Crud! My inverter won't power my e-bike charger!

[tx2sturgis]

Good news, I think.

At least now you can make delicious fruit smoothies while the new 2A charger slowly recharges your e-bike!

As a side note, I would love to see what a kill-a-watt tester shows for 'power factor' on that 3A charger. Must be way low or high.

 

[BigT]

Good news, I think.

At least now you can make delicious fruit smoothies while the new 2A charger slowly recharges your e-bike!

As a side note, I would love to see what a kill-a-watt tester shows for 'power factor' on that 3A charger. Must be way low or high.

I haven't tried the new 2A charger yet.  It hasn't arrived.  I'm hopeful it will be the answer to my problems.  

I did find out what a E-10 error code is, though (see attached pic), when accompanied by a red warning light.  

It seems it's an indicator of "No Output Voltage", possibly caused by a short circuit, a very heavy load, or "output circuit overheat"...  

Seems odd that a little 52V battery charger could overload a 1000W inverter, esp. when others have stated that their systems are handling it just fine; sometimes with lower power inverters.  Perhaps their battery chargers aren't "quick chargers" like mine, though.  
I'm not exactly sure how a rapid charger works compared to a trickle charger.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yes, I posted the information about error E-10 back there in post number 67.

(Sometimes I wonder if people read the stuff I post) 

And yes, I saw where you ordered the 2A charger. That's why I mentioned it.

And yes, my 2A e-bike charger runs fine on a 200 watt sine wave inverter.

 

[BigT]

Yes, I posted the information about error E-10 back there in post number 67.

(Sometimes I wonder if people read the stuff I post) 

And yes, I saw where you ordered the 2A charger. That's why I mentioned it.

And yes, my 2A e-bike charger runs fine on a 200 watt sine wave inverter.

I read your posts, but my memory is shit and I forgot it was you who posted it.  

I wonder if I had opted for the 2A trickle charger in the first place, if I would't be going through any of this at all?   

I'm going to be mildly pissed if I find that my 400W works fine with the trickle charger.  I could have saved the $300 I just spent on the Xantrex 1000.

It is a better inverter though, and something I can install on my next van......  whenever the heck Chevy decides to start producing that high-top Express they're promising.

 

[tx2sturgis]

In my setup I have 4 inverters, depending on what I need to power or where it needs to be powered. Plus I have 2 generators...

You never know when you might need that larger inverter, even if the 2A charger will run off the smaller inverter.

 

[Weight]

Go down to Home Depot, Lowes, or Harbor Freight and buy yourself a Kill-o-Watt meter. You will find more loads to test. We all want to know the true load of the charger.
Photo; A nice clean install without wire running every which way.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I have a suggestion. Since 'power factor' is an issue with some inverters powering supplies that are themselves switching voltage converters/inverters, I recomend you add another moderate load to the inverter when the e-bike charger is operating.

Not a large, heavy load, but one that is resistive as much as possible. 

If you have a 50-100 watt incandesent-bulb lamp, a soldering iron, an electric blanket, electric heating pad, etc, try one of those.

Failing that, try something else that is motorized, but not electronic, such as that blender or an electric drill.

It's complex to explain 'power factor' but in simple terms, the e-bike charger may not be presenting the inverter with a load that it is happy with. Adding a more resistive load to the inverter at the same time might even things out.

Residential (grid) AC power is much more forgiving of weird or low power factor devices than some off-the-shelf inverters.

Of course, this does not 'fix' the 3A charger, but would explain the issues you are having.

 

[BigT]

Thanks I'll give that a try with the 1000W unit.  

When I still had the 400W installed in the van, I connected both the battery charger and a paper shredder to the inverter, and they both ran in spurts, just like the battery charger did alone.  I haven't tried that with the 1000W yet, but I will.  

As for a Kill-A-Watt meter, I plan to order one from Amazon just as soon as I find one with decent reviews.  I'm dying to know what that darn charger is doing to wipe out two different inverters.  :-/

I'm pretty happy with the install of the new system.  I got it to mount in the same location as the Wagan 400, with just a small adapter needed to attach it to the fender well.  

I lucked out...  I've been resting the leg from my folding table on top of the Wagan 400, and thought it would never work with the larger 1000W model....  Nope, works great!  I'm glad I used an adjustable crutch leg for the table leg. 
(keeps the leg off the floor, out of the way, or where I might kick it)

 

[LoveCareThinkDo]

 Or:

E) E-bike chargers are rated for the amps provided at the bike battery voltage level.

So a charger rated at 3 amps and the e-bike battery is rated at 52 volts...power used by the e-bike charger is roughly 156 up to maybe 175 watts...(which should be easy to handle for a true (continuous) 400 watt sine-wave inverter, assuming it is wired adequately and working properly)

I mentioned this calculation in post #39.

Ah... Good point. Sorry, I missed you post. 

We always have to remember that the numbers on most of these products are just what some contractor copied from some contractor who copied it from the product they were illegally copying, regardless of whether the "engineers" accurately copied the electronics of the product. So, they are always just a rough guess or a starting point.

 

[LoveCareThinkDo]

As for a Kill-A-Watt meter, I plan to order one from Amazon just as soon as I find one with decent reviews. 

Just get the cheapest, simplest version at Home Depot. It is only $20. There is only one brand that everyone trusts. That is the original Kill-A-Watt brand.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Well, it's been a month, I wonder if BigT ever got this working?


Closure! We need closure!

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah I am curious too. highdesertranger

 

[B and C]

Comeon BigT, give it up!

 

[Seminole Wind]

looks like he hasnt logged on since the beginning of march. hopefully he is out enjoying riding his bike with a full battery...

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yeah I hope he's OK....

:huh: