HELP WITH POWER INVERTER!!!
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HELP WITH POWER INVERTER!!!
Hello! I hope I'm posting in the right spot. I have a chicago electric 1200/3200 watt power inverter. I've been using it for over a year without problems. I moved it from my truck to my van (it was never grounded in the truck) the other day and when I went to mount it to the frame it heated up and started to catch fire. I opened it up everything looks ok (except the black spot on the inside of the metal housing) so I put it back together and tested it out without the ground and it works perfect. I'm getting 12v at the ground terminal. So the body of the inverter has + power. I don't think grounding it to the - is a good idea. Is this normal? I've heard of + grounded inverters and electronics. The install procedure says to ground to the body of the vehicle. Is something wrong with my inverter...it works fine as long as I don't ground it. The inverter is hooked up + to + and - to - of the car battery. Dont want a fire. Any help or input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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I tried harbor freight with no luck and the manual says to ground it to the body of the car. I would think a short to ground would cause a fire or a blown fuse. Neither fuses are blown in the inverter. I only have a problem when I ground the inverter. This may be normal but I'm under the impression if I ground it properly and connect it I will have a major electrical fire. Is there suppose to be power going through the inverter and if I ground it don't I have a battery connection?
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Joined: May 2010
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From: Central Indiana
My 0.02 USD worth . . .
Sounds like that inverter is toast.
Test the inverter this way - connect up the positive and negative leads to the battery but do not ground the case. Hook up something like a cell phone charger or other small item that will pull a light load.
Either use a volt meter (preferred) or a test light, go between the inverter housing and the negative battery terminal. If you get a bright test light or 12v on the meter, that would mean something has gone very wrong inside. In this case do not use it unless you like flaming inverters.
Normal operation would have no more than a few millivolts between the inverter case and battery ground potential.
Note - if you decide to buy a voltmeter, do not buy from Harbor Freight. That stuff is utter barf and not worthy of being called a meter. Go get a mid-range one from Rat Shack or anyone that sells Gardner Bender brand.
Hope this helps,
Ray
Test the inverter this way - connect up the positive and negative leads to the battery but do not ground the case. Hook up something like a cell phone charger or other small item that will pull a light load.
Either use a volt meter (preferred) or a test light, go between the inverter housing and the negative battery terminal. If you get a bright test light or 12v on the meter, that would mean something has gone very wrong inside. In this case do not use it unless you like flaming inverters.
Normal operation would have no more than a few millivolts between the inverter case and battery ground potential.
Note - if you decide to buy a voltmeter, do not buy from Harbor Freight. That stuff is utter barf and not worthy of being called a meter. Go get a mid-range one from Rat Shack or anyone that sells Gardner Bender brand.
Hope this helps,
Ray
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