My install and review of the AIMS Prius 2kW Pure Sine Wave Inverter for Backup Power Generator

Sorry for the typos . . . way too many hours at work and then the home chores.

Bob Wilson

 

Are they still selling via Ebay or do they have a sales web site up?

Bob Wilson

 

Yes a manual restart by turning it off then back on.. not just taking the load away

The 120V AC out will always be 120 +/- 10% no high output voltage at start up.

These inverters were a special design for a customer who purchased in bulk we have no records of who re sold them to sorry.

This pure sine inverter is sensitive to cold weather and will not operat at 32* but i still have seen temperatures of 40* still have start up problems..

Yes. I have to agree electrolytic caps are very sensitive to low and high temitures and cause power constraint. especial aluminum electrolytic caps

 

correct!

 

When I order mine, do I need to specify something to request the ground-fault fix?

BTW, I would like to hear that our pioneers have tested the repaired units and the "B- to chassis" is fixed and the "ground fault" problem resolved.

I have been thinking about how I'm going to integrate it with my wife's ZVW30 and have a slightly different plan. It will be removable but it may be integrated with another experiment . . . pre-charge the traction battery. <grins>

Bob Wilson

 

You will have to order it from Jack @ Aims Prius 2KW Pure Sine Wave Inverter for Backup Power Generator | eBay to purchase one.

please ask him to check the DC to case ground before sending it to you. I have not heard from him as far as fixing the inverters he has.

 

Andrew with AIMS called me to tell me that he found the DC negative ground connection and was able to repair it by removing a metal washer that was used in place of the correct nylon washer. He also removed some of the ground plane material that was around the metal mounting hardware. He sent me a picture of the location of the ground connection to the metal case.

I look forward to receiving my repaired inverter unit, check the resistance from DC to case ground, check the operation with the case connected to vehicle chassis ground and verify no ground fault alarms are generated by the vehicle. If all works well I will be ready to use my inverter whenever the need arises.

I appreciate AIMS' Andrew Frey (manufacturer tech support) and Jack Chen's (eBay seller) support in helping in troubleshooting and then the repair of the unit under warranty.

 

Thanks much for the picture.

 

4/27/2013 Bear E -- I read with interest this backup generation thread; but for year of 2012 I have been trying to get Toyota to offer the option:


After the earthquake, we heard that our Estima Hybrid minivan played a helpful role by letting people charge their cell phones, thanks to its electricity-supply function.
Realizing that hybrid vehicles can help out in an emergency if the electricity stored in their batteries can be used to power electrical appliances and equipment, we decided to the offer the power-supply function of the Estima Hybrid as an option in the Prius in about one year.
In addition, we will install, for free, devices with the same function in units of the Prius in service in Tohoku prefectures
……..

July 19, 2011
Akio Toyoda, President
Toyota Motor Corporation​

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... this option available to Japanese Prius Owners, but Toyota does not want to offer to U.S. owners. See also web -​

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http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/news/11/07/0719.pdf

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I would sure like this option on a vehicle I start/drive every day than to spend mucho $$$ on ​

gas/generator that is likely not to start when I need it. owner of 2002 gen I, now 2008 gen II prius,​

still waiting for the innovative techology to come to U.S. homeland !! CDbear--​

 

Very nice description and pictures. Anyone that feels comfortable doing this repair should be able to follow your write-up with no problem. The heat shrink was a good move. I will probably add this to mine just for added caution as you say.

My repaired unit from AIMS is scheduled to arrive today. I was interested in seeing what megohm reading you would get with yours so I could compare. I plan to check mine tonight when I get home, if time allows.

Thanks.

 

My unit did not arrive until late. I only had time to remove the cover and inspect the repaired board connection.

I did check the resistance between the DC+ and - inputs to case and case ground connections. All read >20 megohms which is my meter's highest scale. I will have to finish the rest of the testing hopefully tomorrow.

I know what you mean by the old, trusty analog meter. I have used a digital meter long enough now that I am comfortable with most testing.

 

I tested my repaired inverter today. My inverter case ground to vehicle chassis ground measurements were similar to yours:

VAC 25.9 volts, AC mA about 10 mA
VDC 0.2 volts, DC mA about 0.125 mA

I thought the VAC measurement you were seeing was very similar to the 2.5 kHz ground fault signal that we were seeing on the HV DC leads. So I brought the oscope home from work today and sure enough the 2.5 kHz signal made its way through the inverter input to the inverter 120VAC output ground. See attachment below.

The inverter ran fine with the case ground connected to chassis ground and did not trigger a ground fault alarm which is a good thing. I did not hear a noticeable difference in the sound of the inverter when case ground was connected chassis ground. Of course this could be my hearing ! I ran a small table fan on the inverter and it ran fine.

I checked the inverter output connections with the scope and took readings on Line-to-ground, Neutral-to-ground and Line-to-neutral. I am not sure what problems, if any, the 2.5 kHz signal is going to make on the inverter load. The Line-to-Neutral waveform looks very good. I am going to pass these pictures on to Andrew and Jack and see what comments they may have.

Other than the ground fault signal on the case ground, the inverter looks like it is ready to go whenever I may need it.

 

I received a response from Andrew today concerning the oscope waveforms that I posted above. Andrew's comments were:

All your number from your scope look correct. The inverter will show voltage from N to G due to feedback on the transformers but is ok because has 0 current. the reading on Hot to Ground and Neutral to Ground look normal and as you can see its only 60v Ac that's the reason why the sine wave looks strange. (Its only half of the 120V AC) the inverter is not Neutral and Ground bonded. The inverter obviously cannot create a true earth ground. so the only way of reading and measuring the 120v AC is Hot to Neutral.

So I am ready to give the inverter a trial run sometime soon and connect it to the house panel and see what kind of loads that I can operate in the event of a power outage.

 

sounds promising. Still waiting for Toyota Corporate to issue "Tsunami Solution"(ref 1) of 1500w Prius/Estima
option for 2-days of standby power. ? this AIMS inverter; does it test well on appliances and motors that have big startup surges? (ref 1 ) corporate website ; http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/news/11/07/0719.pdf ... ?? to be addressed at TGB4 ( Announcing &quot;To Go Before 2013&quot; - A National Owners Celebration | June 14-16 2013 | PriusChat )