Inverter

[single]

I have a 600w pure sine wave inverter here.Where does the earth connection go? Also what is pure sine wave?

 

[VicS]

I have a 600w pure sine wave inverter here.Where does the earth connection go? Also what is pure sine wave?

If used on land the earth terminal should be connected to a ground stake.
Does your instruction manual not explain this ??
On board the boat it should be connected to the boat's own internal earth system if it has one. ( it probabaly does not if you do not have a shorepower system)

You may, by reference to the wiring diagram in the manual, be able to determine how the AC output is earthed internally.

 

[single]

No instructions and was thinking of fitting it in the van.

 

[rivonia]

Earth it to the engine block

 

[nimbusgb]

Pure sine wave means that the output is a pure ( or very close approximation of ) sine wave. This means that normal electric appliances will be as happy running off it as they would be off the mains.

Modified sine wave ( a Square wave or several rough steps ) works for a lot of stuff but the output can play havoc with fancy power supplies generate interference and sometimes simply will not drive bits of kit.

 

[VicS]

No instructions and was thinking of fitting it in the van.

In which case the earth terminal should be connected to the vehicle body using AWG 8 cable minimum preferably with a yellow/green colour coding.

The point at which the battery negative is connected may be convenient

Remember to keep the DC connections as short as possible and to use cable heavy enough to keep the volts drop to an acceptable level.

If you search on line for some instructions ( even some for another similar sized inverter) you will find guidance on cable sizes

 

[YachtMasta]

If used on land the earth terminal should be connected to a ground stake.
Does your instruction manual not explain this ??
On board the boat it should be connected to the offshore racing boats own internal earth system if it has one. ( it probabaly does not if you do not have a shorepower system)

You may, by reference to the wiring diagram in the manual, be able to determine how the AC output is earthed internally.

Are you interested in a manual or something?

 

[single]

Are you interested in a manual or something?

No, just confused why a lot of folk say earth to engine/chassis? Why not have a tiny lead straight onto the inverters negative terminal?

 

[VicS]

No, just confused why a lot of folk say earth to engine/chassis? Why not have a tiny lead straight onto the inverters negative terminal?

Because the negative of the DC supply may not be earthed, although presumably will be in your van

 

[single]

But the battery negative is the earth.

 

[VicS]

But the battery negative is the earth.

It is in your van, at least its connected to the vehicle body, . In a boat it is not all that uncommon to have an isolated DC system.

 

[pappaecho]

In a mains environoment, the main earth is gounded at substations to the "earht" which is why they re called earths.
The negative side of the mains is also grounded, but if you measure the voltage between the two they can be as much as a volt apart. If you connect negative and earth wires togther with an RCD, it will trip, indicating it has detected a fault.

On a car or boat, th earthing is to the negative or ground which in practical terms is the chassis in a car or the engine in a boat. If you were to "ground" the negative and use it as and "earth", the electronics within the inverter would not be happy.

I could also write a book about galvanic action caused by grounding in boats and the effect on props etc, but then they dont usually have props on a van