I'm having problems trying to run a small electric watet heater with a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter. The inverter is supplied by six 6v golf cart batteries wired in series parallel. If I switch over from shore power to run the load off of the inverter I have voltage drop and after about 45 seconds the voltage drops below 12v and the inverter powers down. The batteries are rated for a 75amp draw (individually and I'm doubting they stack). I know that I'm trying to draw too many amps in a short period of time.
The water heater is a 120vac unit with a 1440watt heating element that is proprietary and can not be switched out with a lower wattage unit. The water heater is set up on a shore/off/inverter switch to toggle between running off of the ambilical power or off of battery backup.
My original solution was to install a beefy enough dimmer switch intended for indoor grow houses and I was not thrilled by the idea of the switch overheating. After I ruled that out, I decided after talking it over with my brother with HVAC/electrician/engineering background to opt for an infinite switch like you would find on an electric stove top rated for the maximum draw of the water heater. I will make a custom enclosure and wire it between the inverter and the power source selector switch. It should limit down how many amps are drawn by the wafter heater down to about half (or the best settling that makes the batteries and inverter happy) and when I switch to a regulator plugin, I get the full 1440watts.
The water heater is a 120vac unit with a 1440watt heating element that is proprietary and can not be switched out with a lower wattage unit. The water heater is set up on a shore/off/inverter switch to toggle between running off of the ambilical power or off of battery backup.
My original solution was to install a beefy enough dimmer switch intended for indoor grow houses and I was not thrilled by the idea of the switch overheating. After I ruled that out, I decided after talking it over with my brother with HVAC/electrician/engineering background to opt for an infinite switch like you would find on an electric stove top rated for the maximum draw of the water heater. I will make a custom enclosure and wire it between the inverter and the power source selector switch. It should limit down how many amps are drawn by the wafter heater down to about half (or the best settling that makes the batteries and inverter happy) and when I switch to a regulator plugin, I get the full 1440watts.
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