Inverter Overload

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chrisbaker1981

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So i have a Mecer 1200VA inverter and im wondering what happens if you overload it.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com

So heres what happened.

Inverter plugged into wall and switched on -
Power currently coming from the mains, so not using the battery mode.
I have an extension cord permanently plugged into the inverter with my pc router etc plugged in.
I forgot and plugged my vacuum cleaner in and started vacuuming my room.
After about 30 seconds i noticed the inverter was screaming at me (constant beep) and had some red light on.
Turned the vacuum cleaner off straight away and turned the inverter off and back on again.
Nothing seems to be on fire etc :)

My question -
Have a damaged it?
For some reason i thought you can plug whatever you want in to the inverter if its not using the battery, kind of thought the mains just went through it but i suppose there is a limit.

Doesnt seem to be damaged but interested to know what might have happened. I didnt install the breaker thing at the back which you are supposed to do apparently.
 
chrisbaker1981 said:
So i have a Mecer 1200VA inverter and im wondering what happens if you overload it.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com

So heres what happened.

Inverter plugged into wall and switched on -
Power currently coming from the mains, so not using the battery mode.
I have an extension cord permanently plugged into the inverter with my pc router etc plugged in.
I forgot and plugged my vacuum cleaner in and started vacuuming my room.
After about 30 seconds i noticed the inverter was screaming at me (constant beep) and had some red light on.
Turned the vacuum cleaner off straight away and turned the inverter off and back on again.
Nothing seems to be on fire etc :)

My question -
Have a damaged it?
For some reason i thought you can plug whatever you want in to the inverter if its not using the battery, kind of thought the mains just went through it but i suppose there is a limit.

Doesnt seem to be damaged but interested to know what might have happened. I didnt install the breaker thing at the back which you are supposed to do apparently.
Click to expand...
From your Takealot link:
Overload Capability:
- Bypass Mode (in VA and Watts) Load >110%+/-15% , alarm 5 mins then fault
- Load >130% +/-15%, fault immediately.
- AVR Mode (in VA and Watts)at Input voltage > 170VAC Load >100%+/-15%, go to bypass mode
- AVR Mode (in VA and Watts)at Input voltage < 170VAC Load >60%+/-15%, go to bypass mode
- Battery Mode (in W) Load>110% +/-15%, overload alarm for 15s, and then will switch to fault mode for 10s. Then unit will re-start for 5 times Load>120% +/-15% , fault & cut off O/P immediately.
Click to expand...
The limit is 720W * 1.1 = 792W, with a +- 15%.

It should still be OK, as most inverters have overload protection built-in, but don't make a habit of overloading it.
 
AntennaMan said:
From your Takealot link:

The limit is 720W * 1.1 = 792W, with a +- 15%.

It should still be OK, as most inverters have overload protection built-in, but don't make a habit of overloading it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, my assumption was that 720w rating was when its converting DC to AC, was wondering what it does when its just sitting in normal mode with the mains on... Perhaps the waring was "dont you dare switch the mains off and expect me to go into battery mode with that vacuum cleaner plugged in!!!" ?
 
Running an appliance with a motor through that inverter is never a good idea. The inverter is a modified sine wave.

Besides the inverter not being powerful enough, you could overheat and damage the motor on the appliance.
 
JayN said:
Running an appliance with a motor through that inverter is never a good idea. The inverter is a modified sine wave.

Besides the inverter not being powerful enough, you could overheat and damage the motor on the appliance.
Click to expand...

So my assumption is its only a modified sine wave when its actually converting DC to AC, another words when the mains is off and the inverter is using the battery. In my case it wasnt drawing power from the battery. The mains was on. IM thinking the alarm was just warning me that i was overloading it and if it had to go into battery mode it wouldn't handle it. I should probably set up the circuit breaker :)
 
JayN said:
Running an appliance with a motor through that inverter is never a good idea. The inverter is a modified sine wave.

Besides the inverter not being powerful enough, you could overheat and damage the motor on the appliance.
Click to expand...
99% of vacuum cleaners will have a universal motor. You can run it on AC, DC, modified sine, etc. But since the inverter was just passing mains through, it would have been outputting the same sine wave that was coming in.
 
chrisbaker1981 said:
Thanks, my assumption was that 720w rating was when its converting DC to AC, was wondering what it does when its just sitting in normal mode with the mains on... Perhaps the waring was "dont you dare switch the mains off and expect me to go into battery mode with that vacuum cleaner plugged in!!!" ?
Click to expand...
No, that 720W limit is the output limit of the inverter. It doesn't matter if you are drawing power from mains, or from a battery.

Also, as mentioned, don't run anything with a motor from a modified sinewave inverter.
 
I see it says it has overload protection, so hopefully i didnt do any damage. But good to know about not overloading even when its drawing from the mains.. Thanks for the advice everyone.
 
chrisbaker1981 said:
I see it says it has overload protection, so hopefully i didnt do any damage. But good to know about not overloading even when its drawing from the mains.. Thanks for the advice everyone.
Click to expand...
I have the 24v version.

As mentioned it was overload protection. No damage, it's doing what it's supposed to do.

Also, it's an offline inverter so the assumption of it passing through wall power is correct, it switches to battery and thus modified sine wave only when on battery. Overload protection is always active whether on mains or battery power.

So yes you can run a motor on it while it's on mains though obviously pay attention to the power going off.
 
Careful when people tell you when you’re running off mains you can run whatever you want off it. I always make sure that plugs running off my inverter is limited by what my inverter can handle. I have lights and SOME plu go pints on inverter, then other plug points off db board. While Power is on or off, I always run heavier items off the db board rather than inverter.

Mines 3000w but even so, I never have vacuum, hairdryer or anything similar off the inverter
 
Nemus said:
Careful when people tell you when you’re running off mains you can run whatever you want off it. I always make sure that plugs running off my inverter is limited by what my inverter can handle. I have lights and SOME plu go pints on inverter, then other plug points off db board. While Power is on or off, I always run heavier items off the db board rather than inverter.

Mines 3000w but even so, I never have vacuum, hairdryer or anything similar off the inverter
Click to expand...
Yea that’s right, i won’t do that again, good to know i haven’t damaged anything though..
 
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