Lesson learned, the hard way.

[miatared]

I had been waiting to install my brand spanking new Xantrex 1000.

I had thick 2GA cables made and soldered the lugs. I drilled my hole and ran the cables to the battery, less than 4 ft away. I hook up all the cables, power it On, use a power drill to test - all is well, works like a charm.

Life was good.

I then re-read the instruction manual where it mentions clearly to connect the ground screw at the back of the case to a good ground, oops forgot to do that

Well long story short when I reconnected it .... POOF and it starts smokin' , dead as it could be.

I then realized that when installing in an RV, the ground/frame is also the NEG-, since the battery is connected there.

I did call the company, no warranty offered for my goof, ah well. Been there, done that.

Be warned, don't do what I did...

[TURBS]

Awwww man that blows no pun intended.
Can't a guy get a break once in awhile ?

[Herk7769]

Denis, I am confused.

You connected the frame ground to the frame and it smoked your inverter?
That should not have happened since the Neg of the battery is also connected there. My inverter's frame lug goes right to the same bolt that the battery's frame ground goes to and it works fine. Something else must have happened.

You also did not mention an inline fuse for your inverter. It is also a required item. I would have thought the fuse would blow before the inverter popped.

[miatared]

Yes - that is what I did.

I also had a 80A fuse on the POS+ cable, that blew as well.

I spoke to an electrician friend of mine and he explained that the ground for the case of the inverter needs to be grounded only in stationary installation, like a home. On an RV since the frame is the ground as well as the NEG-, when connecting the grounding screw to the frame, it would be the same as connecting it to the NEG- of the inverter, hence POOF.

That made sense to me as I walked away in shame, my DW laughing at me...

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by miatared

Yes - that is what I did.

I also had a 80A fuse on the POS+ cable, that blew as well.

I spoke to an electrician friend of mine and he explained that the ground for the case of the inverter needs to be grounded only in stationary installation, like a home. On an RV since the frame is the ground as well as the NEG-, when connecting the grounding screw to the frame, it would be the same as connecting it to the NEG- of the inverter, hence POOF.

That made sense to me as I walked away in shame, my DW laughing at me...

I see. I need to re-look at how mine is wired.

[RPAspey]

laughing?......man, your DW is tough.

[crasher]

Hmmm.

I haven't wired up my inverter yet. Was just going to wire to battery and assume battery is properly grounded.