Fuse Or Breaker For Inverter?

[Delancey]

Would you want to install an inverter to a breaker if you had one to spare? Or would it be better to install some kind of in-line fuse instead? Seems like you should do one or the other.

I'm not super strong on electric but trying to learn so thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[model 10]

Breaker for sure. If you could find one that re-sets automatically that would be even better. I often overload our inverter. A fuse would be a pain.

[btrayfors]

If you do choose to use a breaker, it must be one of the new ones with an AIC greater than 5,000 amps. Most breakers don't have this capability and should not be connected directly to a large house bank.

A well-designed inverter would itself have fuse or other circuit protection against overloads, and should not blow the fuse between the inverter and the house batteries.

Most installations with large inverters use Class-T fuses. ANLs or MRBF fuses would be OK for medium-sized inverters.



Bill

[Pelagic]

On my boat:
On the AC side, lock out breaker style for
SHORE
GENERATOR
INVERTOR
so that only one can be engaged at a time

On the DC side Large Class T Fuse before Master switch which supplies DC buss bar that supplies Invertor.

I see no problem with this

[newhaul]

My inverter has fuses on the DC side and a gfci pushbutton on the ac side.

[smac999]

Depends on the size on inverter. A normal size (2000w). You'd have a class t directly between inverter and battery.

On a very small one (200-300w) you may get away running from the DC panel off a breaker.

[Delancey]

FWIW I'm thinking 600w to use mainly for charging a laptop and occasional use with a stick blender.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll research your recommendations.

[newhaul]

If just to charge a laptop and run a stick blender then you could even get by with a 200 watt unit that plugs into the power tap ( CIG lighter) laptops usually draw about 65 watts and a stick blender draws about 150 to 175 watts at 120 volts. I used to run a 400 watt unit like that in my truck to charge all manor of lil stuff.

[Ironman162]

My inverter has fuses built in
Havent had to replace them at all this far. Guess I will have to vote for fuses against that background.
Fuses are quicker than circuit breakers if well sized.

[bauer965]

For my 1000w inverter, I use a 150A Blue Sea 285 series breaker mounted in the cavity behind my breaker panel. I know this requires an extra step to reset, but I want it that way, since if this breaker trips, there's an interesting reason why that I need to investigate before I or someone else randomly resets it.

[ColdEH]

Your inverter will have a fuse inside some where , so that will protect the inverter. What you need to protect, is the wire going from the battery bank to the inverter , so you want a fuse there as close to the battery as possible.

Regards

[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

If you do choose to use a breaker, it must be one of the new ones with an AIC greater than 5,000 amps. Most breakers don't have this capability and should not be connected directly to a large house bank.

A well-designed inverter would itself have fuse or other circuit protection against overloads, and should not blow the fuse between the inverter and the house batteries.

Most installations with large inverters use Class-T fuses. ANLs or MRBF fuses would be OK for medium-sized inverters.
Bill

Ditto on what Bill says

[GrahamHO]

Originally Posted by Delancey

FWIW I'm thinking 600w to use mainly for charging a laptop and occasional use with a stick blender.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll research your recommendations.

I run a 370w pure sine wave inverter mainly for charging MacBook, iPad and phones. That is wired off a breaker. I found the important thing is to have heavy DC cables in keeping with the inverter terminals. Avoid lighter plug DC connections as they wont pass enough current to charge a laptop even if the inverter is rated suitably high. That was my experience anyway.


I earlier tried a cheaper non sine wave (square wave) inverter for charging the MacBook and I had battery problems with the MacBook. Fortunately that self corrected; so I'd advise a pure sine wave inverter for laptop charging. Mine also has a useful USB charging port for phones, iPad as well as the usual AC out. I'm not sure how much power your blender uses.

[Panope]

If the Breaker is readily accessible, it can be used as your primary means of activating/deactivating an inaccessible inverter. Saves having to wire a remote switch (with yet another circuit protector).

Steve

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by GrahamHO

I run a 370w pure sine wave inverter mainly for charging MacBook, iPad and phones. That is wired off a breaker. I found the important thing is to have heavy DC cables in keeping with the inverter terminals. Avoid lighter plug DC connections as they wont pass enough current to charge a laptop even if the inverter is rated suitably high. That was my experience anyway.


I earlier tried a cheaper non sine wave (square wave) inverter for charging the MacBook and I had battery problems with the MacBook. Fortunately that self corrected; so I'd advise a pure sine wave inverter for laptop charging. Mine also has a useful USB charging port for phones, iPad as well as the usual AC out. I'm not sure how much power your blender uses.

I used a 400 watt Coleman inverter in my trucks for close to a million miles to charge my laptop and other toys ( cordless drills and such) plugged into the CIG lighter in the truck with no problems however I would recommend heavier wiring for much more draw than that.