Connecting an Inveter

  • Thread starter Thread starter dom
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One potential problem is that a lot of inverters have their neutral and earth wires internally linked. It is possible that this will result in the RCD tripping if connected as the OP intends. The only way to find out is to try it and see. When using any inverter on board you should take care to use only double insulated appliances if at all possible because in reality you have no actual earth connection except that as described above any current leaking to the earth wire is connected back to neutral.

Thanks for the advice all, very much appreciated. I experimented with the system as originally posted (taking the advice to use only double insulated products where poss). The system worked fine, except the LCD TV/DVD I had bought, which just pulsed from green to red. I swapped the quasi-sine wave inverter to an ultra-cheapo full sine wave one and everything worked fine.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/600W-pure-power-inverter-1200W/dp/B00ABPEKJ6

Obviously the technique is somewhat clunky, but it did the job of powering the boat's sockets thereby avoiding the need to trail cables from the inverter. Children seemed to love the novelty of having power offshore.

Wiring the inverter in properly will be a job for the winter.

PS: I purchased accidental damage protection insurance for the TV for the first time in my life - don't think I am getting ripped off this time!
 
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Great, thanks for that vyv. I moored at Hellevoetsluis a couple of times just before the swing bridge into the marina. Where is Bob Stok from there?

When we were there the marina was on the east side and Ship Shop Bob Stok was just past the bridge on the east side, adjacent to the small car parks. Since the marina moved to the west side it may be that he has moved too but all the map links I can find show him in the same place. http://www.wugly.nl/winkels/44113/ship-shop-bob-stok-hellevoetsluis/
 
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