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Where can I ground my inverter?
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dequity
#1 Posted : Friday, August 28, 2009 3:14:05 AM(UTC)
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Installing a 1000 watt inverter. This is what it says about how to ground it.


Grounding
For safety purposes, the chassis of the inverter/charger must be connected to your AC ground system. The chassis ground bonding lug is located on the bottom of the unit. This connector can accept two wires, the first is used to connect the unit to AC ground, the second can be used to connect other AC equipment to ground.
Use bare copper insulated wire, solid or stranded. Strip one end and use a screwdriver to secure it to the chassis ground
bonding lug. This wire will connect to the ground in your AC electrical system, typically the vehicle chassis. Make sure the
connection is clean and tight.


So do i ground this to the block? The hull? Or the AC side? Where is the best place to run this ground? I'm installing on a 37 sedan. The inverter will be in the wine holder. (port side in the salon)
37' Sedan Twin Cat 3208s!
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fastjeff
#2 Posted : Friday, August 28, 2009 12:35:43 PM(UTC)
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Mine is grounded right to the hull, and not through the galvanic isolator. I figure that, what the heck, the inverter isn't used more than a few days a year, so...


Jeff
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bpboater
#3 Posted : Saturday, August 29, 2009 12:37:39 AM(UTC)
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I wired mine directly to the battery negative terminal - it goes directly to the hull lug then.
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jimski2
#4 Posted : Sunday, August 30, 2009 2:17:03 AM(UTC)
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I think "ac" means alternating current. Like shore power and generator power wires. How about the green wire coming from your shore power connection?
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dougrose
#5 Posted : Sunday, August 30, 2009 11:56:03 AM(UTC)
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The ground (green) wire from the dock must go through the galvanic isolator before it goes anywhere else. As far as I know, Marinette always connected the boat side of the galvanic isolator to the hull. Nothing was connected to the dock side of the galvanic isolator but the green wire from the dock.

With an inverter/charger, the transfer switch will carry all three wires (black, white, and green) straight thru to the boat's ac wiring. Since the boat side of the galvanic isolator is connected to the hull, this means that the black and white are straight thru from the dock, and the green is hull. There may be some voltage between the dockside white and the hull (green).

When running without dock power, the inverter provides the ac. The green is still connected to the hull, and the white is also connected to the hull inside the inverter. Otherwise, black and white would float around. There will be no voltage between the white and the green (hull).


1975 32' Flybridge Sedan, twin Perkins 6-354 diesels, 1:1.53 velvetdrives, 16 X 19 props. Merritt Island, Florida
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dequity
#6 Posted : Sunday, August 30, 2009 12:35:19 PM(UTC)
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Looks like I may have purchased a bad inverter. :( After hours upon hours of work. Grounding it to the isolator (from the bottom of the unit) and then running the hot side to the terminals from the plug. Wired the output side to switchboard.

No shore power connected- I get voltage. I start switching things on. The voltage goes up to 120 then down to 60 and pops, then back up to 120... Then back down, pop, then it ran the voltage all teh way up to 160 VOLTS!... So i turn it off. Check my wiring...Whit eto the whites near the switchboard, black to the top of the switch, green to green... Everything checks out.

So i plug in the shore power.Pray POOF! Like a little bolt of lightning came right out of the plugs on the inverter... Then it was fine.d'oh! Charged at 13.6 volts..... then POP... Blew the fuse at the dock. Well that was enough for me. I completely disconnected it.


You guys have any idea if this is a result of an incorrect ground? or just a screwed up inverter? I bought it on ebay.Eh?

On a lighter note, I hooked up my pure sine wave 400 watt inverter and it runs everything I need. But it doesn't have a charger built in. So right now I ran two big deep cycle batteries in parallel for the house batteries and am using that to invert. i don't plan on inverting much.

Does it sound like my ebay purchased inverter is bad?
37' Sedan Twin Cat 3208s!
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fastjeff
#7 Posted : Sunday, August 30, 2009 1:15:24 PM(UTC)
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'Fraid so. My first one also went up in smoke. The factory replacement has worked great for years (knocking wood) however.

Jeff
"...reality is not nearly as lovely as the world of Liberal Land. No wonder so many people want to go there." - Tom Sowell
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dougrose
#8 Posted : Sunday, August 30, 2009 11:56:56 PM(UTC)
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Sounds like a bad inverter. The proof of that would be to bench test it with just a car battery and some lamps or something for a load - no grounds hooked up. Careful.

I have learned the hard way not to purchase stuff like this from individuals on ebay. An ebay store is usually OK, they have a reputation to maintain. Sorry about the unit, I guess you could send it to the manufacturer for a fix.


1975 32' Flybridge Sedan, twin Perkins 6-354 diesels, 1:1.53 velvetdrives, 16 X 19 props. Merritt Island, Florida
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jcs707
#9 Posted : Monday, August 31, 2009 12:23:19 PM(UTC)
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When I had my boat surveyed a couple months ago I asked my surveyor about adding an inverter - he almost panicked. He claimed that the worst part of a Marinette was it's notoriously poor electrical system and an inverter would do nothing but make a bad system worse. He made several rather negative comments about corrosion and electrolysis potential ... and I decided not to comment further about it since he seemed to believe the ideal was bad from the get go - on an aluminum boat.

Would be interested in understanding if that's the general consensus of those that own Marinettes.

/Clint
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fastjeff
#10 Posted : Monday, August 31, 2009 2:13:28 PM(UTC)
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That guy's a nut job! I ran into his 'brother' who insisted that insurance companies now require ultrasonic thickness testing of Marinette hulls before issuing a policy! What crapola! These guys are comfortable with their plastic boats, and the lack of knowledge on aluminum hulls scares them.

Jeff


"...reality is not nearly as lovely as the world of Liberal Land. No wonder so many people want to go there." - Tom Sowell
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dougrose
#11 Posted : Monday, August 31, 2009 2:23:47 PM(UTC)
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The ac system on my '75 32' is wired with solid-core three-conductor romex, untinned. It appears to be original.

If I were replacing it, I would use tinned stranded three-conductor cable, and I would install plastic boxes, hospital-grade outlets, and use all stainless hardware.

But, my system worked just fine as is, and had apparently been doing so in salt water for 25 years. I checked to be sure that the neutral (white) was not connected to the hull, and to verify that the isolator was connected to shorepower green and the hull, and that it was working. I know that a short from hot (black) to hull will pull a breaker.

An inverter makes ac inside the boat, and there is no connection to the shore. Green and neutral are both connected to the hull. I don't see where there is any possibility of electrolysis, there is no connection to anything outside the boat.

I put in an isolation transformer, and it gives me that "inside the boat" advantage when using shore power, also.

If these systems were so bad, then there would not be a Marinette fleet. But the ac should be checked from time to time. A procedure for doing this would be nice. I'll work on one, any suggestions welcome.



1975 32' Flybridge Sedan, twin Perkins 6-354 diesels, 1:1.53 velvetdrives, 16 X 19 props. Merritt Island, Florida
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pfhlaw
#12 Posted : Tuesday, September 01, 2009 1:17:16 AM(UTC)
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Clint:
I wouldn't trust a survey from an incompetent surveyor.

Years ago when I bought a Trojan F-32 the surveyor did a "drive by" survey and never even started the engines.
He gave the boat a clean bill of health.
If he had done his f**king job, he would have spotted the leaking fuel pumps on both engines. They were ticking time bombs.
I know 4 certified surveyors and only 1 is competent. The other three I wouldn't trust to survey my lawnmower.
Peter
1981 32' sedan bridge
twin Chrysler 360 cu. in. 250 hp engines
Raw water cooled
Nimbus II
Home port: New Buffalo, MI
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jcs707
#13 Posted : Tuesday, September 01, 2009 2:11:37 AM(UTC)
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au contraire Jeff, ...he was actually highly complimentary of Marinettes and was ecstatic about the opportunity to survey a 'real boat' ... in his words. I could be wrong, but I think what he was trying to communicate was the average weekend do-it yourself guy (i.e. me) and many so called 'professionals' stand a very good chance of increasing the potential of electrolysis issues if they don't fully understand what he referred to as the unique electrical requirements of a Marinette. Thus, his recommendation was very general in nature. But aside from that ... he had nothing but praise for Marinettes.

And as always, I know just enough (that's actually a stretch) to be dangerous which is why I depend on the experts here. Sounds to me that inverters (installed right) are no more of a concern on an aluminum boat than a plastic one.

/Clint
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