2400W Power Inverter

[Don]

Apparently this Youtuber damaged her older generation Land Cruiser by dual sourcing a Jackery from a solar panel and the vehicle inverter. New products like the Ecoflow Delta 3 advertise the ability to leverage multiple simultaneous inputs (AC, DC, Solar panels etc.) to increase charging speed and diversify power sources. So I thought this might be interesting in case anybody has thoughts on what happened and how to avoid similar issues on new Land Cruiser 250s.

I fried my car with a Jackery with a portable battery solar generator

I didn't watch the video, but there is little reason to bother solar charging with a 2400W inverter in the vehicle. There was more reason to possibly use solar with the older Toyota inverters at 400W

 

[PACruiser]

Good points. Ecoflow claims that 1000 watt model can be fully charged using AC sources in about 56 minutes. During the current Prime day sales, many top brands are selling similar systems in the $500 - $700 range. They could make a nice complement to the Land Cruiser system.

 

[agjake01]

Ok, a new scenario for all the electrical engineers out there. I’m considering picking up a Jackery 1000+ after field testing one with the Land Cruiser a few weeks back. I also have a 2300watt generator that I can hook up to my house fuse panel with an interlock, allowing me to open up numerous breakers for use during power outages.

Can I put the Jackery in the Land Cruiser with the truck with the inverter powering the Jackery battery bank, and then plug the Jackery into my panel? - Basically using the Jackery instead of my generator. I know the truck directly to the panel won’t work because of the grounding issues.

Thanks in advance! (willing to test this if it won’t burn down my house, blow up my truck, or fry my Jackery)

 

[EOD Guy]

If your Jackery will power your panel now, in a stand alone configuration, I would think that plugging the Jackery into the LC for charging would work like you are thinking.

 

[chris_in_phx]

I was just looking at those 1000’s and I dont think jackery rates those for home panel use right? I thiught the 2000’s and up can be used for home power (even tho it’ll only run a fridge for 3-4 hrs).

You would have to check how much current it can handle and how many circuits youve connected to your panel switch for the generator.

 

[EOD Guy]

When I used to run a Honda 2Kw generator and back feed my house panel, I put a dot of paint on the essential breakers, Fridge bathroom lights etc...... turned all the other breakers off and it worked well for me. Nowdays I have a 8kw and it'll run everything in the house (not all at once) to include the clothes dryer.

 

[PACruiser]

In that price range, I would also suggest you look at other brands like Bluetti and Ecoflow. Some features to consider are ability to simultaneously multi-source different power inputs including the LC, solar, and generator. Also, ease of capacity expansion as 1000w goes quickly for a household.

I assume your panel connection is 240? I found many of the entry level 1000w systems lacked those 3 features to save cost which implied you need to go up one model to be practical for emergency power to the home.

 

[agjake01]

In that price range, I would also suggest you look at other brands like Bluetti and Ecoflow. Some features to consider are ability to simultaneously multi-source different power inputs including the LC, solar, and generator. Also, ease of capacity expansion as 1000w goes quickly for a household.

I assume your panel connection is 240? I found many of the entry level 1000w systems lacked those 3 features to save cost which implied you need to go up one model to be practical for emergency power to the home.

Appreciate everyone’s responses! I’ve got an interlock on my panel and a 30amp inlet for feeding directly to the panel. I labeled all the breakers and everything in the house is on a single pole 120v breaker except for the following 240v breakers (oven, AC, dryer). When feeding my panel with my 2300w generator, I kill the main and all the breakers on the panel, then I drop the interlock and flip the generator inlet breaker (single 240v). Once I’m feeding the panel from the generator, I flip the breakers needed during outages. Lights, garage (freezer), fridge, HW heater (tankless NG - so just igniter), and a few other various appliances. Monitoring the generator with these breakers powered, I rarely exceed 700 running watts. I heat the downstairs with the NG fireplace and I think the only thing I’ve yet to try is adding in the blower on my gas furnace.

At night, I’ve been just using the Jackery to power the fridge, nothing else. The 1264wh on the Jackery handles the overnight, taking it from 100% to 35%. I’ll keep this setup regardless.

All that’s said, Jackery says the 1000plus can be used for pass through charging. The wattage output on the 1000plus is 2000w with 4000peak. Jackery recommends not exceeding input charge wattage during pass through, so if I’m only pulling 500-750w at most times, I should be able to leave the Jackery plugged into the LC for pass through charging while also powering the panel (partially).

The 1000plus is a unit I brought home from the office to try out before I pick something up on BF. I like the expansion capability of it compared to the 1000v2 - and it only weighs 32lbs compared to 60lbs for the 2000plus.

I’ve been pretty happy with the 1000plus so far but there are a lot of options out there!

I’ll let everyone know how the test works -

 

[agjake01]

Well no luck. Re the pictures, I powered up the Jackery and plugged it into to the LC with the inverter on. The LC at idle pushes about 426w - charging the Jackery. Once I plugged it into the panel and started flipping breakers, the LC would run for a min or two and then trip the fuse on the inverter, shutting it off.

No problems charging the Jackery, it just didn’t like the pass through.

Anyone with a guess? Is this a grounding conflict issue with a dirty UPS setup?

 

[EOD Guy]

Did you try it with a single breaker on...... ie the fridge. Might be the LC senses a large amp draw and shuts down to protect it's self, IDK.

 

[agjake01]

Did you try it with a single breaker on...... ie the fridge. Might be the LC senses a large amp draw and shuts down to protect its self, IDK.

Hmm it’s possible, I flipped the breaker for downstairs lights first (1-200watts) and then the fridge breaker. I’ll definitely try it again to see when it’s light outside.

I’ve used the LC with a 1500w burner plate so the draw for one or two breakers shouldn’t cause any issues.

My (uneducated) guess is a grounding issue. The LC inverter is grounded, and the panel is grounded - so I’m wondering if the issues is what we initially discussed with the two grounds conflicting? I know Jackery sells a larger unit with a transfer switch…