2000w Inverter Install

Not relevant but this was Cool at 0730. That is Cool, CA.

 

What does at rest mean?

 

¿Cómo?

Back in December I had to start up a Gen 2 whose 12v battery had an open-circuit voltage too low to start the car (in fact, too low to light any lights, and too low for "smart clamps" on a jump pack to detect that it was a battery).

Once started, the car charged the battery. Gen 1 and 2 charged at a low rate (I measured no more than 8 amps at first into the completely flat battery, tapering off as it charged) so it took more than eight hours leaving the car in READY to complete the charge. But charge it did.

With Gen 3, a higher charge rate was introduced (along with a temperature sensor above the battery).

 

Thank you for providing your measurement experience. I drove the car at intermittent intervals throughout the day, but never measured a voltage increase. The smart charger did the trick.

 

That is the battery's voltage, measured before it is used.

During use, the battery will either show its voltage under Load, or the charging voltage that is supplying it.

After you turn the car off ( charging is no longer being applied), the battery's voltage will decrease ever-so-slightly over a few hours. When the chemistry has resumed ambient temperature of its surroundings, the battery is at rest. That value will show you the true state of charge

 

Worth noting: the OEM battery has a label on top recommending a charge rate no higher than 5 amps, IIRC.

If you observe that recommendation when setting up the smart charger, it too will take over nine hours to recharge a severely drained battery. You can reduce the time needed by charging at above the recommended rate, but that's a trade-off with the longevity of the battery.

 

Since this was a new battery it had set on a warehouse shelf for some time. It wasn't depleted, just slowly discharged. I purchased a smart charger recommended by other forum members, the ctek mus4.3. It took several hours to run the cycle but at the end of it the resting voltage was right at 13.7 volts

 

Yes, but it's more efficient and will run cooler if you use a 2000 watt inverter and never go over over 1000 watts of actual power used.

 

Hey Insighter . Just reading this inverter discussion. Did you end up in a smaller fuse at 100A with this 2000w inverter? Have you try running a long cable to your house and power a full-size refrigerator, modem, lights and laptop? I’m trying to add a 2k or 3k inverter for my 2014 Prius. The 12V battery is located in the truck which mean I can have a very short cable (1/0AWG) from my battery to my inverter. Thanks


iPhone ?

 

That is potentially dangerous. 100A fuse says it all. It is there to protect the wire. Do you really want to 'test' a hundred amp fuse by continuously operating near the limit, or over drawing current through it?

 

You are wrong, you didn't interpret the sentence I wrote correctly... The entire point is that an oversize inverter, will run cooler and more efficiently at 1/2 it's potential output and at less than 1000 watts even a brief spike in amps is going to be nowhere near 100amps.

 

You put a lot of faith in the owner of a 2000 watt inverter, to always remember NOT to run 2,000 Watts off of his inverter

 

Well, I want to install a 4000 watt inverter in my Gen 3. "I was told it can't be done."

I don't believe that. I can and will find a solution.

 

There's info on this website about tapping into the HV 220 DC and converting it to 120 AC by building your own inverter, which probably is most efficient way to get 4000watts... Alternatively and much more easily you could wire two 12v together to make 24v and run a 4000w inverter off of that, but recharging those 12v is the challenge. Perhaps a smart switch that rotates between three 12v and charges one while it connects the other two not in use by the car as 24v. But what in the world do you even need 4K watts of power for in the first place?

 

Of course it can be done. But the car can't supply that much power to the 12V buss, so if you try to use it all you'll blow the fuse. 800-1000W is the limit for the DC/DC converter. There are people who have powered inverters from the traction battery. That would yield much more power, but it's a lot more involved and would, of course, force the ICE to run a lot more.

 

Well I can't win all the time.

 

I have some power equipment that I foolishly thought that I could run on a 4k inverter for my new business venture.

I do have a Bestek 500 watt inverter that should work for charging power tool batteries... Maybe.

Thanks so much for your creative idea to solve my problem. I'll probably just get a regular gas powered gen, a lot cheaper anyways.

Oh, and in a few weeks ,I'll be living out of the Prius on a road trip to where ever it is I'm going.

Not sure where I'm relocating too yet.

Kind of nervous.

 

Another way to go that has multiple benefits is learning how to rebuild hybrid Prius battery... Some times you can find them for as low as $50 at some wrecking yards. That way you can not only have spare battery packs on the shelf to make money when people need a loaner pack, but wiring a few packs up as a 24v system to power a 4000w inverter would give you a fairly long run time... Then just configure a way to charge them all by plugging into a regular plug outlet.