Inverter only giving 183 V

[Kwella]

Hi, greetings from Inhaca, Mozambique. We are here on our annual month long tropical holiday.
We have encountered a problem with our inverter. We are only getting 183 volts a.c. at the plug point and are thus unable to grind our coffee beans.
We have the original Freedom 20 inverter controlled by the Link 1000 by Xantrex on our 2003 Island Spitrit 40.
We only get the 183 volts when loading the inverter with less sensitive devices. The electronics in the coffee grinder prevent it from running at all.
Any suggestions?

[smac999]

First measuring a non sine wave inverter is tricky. Only some meters will read it correctly.

It's possible the electronics in the grinder also don't like the non sine wave. Did it used to work on this inverter?

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by Kwella

Hi, greetings from Inhaca, Mozambique. We are here on our annual month long tropical holiday.
We have encountered a problem with our inverter. We are only getting 183 volts a.c. at the plug point and are thus unable to grind our coffee beans.
We have the original Freedom 20 inverter controlled by the Link 1000 by Xantrex on our 2003 Island Spitrit 40.
We only get the 183 volts when loading the inverter with less sensitive devices. The electronics in the coffee grinder prevent it from running at all.
Any suggestions?

Why not buy US of A appliances? They should work fine on 183V


I wonder if any of these links are relevant?


SOLVED: Low voltage output from inverter - Fixya
www.fixya.com/support/t1586382-low_voltage_output_from_inverter
5 answers
Jan 23, 2009 - High performance low voltage inverters with high stability and preferencial price: ... That shoudl tell you if your device is drawing too much.


Low voltage out of inverter — northernarizona-windandsun
https://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/3920/low-voltage-out-of-inverter

May 18, 2009 - Yesterday I checked the voltage on the AC output side and was only ... most efficient small TSW inverter out there--and the price is not too bad.Inveter AC output voltage too high? — northernarizona-windandsun 8 Aug 2016

Low Voltage shut off for inverter — northernarizona-windandsun 27 Jul 2016


Low inverter voltage output - iRV2 Forums
www.irv2.com › ... › THE OWNER'S CORNER FORUMS › Monaco Owner's Forum
Jun 21, 2013 - 6 posts - ‎5 authors
I ask because my 1800 watt Xantrex inverter had a lower AC output ... a true RMS multi meter, you voltages will be inaccurate, way too low.

Clive

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Kwella.

[Chuck Hawley]

I agree with the general advice that it may be difficult to get an accurate voltage reading with a MSW inverter. As I recall, the inverter changes its waveform as the demand and the input voltage varies, and it makes it difficult for relatively cheap AC voltmeters to measure. In my youth, there was always reference to a specific Fluke meter (87?) that would measure AC volts better than less sophisticated meters.

As for why the appliance isn't working; that's more confusing. Seems like a simple device to have some sort of electronics that cannot work with MSW. Perhaps you could see what works and what doesn't with the current inverter setup and provide more information?

Chuck

[Bycrick]

Most inexpensive AC voltmeters will only read the “average” voltage of a waveform. They will then “mathematically” correct this to give you a display voltage. The correction assumes that you’re measuring a sine wave. To accurately measure a non-sine wave voltage, you need an AC voltmeter that measures “True RMS.” If a meter does this, it will say it does in the specifications. If I remember correctly, a nominal 120 volt modified sine wave inverter outputs about 87 volts when measured with an average-reading meter.

[foufou]

This situation reminds me of why I always have a hand operated coffee grinder. No coffee is bad juju

[sailingchiro]

root mean square, .636 x peak of a sine wave. This gives the DC value of a sine wave. Basically the average of the AC signal.
A coffee grinder is a very basic device. I can't imagine it has any processors in it but rather a on/off switch and the motor. If it is not working even at 183 volts. I would check the grinder.
I would check the voltage without load and with a load. I would suspect it is different. My inverter reduces output when not needed to greatly reduce sacrificial current.
Plug the grinder into a known source.

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by Kwella

Hi, greetings from Inhaca, Mozambique. We are here on our annual month long tropical holiday.
We have encountered a problem with our inverter. We are only getting 183 volts a.c. at the plug point and are thus unable to grind our coffee beans.
We have the original Freedom 20 inverter controlled by the Link 1000 by Xantrex on our 2003 Island Spitrit 40.
We only get the 183 volts when loading the inverter with less sensitive devices. The electronics in the coffee grinder prevent it from running at all.
Any suggestions?

.......buy some instant coffee or filter coffee?

[RobinScurr]

The page below has good pictures of a "modified sine wave", dirty square wave, and the true sine wave your house line power has. Yes, a cheap meter will not be able to measure the RMS voltage correctly when it's not a pure sine wave. I bet the 183 v is correct for a 240v RMS AC MSW inverter.

https://forum.solar-electric.com/dis...-msw-inverters

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by sailingchiro

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>My inverter reduces output when not needed to greatly reduce sacrificial current.
Plug the grinder into a known source.

That may be the case, needs a minimum load to trigger it to work. Check your manual. Plug in a few lights at AC voltage to increase the load or anything else you may have that draws mains power.


I have a Freedom 15, same unit just smaller.



Still need to know if it worked before or not.


Good luck.

[hellosailor]

Kwella-
Take the coffee grinder to another boat, or ashore, and see if it works on the same nominal (220/240?) AC power.
If it does work, then you know there may be an inverter problem. If the inverter works with other devices, then it could be "your" coffee grinder does not like modified sine voltage, but generally, small motors aren't very picky about that.
Bottom line, rashly assuming you are not planning to install a new inverter, and the inverter works with other things? Try getting a new coffee grinder, they're fairly cheap. Or get a hand grinder, they are available pretty much anywhere that coffee is, and that totally solves the problem.
If you own this boat...plenty of time for a better fix after your vacation.

[Dave Isom]

Get a hand grinder for your coffee !