Inverter trips when power fails

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  • Gene
    Full Member
    • Jan 2019
    • 40

    #1

    Inverter trips when power fails

    Hi all
    I connected 3 kW single phase inverter to a 3 phase power supply , taking the plug circuit with earth leakage and a dedicated supply to feed fluorescent lights on the inverter, and as soon as Eskom fails the inverter trips out, why is that - is there a neutral that is not connected to the light circuit not on the dedicated neutral bar? anybody have an answer?
    Thanks
  • GCE
    Platinum Member

    • Jun 2017
    • 1473

    #2
    Difficult to answer without knowing what trips and what loads are connected and drawing just before Eskom fails - but at a guess I would say overload .
    When reset does it then operate OK during the rest of the failure

    Could also be a mix up on neutrals

    Comment

    • Gene
      Full Member
      • Jan 2019
      • 40

      #3
      Loads are mostly led lamps and a few ballast driven fluorescent tubes, i connected one of the fluorescent lights on the earth leakage and after 2 sec. earth L trips, then connected to inverter ( ded. supply) could this also cause the inverter to trip out?
      Keeps tripping when reset- yes
      Very little load though there is a 2 kW inverter plugged into the main inverter driving some light equipment
      Will check on mixup of neutrals.
      Thanks GCE

      Comment

      • Justloadit
        Diamond Member

        • Nov 2010
        • 3518

        #4
        Fluorescent lamps have a very high inrush current at start up due to inductor/ballast. Replace with a LED tube
        Victor - Knowledge is a blessing or a curse, your current circumstances make you decide!
        Solar pumping, Solar Geyser & Solar Security lighting solutions - www.microsolve.co.za

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        • ELECT 1
          Full Member

          • Dec 2013
          • 78

          #5
          FWIW..... i have also has issues with earth leakage tripping after power comes back on from load shedding and the inverter earth leakage trips.
          Tested all the individual ciruits and appliances and found no issues. After two earth leakages, i just decided to try another make and fitted a Hagar single earth leakage. The proble
          seems to have stopped. The hagar isnt even that expensive either. Must have some other parts that are less sensitive inside

          Comment

          • Dylboy
            Gold Member

            • Jun 2020
            • 777

            #6
            I have had around 5 calls for this, most I fix with a bridge of N and E at the contactor, a lot have only started after like 8 months or 4 even a year of fine.



            Sent from my CPH2197 using Tapatalk

            Comment

            • Isetech
              Platinum Member

              • Mar 2022
              • 2274

              #7
              Check for leakage current on the neutral to earth bridge wire.

              Test we have done, have been rather interesting and might not apply to installations where the property is a TN-C system which has a neutral earth bond at the transformer.

              First check the current on the at the bottom of the inverter output, lets say you get 3.5 amps on the red and black. then check the current with a leakage current clamp (200 or 2000 mA if you dont have one of these current clamp meters you should invest in one) on the neutral earth bridge. Let us know what you found.

              This test will be added to our commissioning sheets. I would regard this as an extremely import test.

              When you do this permanent bond and you have a neutral earth bond at the meter what happens to the current, now you have created a nice low resistance loop for your neutral and earth from the boundary to the main DB and to the inverter. Disconnect one of those earth wires and touch the earth bar and the loose earth wire and tells us what happens. You might get lucky and there is no leakage current in the entire electrical installation, highly unlikely. By the way dont be that stupid, rather put you voltmeter lead on the wire and the earth bar and tells us what you see.

              You shouldnt experience this issue at all, because the property you are working on should have a COC indicating that there are no insulation resistance issues between live and earth and reasonably safe, because the responsible person for electrical installation has taken responsibility for the electrical installation and ensured that the property is reasonably safe before you started working on site
              Comments are my opinion, unless regulations are attached to support the comment. This is social media, not a court room.

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