inverter buzz when off

[vanguy]

yeah, i just noticed this today. i have a 1000W (2000 peak) MSW harbor freight inverter and noticed a buzz. i turned it off and still heard the noise through the inverter. it's at the front of the unit where things plug in. it's quiet, maybe i never noticed before.
doesn't matter if nothing is plugged in and it's off. sound is always there. anyone else hear this with their inverter?
normal?

 

[Lucky mike]

if you hear a buzz you have a drain on your battery.....the switch on your inverter is only shutting down the outlet power.

add a switch between the positive battery line and the inverter.....

 

[SternWake]

Never noticed a Buzz. My coleman 800 watt MSW would have a spark jump when hooking up the ring terminals. I was never able to measure a parasitic draw, I assume it was just filling a capacitor.

Put one of these or similar, on the (+) feed to the inverter:

http://www.amazon.com/Xscorpion-CB2...96301&sr=1-1&keywords=200+amp+circuit+breaker

 

[vanguy]

well, i just got off the phone with tech support. turns out there is a tiny second fan inside the inverter that is on as long as the battery is connected (also explains the spark when connecting). he said if you only hear it up close like i do, it's no problem. if it can be heard from 2 or 3 feet away, something's wrong.
the manual says nothing about this fan, but it's normal.
still, i wonder how much it drains the batteries.....

 

[Lucky mike]

enough to make me want to put a kill switch in !!!.......even a little power could mean just one hour of reading with an LED light......or a failure in the inverter causing a direct short

 

[vanguy]

so its been running for 3 months straight through the brutal cold winter we had here. great. if i knew i never would've left it connected.
the ******* manual SHOULD HAVE told me about this.

 

[freenez2]

You may want to put a breaker or fuse between the inverter and batteries on the positive side. A short can occur for a variety of reasons and cause problems.