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  • Lending hands
    Junior Member
    • Dec 2022
    • 6

    Keurig coffee pot

    We received solar panels on donation. We have 1,830 watts from panels. 2 MUST chargers. 4 lead marine deep cycle batteries 930 amps each, 1 harbor freight inveter 5,000 watts/10,000 max. Why won't these panels turn on our keurig coffee pot? Do I need more power? More batteries? What??
  • Srrndhound
    Member
    • Sep 2022
    • 46

    #2
    Originally posted by Lending hands
    1 harbor freight inverter 5,000 watts/10,000 max. Why won't these panels turn on our keurig coffee pot? Do I need more power? More batteries? What??
    Looks like you have enough juice. Does the system power a 1500W hair dryer? That would use a similar amount of power as the Keurig.

    If the hair dryer works, then maybe the Keurig is not happy with the waveform of the AC power, being that the inverter outputs a "modified sine wave".

    SolarEdge 12.3kWp grid-tie, 19.4kWh, SW Idaho

    Comment

    • Lending hands
      Junior Member
      • Dec 2022
      • 6

      #3
      Our inverter is a modified inverter. We will purchase a pure sinewave inverter and see how that works. Thank you for the input

      Comment

      • Srrndhound
        Member
        • Sep 2022
        • 46

        #4
        Originally posted by Lending hands
        Our inverter is a modified inverter. We will purchase a pure sinewave inverter and see how that works. Thank you for the input
        I would still try the hairdryer (or equivalent) test just to confirm there's no other limitations to power delivery in the system.

        Let us know how it turns out.
        SolarEdge 12.3kWp grid-tie, 19.4kWh, SW Idaho

        Comment

        • Lending hands
          Junior Member
          • Dec 2022
          • 6

          #5
          I tried a hair dryer 1,200 watts. It turned on and ran at lowest setting. When I turned on its high setting the inverter buzzed and cut power. Well, this is what I get when I go cheap. I returned the harbor freight inverter and am now checking out pure sine wave inverters.

          Do you know of any companies that ever donate any panels, inverter, batteries etc. For solar systems.

          Lending Hands is a public charity 501 c (3) and we will use the donated items for our applicants homes. It is tax deductible per the irs tax code.

          Thank you for your help and advice.
          Lending Hands of Arizona

          Comment

          • Bala
            Solar Fanatic
            • Dec 2010
            • 715

            #6
            Did you look at the battery voltage drop when you run the hair dryer?

            I would suggest getting the batteries tested before spending more money on an inverter.
            Last edited by Bala; 12-31-2022, 08:27 PM. Reason: Spelling

            Comment

            • PNPmacnab
              Solar Fanatic
              • Nov 2016
              • 425

              #7
              I love the older Harbor Freight 2000/4000W MSW inverters. I bought a dozen of them. To be honest they were all broken, but they are a marvelous piece of electronics. Almost any wire looks crappy with a 140A load. I wouldn't blame the inverter.

              Comment

              • bcroe
                Solar Fanatic
                • Jan 2012
                • 5203

                #8
                Originally posted by PNPmacnab
                I love the older Harbor Freight 2000/4000W MSW inverters.
                I bought a dozen of them. To be honest they were all broken, but they are a marvelous piece
                of electronics.
                Did you manage to repair them? Are they true sine inverters? Bruce Roe

                Comment

                • Srrndhound
                  Member
                  • Sep 2022
                  • 46

                  #9
                  Originally posted by PNPmacnab
                  Almost any wire looks crappy with a 140A load. I wouldn't blame the inverter.
                  ?? Who's talking about 140A?

                  SolarEdge 12.3kWp grid-tie, 19.4kWh, SW Idaho

                  Comment

                  • PNPmacnab
                    Solar Fanatic
                    • Nov 2016
                    • 425

                    #10
                    The OP never stated what battery voltage the inverter used. I just assumed they were 12V being Harbour Freight. And that would be the expected current and any poor connection or small wire size cause dramatic voltage loss.

                    Sure I repaired them. They are nice basic inverter designs. Dual IRFP260 output FET and common switcher IC that can be modified to do anything. Unlike many inverters, these use the extruded aluminum case as the heatsink instead of having fans blow on some dinky piece of aluminum. I actually disconnect the fans to lower current. Everything has its own inverter as they are only turned on when needed. As I said in my post, These are MSW inverters. I've run my fridge on them for years and the inverter is modified for shorter off time. Most MSW inverters actually increase on time when voltage drops at startup. This is exactly what you don't want to have happen. I reduced start up battery currents from 120A to 60A by doing this mod. I even have one running directly from PV panels to my LG washer. No battery needed. On the rare event a cloud comes over it will stop. But, the machine remembers where it was and I just restart it. I do have a XANTREX 3000W pure sine wave. I've never seen a reason to use it.

                    Comment

                    • Lending hands
                      Junior Member
                      • Dec 2022
                      • 6

                      #11
                      I'm using marine deep cycle (lead batteries) 930 amps each 12 volt battery (4) batteries total. Two sets of solar panels 930 = 1,860 watts total. Each set has 8 gauge strand wire. When the batteries are fully charged they read 13.5/7 ish volts. I can increase the voltage to 14 but this is the recommended charge in the manual (13.5). When the hair dryer ran, the voltage drop per 2 batteries was 12.9 volts and on all 4 batteries it dropped to 13.2 volts. Both solar chargers kicked on when the batteries dropped in voltage. I'm confused with the comment of 140 amp?

                      Comment

                      • Lending hands
                        Junior Member
                        • Dec 2022
                        • 6

                        #12
                        PNPmacnab: XANTREX 3000W pure sine wave if your not going to use the inverter, would you be willing to donate it? It is tax deductible per the irs tax code. Lending hands of arizona is our charity the website is the same name . Org.

                        Comment

                        • chrisski
                          Solar Fanatic
                          • May 2020
                          • 553

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Lending hands
                          We received solar panels on donation. We have 1,830 watts from panels. 2 MUST chargers. 4 lead marine deep cycle batteries 930 amps each, 1 harbor freight inveter 5,000 watts/10,000 max. Why won't these panels turn on our keurig coffee pot? Do I need more power? More batteries? What??
                          I suspect someone donated this equipment to you instead of sending it to the junk pile. There’s a process to troubleshoot, which for me could take up to several hours. There may be some value in scrapping the batteries, selling the panels online, and giving away the Kuerig. I consider a 12 volt 5000 watt inverter dangerous and would not want that given or sold to anyone, partly because of liability.

                          I also think this system if fixed would need to go to the right home so it does not get over-used and is properly maintained.

                          I think you’ve been put in a hard position to decide whether to get this up and running or get rid of it.

                          Comment

                          • Lending hands
                            Junior Member
                            • Dec 2022
                            • 6

                            #14
                            We're a public charity 501 c (3) and like most housing organizations we rarely receive brand new donated items. Most items are scratched, dented, discolored, returned or someone else's junk. What do you mean by not being over used? Our donated system and other panels etc that we receive are donated to other households and installed. Most of these donated systems are used daily from sun up to sun down, there are no days off. We will apply for grants in 2023 which will allow us to purchase new equipment,. But for right now we rely on donated items. Doesn't make sense to me to get rid of the keurig, we have commercial coffee makers that are in storage and not used mainly due to the power they need to turn on. What wattage inverter would you recommend?

                            Comment

                            • chrisski
                              Solar Fanatic
                              • May 2020
                              • 553

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Lending hands
                              We're a public charity 501 c (3) and like most housing organizations we rarely receive brand new donated items. Most items are scratched, dented, discolored, returned or someone else's junk. What do you mean by not being over used? Our donated system and other panels etc that we receive are donated to other households and installed. Most of these donated systems are used daily from sun up to sun down, there are no days off. We will apply for grants in 2023 which will allow us to purchase new equipment,. But for right now we rely on donated items. Doesn't make sense to me to get rid of the keurig, we have commercial coffee makers that are in storage and not used mainly due to the power they need to turn on. What wattage inverter would you recommend?
                              Happy you’ve got a good group that can get the system working. They do need to be set up right so they have little maintenance and those using them need to be wise about limits, especially on cloudy days. Seems like you have that solved!!

                              Comment

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