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Can 2 Inverters Be Merged To deliver the Combined Wattage of the 2 Inverters


Jac H.

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I just happen to have a 1500 watt and a 200 watt inverter and the 1500 watt wont not blow its breaker when trying to use it alone, my now X-Wife bought a 200 watt inverter yep a cigarette Lighter one, when we needed an inverter years ago, the 1500 watt handled that job very well, but I had ordered that 1500 watt 10 days before she came home with that micro inverter all proud, I asked her what she was going to do with that light farts, LOL i doubt it would do that, anyway since the Divorce I have wound up with both of these 2 inverters & my 2 daughters are both rather tech happy, anyway i have found what they are needing to power uses 1650 watts which I know the 1500 wont do alone is it possible for me to somehow merge the outlets from the 2 inverters I will attack a pair of plugs and block the extra sockets and have the 2 cords merge in 1 plastic power box with a switch, and I will have a set of very High grade Copper or Brass Spring Clips to connect the par of inverters to the Battery, yes I will probably have to get inside that Micro inverter and attach a real wire to its power input, & modify its exterior power connection hole to accept what I am thinking of using is a section of battery Cable for any vehicle or boat, versus its cigarett lighter plug since my opinion of those is if they work your damn Lucky if it doesnt melt your vehicles wireing. LOL any Helpful ideas will be greatly appreciated, I guess if worse comes to worse I could just buy them a 2500 watt inverter, which might be really nice hooked up with the 1500 watt one if combining them will work I am unsure so I figured I would ask at the place with the best info I could find about inverters which happens to be this site, regardless I will have them a minimum of 2 if not 4 Big Powerful Batteries, any suggestions on the Battery Choice would be greatly apprecieated also, I am unsure if I should consider Tractor Trailer 6 volt Batteries connected in parallel to get my 12 volts or just multiple 12 Volt Recreational Vehicle Batteries, I seem to remember someone saying years ago using 2 Big Rig Batteries connected properly would provide more Watts over a longer time, but that was around age 12 so 41 years ago. LOL Anyway my main Question for now is Can 2 Inverters Be Merged To deliver the Combined Wattage of the 2 Inverters since I have a 1500 watt and a 200 watt paperweight at best, I am sure many will say throw that thing away before it causes a problem that will cost more than just buying a 2500 watt inverter. Ha Ha

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No, please don't even think of combining the outputs. You could use the different inverters to supply different loads. They are both running more or less flat out with no allowance for start up surges. Cigarette lighter sockets are very poor and may overheat supplying your small inverter.

You need a much bigger inverter or don't use so much power at once.

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As above but adding not that combinations. Some inverters are designed to allow you to do this but they are expensive and both must produce the same wave form. I bet your 200 watt one is a modified sine wave.

If you attempt this I can almost guarantee it will solve your problem - magic smoke and you having to buy a more suitable inverter PDQ - that's if nothing catches fire.

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Inverters can be connected in some circumstances;; they need to have this 'parallelling' feature, they need to be the same make and you need to buy a special cable to link them.  This ensures that the two waveforms are in sync with one another.  some models from Victron and Mastervolt offer this. Sterling inverters can not be parallelled AS FAR AS I KNOW.  Their site says, "If you require power assist, parallel connection, three phase output functions or any other enhanced combi features then this range is not for you."

Edited by mross
changed the last sentence.
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If you only want the short answer, skip to the bottom of this post - Just read this through, and my style tends to be a bit blunt/unfriendly, it is not intentional, just how I am......

Long answer  -  Inverters have an internal clock to give you the 50Hz output.  Some inverters have a feature whereby two inverters are connected with a very low power cable to ensure both inverters run in sync - ie basically a one of the clocks is a master clock.  Then the outputs can be wired together.  The other method is where the mains power passes through the inverter and the inverter uses the mains frequency to control the inverter clock so that the two (mains and inverter) are exactly in sync, then the inverter can boost the output power by combining the mains and inverter together.  Again this requires a specifically designed inverter to do this.

If you link your two inverter outputs together they will be out of phase and if you are lucky the big inverter will overpower the little inverter which will be destroyed, if you are unlucky, both inverters will be destroyed and one may even catch fire.

Finally, it is never - especially with cheap inverters - a good idea to run your inverter close to, or at max rated power, and another finally, inverters are actually max current output limited, which is often given as 'so many' watts, but when power factor is taken into account the output watts are actually lower.

Short answer  -  No.  You can not link them together, and if you are thinking about trying it, see the long answer.

 

Edited by Chewbacka
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3 hours ago, Ratty's Retreat said:

No, please don't even think of combining the outputs. You could use the different inverters to supply different loads. They are both running more or less flat out with no allowance for start up surges. Cigarette lighter sockets are very poor and may overheat supplying your small inverter.

You need a much bigger inverter or don't use so much power at once.

Please be aware that if you run two inverters to supply two different loads the 'live' wires will have a voltage difference between them that very quickly alternates between zero and about 500V.  So keep the inverters and the things they are powering at least 2 meters apart.  If this is to be anything more than a brief solution then they need to be correctly installed or you will have an unsafe installation and will fail the BSS examination.

Edited by Chewbacka
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I agree that the OP can't connect his two inverters together.  But two Mastervolts or two Victrons could certainly be paralleled (with certain PSW models).  They have a synchronising cable which has to be purchased separately.

Edited by mross
added emphasis
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1 hour ago, Chewbacka said:

Please be aware that if you run two inverters to supply two different loads the 'live' wires will have a voltage difference between them that very quickly alternates between zero and about 500V.  So keep the inverters and the things they are powering at least 2 meters apart.  If this is to be anything more than a brief solution then they need to be correctly installed or you will have an unsafe installation and will fail the BSS examination.

This ^^^^

Paralleling unsynchronised supplies is dangerous. Almost certain to result in a small explosion and both inverters ruined. 

The reason for the 2 metres separation is to prevent you from getting a hand on each supply and electrocuting yourself.

Edited by cuthound
To unmangle the effects of autocorrect.
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10 minutes ago, cuthound said:

The reason for the 2 metres separation is to prevent you from getting a hand on each supply and electrocuting yourself.

Unless you're built like a gorilla. Or your name is Jeremy Clarkson. 

Thinking about it... ;)

  • Greenie 1
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I would just add that when you get a bigger inverter to handle the loads that you want to feed go even consider connecting it to your batteries with crock clips, get it all hard wired in properly with proper 240 volt circuits to feed your appliances.

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