Wiring in an inverter

[DaveS]

So assuming I have a powerful enough inverter, is it reasonable to wire in the inverter output in to the 240v consumer unit along side the hookup input?
I'm aware to turn off the mains battery charger, and not to have the heating on mains power.

 

[MisterB]

Have you considered an inverter with a pass through facility? Check out the Renogy inverter YouTube videos. I have a 3kw Renogy inverter and am really pleased with it. There are some people though who have had different experiences with Renogy inverters

 

[DaveS]

Have you considered an inverter with a pass through facility? Check out the Renogy inverter YouTube videos. I have a 3kw Renogy inverter and am really pleased with it. There are some people though who have had different experiences with Renogy inverters

Didn’t even know that was a thing.. so I shall go and read up!

 

[St3v3]

, is it reasonable to wire in the inverter output in to the 240v consumer unit along side the hookup input?

Not directly. Your inverter will make the hookup pins live if simply doubled up. Bad very bad.

You need to go through a changeover switch. One way for hookup the other for inverter.

 

[Speve]

We have a Victron Multiplus which has pass through which switches automatically you need two consumer units so that you can have a separate mains socket or feed from the inverter it works really well and takes the hassle out of switching circuits

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[DaveS]

Not directly. Your inverter will make the hookup pins live if simply doubled up. Bad very bad.

You need to go through a changeover switch. One way for hookup the other for inverter.

Ok understood! And yes obvious when you say it!

 

[autorouter]

If your fridge is 3-way auto switching, (ie not a compressor type) it will switch to 240V whenever it sees a 240V supply - whether from hookup or inverter. So you probably want to include the fridge in your list of non-inverter loads.

A 3-way fridge is not very efficient and uses a lot of electrical power compared to a compressor fridge. It will drain your leisure batteries overnight. Having the fridge on inverter is occasionally useful - on a ferry or Tunnel, where gas must be switched off. But otherwise it's not a good idea to run the fridge from the inverter.

 

[Lenny HB]

Also you need to make sure the battery charger is not connected to the output of the inverter, or make sure it is turned off each time you use the inverter.

 

[MichaelT]

Ours is wired to just the 230v sockets with a manual switch for EHU/OFF/INVERTER

 

[DaveS]

Ours is wired to just the 230v sockets with a manual switch for EHU/OFF/INVERTER

That sounds like what I’m after.

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[RogerIvy]

If you don’t have aMultiplus (or similar) you’d need to wire in a changeover switch. Don’t go for a cheap toggle switch, go for a decent rotary switch.
Then you will also need to take into account the fridge and mains charger (don’t feed into them from the inverter).

 

[Gromett]

If you don’t have aMultiplus (or similar) you’d need to wire in a changeover switch. Don’t go for a cheap toggle switch, go for a decent rotary switch.
Then you will also need to take into account the fridge and mains charger (don’t feed into them from the inverter).

I completely agree with this.



DaveS Look for ones with 3 ways. So you have an OFF in the middle. Some of the cheaper switches can cause problems if you just move from 1 to 2 for instance. Also the 3 way changover will allow you to isolate the van supply without unplugging stuff.

 

[DaveS]

I completely agree with this.



DaveS Look for ones with 3 ways. So you have an OFF in the middle. Some of the cheaper switches can cause problems if you just move from 1 to 2 for instance. Also the 3 way changover will allow you to isolate the van supply without unplugging stuff.

Any links to anything suitable?

 

[Gromett]

Any links to anything suitable?

Look for something like this. I am not recommending this one specifically.

https://amzn.to/3HepMLU

But with a 3 phase switch you can also do the disconnecting of the inverter output to prevent backfeeding amongst other things.

Raul may be able to recommend a specific product. Been a while since I last did one like this sorry.

 

[DaveS]

Look for something like this. I am not recommending this one specifically.

https://amzn.to/3HepMLU

But with a 3 phase switch you can also do the disconnecting of the inverter output to prevent backfeeding amongst other things.

Raul may be able to recommend a specific product. Been a while since I last did one like this sorry.

That’s great, gives me an idea of the sort of thing we’re talking about.

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[RogerIvy]

Any links to anything suitable?

For simple single phase this is fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L8SJXGV/?tag=mhf04-21

We‘ve installed loads of these into Motorhomes and they work really well. You don’t need to change over the earth, simply join them all together.

 

[RogerIvy]

This is the same switch but with a small housing if that helps:

 

[DaveS]

For simple single phase this is fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L8SJXGV/?tag=mhf04-21

We‘ve installed loads of these into Motorhomes and they work really well. You don’t need to change over the earth, simply join them all together.

Thank you so much.

 

[stevewagner]

I fitted a 2000 watt Renogy with built in automatic changeover switch that works perfectly, no external changeover switch required. I also bought a Renogy dc to dc charger which failed in a few weeks and they were a nightmare to deal with.

 

[Gromett]

For simple single phase this is fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L8SJXGV/?tag=mhf04-21

We‘ve installed loads of these into Motorhomes and they work really well. You don’t need to change over the earth, simply join them all together.

I use the 3 phase one so I can disconnect the output of the inverter to prevent backfeed and generator. I can't remember the details now but the 3 phases did allow some extra features that you cannot do with a single phase change over switch.
I will see if I can dig out my diagram later. Right in the middle of server migrations at the moment.

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[Gromett]

I fitted a 2000 watt Renogy with built in automatic changeover switch that works perfectly, no external changeover switch required. I also bought a Renogy dc to dc charger which failed in a few weeks and they were a nightmare to deal with.

That is the way I did it in my own van using a Victron Multiplus.

 

[MichaelT]

I fitted a 2000 watt Renogy with built in automatic changeover switch that works perfectly, no external changeover switch required. I also bought a Renogy dc to dc charger which failed in a few weeks and they were a nightmare to deal with.

So does that power everything from inverter or just sockets?

 

[Gromett]

For simple single phase this is fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L8SJXGV/?tag=mhf04-21

We‘ve installed loads of these into Motorhomes and they work really well. You don’t need to change over the earth, simply join them all together.

I just remembered why we did the 3 phase switch. They had previously had the passthrough inverter like mentioned above (victron multiplus/renogy) It failed, and hookup stopped working as well. This caused them to have no 240V electric and it was extremely stressful for them. So the replacement was installed with a 3 way switch that allowed the new victron multiplus to be taken out of circuit if it ever went faulty.

In position one the EHU fed into the victron. In position 2 it isolated everything. In position 3 it fed the EHU directly to the consumer unit skipping the victron. The 2nd and 3rd phase were used to do things like disconnect the output of the victron from the consumer unit to prevent back feed.

Sorry been a while since I was involved with that job and I had forgotten.

 

[Lenny HB]

I used a relay to switch mine and rewired the electrics so charger and fridge are only connect when on EHU.

 

[the1andonly]

My Rapido only had one socket connected to EHU and second line to fridge and water heater.
My system now consists of a new socket in middle of van connected to ehu with fridge and water heater, the invertor has a socket at front of van and the rear socket switched to inveter/ehu (using simular to above amazon examples.

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[stevewagner]

So does that power everything from inverter or just sockets?

Power’s everything but I switch off the charger

 

[MisterB]

So does that power everything from inverter or just sockets?

I changed the wiring on my motorhome so that the water heater, the microwave, kitchen socket and one additional socket all work through our Renogy 3000w inverter when there is no EHU, it automatically powers them on 240v via the pass through facility when on EHU. It was relatively simple as I just identified which the circuits were, removed them from the consumer unit, put standard 13A fused plugs on and plugged them into the two UK sockets on the inverter.
I decided against adding the fridge, as others have pointed out, the load would soon drain the leisure battery. I usually turn off the inverter when it's not being used.
I set the on board charging unit to LA setting as there is no lithium profile. I intend having the on board charger 'adapted' by Apuljak at some point this year as I have also added a B2B.
I also added a surge protection device into the wiring between the EHU hook up and the consumer unit, as advised on this forum.

PS I'm not advising you how to do it, just telling you how I did it. There are some very competent members on here who know exactly why, when and where electrical 'changes' can be made, I am NOT one of them BUT I can follow advice and instructions!!

 

[haganap]

another option, but if fitting a renogy it's actually in the inverter anyway. But this was what I was going to use but went for a Victron Inverter charger with the Fridge and Heating isolated from it. Therefore I just leave the inverter on and it does what it does, constant 240 on or off hook up. Fitted a battery master as well as if you bypass the mains charger and the victron takes over you won't be charging your cab battery.

Cliveway Priority Switch with RCD

<p>The CLIVEWAY is a different approach to achieving a “Safe as Houses” installation when using an inverter in a motorhome; with earth ...

www.roadpro.co.uk

 

[berni109]

Renogy pass through ?
Do any of you with one of these inverters know if the pass through works without the inverter being switched on.
I don't have the charger connected to the hookup and I don't want the battery drain from having to leave the inverter sitting in standby when hooked up.

 

[Lenny HB]

Fitted a battery master as well as if you bypass the mains charger and the victron takes over you won't be charging your cab battery.

if you bypass the mains charger and the victron takes over you won't be charging your cab battery.

Victron Multiplus has a separate 4 amp charger output for the starter battery.

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