10
SUITABLE POWER SOURCE
In order to operate the inverter and supply power to an appliance a suitable 12V DC power supply is
required, typically a vehicle or caravan battery, portable power pack or an independent 12V lead acid
battery. For most applications, a deep cycle battery is recommended for best performance.
The size of the battery used will determine how long the inverter will supply power to an appliance and
how well the inverter will perform. Most batteries are marked with their size in Amp hours (Ah) or Cold
Cranking Amps (CCA).
Because 12V inverters are capable of drawing high currents the inverter should only be connected to a
suitable size battery. Connection to an undersized battery could damage the battery and will result in the
inverter shutting down within a short period due to low battery voltage.
The amount of power drawn from the battery is proportional to the inverter load.
P/No. PW500 PW1100 PW1600 PW2100 PW2700
Minimum
recommended
battery size
25Ah 55Ah 80Ah 105Ah 135Ah
30 Minutes
run time
500W load on
25Ah battery
1100W load on
55Ah battery
1600W load on
80Ah battery
2100W load on
105Ah battery
2700W load on
135Ah battery
Run time with
100W load
2.5 hours on
25Ah battery
5.5 hours on
55Ah battery
8 hours on
80Ah battery
10 hours on
105Ah battery
14 hours on
135Ah battery
Ideal
battery size
35Ah
and above
75Ah
and above
105Ah
and above
110Ah
and above
180 Ah
and above
TROUBLESHOOTING/FAQ:
Q. Why does the inverter turn itself off?
A. If the inverter’s audible alarm sounds and a fault LED illuminates, this indicates that there is a fault or
error, and the inverter may turn off. Most commonly this would be caused by an appliance that is drawing
toomuchpower(overloading),lowbatteryvoltageorvoltagedropduetoinsufcientsizecablesorpoor
connections (refer to ‘Understanding your Inverter’ tables, page 7).
Q. The inverter will not run my appliance even though the appliance draws less power (Watts)
than the size of the inverter?
A. Electrical appliances can be divided into three groups by the way they draw energy (current) from
their power supply. These groups are “Resistive”, “Inductive” and “Capacitive” appliances or also called
“loads”. Some appliances may draw all three types of power.
Resistive Loadssuchasnormalincandescentlights(wirelament)alwaysdrawaconstantpower
(watts) from the power supply, that is a 100 Watt light will draw approximately 100 Watts from the power
supply at all times. Resistive loads are the easiest appliances for an inverter to run.
Inductive Loads such as a refrigerator (Electric Motor) require a large rush of power (surge current) to
start and then usually draw a more constant power once running. Inductive loads contain coils of wire
(motors,transformers,ballasts,solenoids).Whenthepowerisrstturnedon,thesecoilsofwiredrawa
largesurgecurrentwhichformsthemagneticux(magneticeld)whichallowstheseappliancestowork.
Thismagneticuxisakindofstoredenergy.
The most common inductive appliances are: fridges, air compressors, transformers/chargers, pumps, power
toolsanduorescentlights.Theseappliancescandrawupto10timestheirnormalrunningpowertostart
up; that is to run a 80W fridge you may need a 600 to 1000 Watt inverter.
