switch it of. The filax will still work a a change over from grid to inverter.“

But you also say when in use turn off invertor

Will the Filax therefore turn on the inverter if EHU drops?

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