Venting the inverter ?

[Seb1]

Hi all, searched in threads, but did not find related topic : I have a 3000w chinese Sun Gold Power inverter. So far working great. I can even run my 5000 btu AC on it for at least couple hours. But it gets hot . And I have it under an enclosed bench with only one side opened to the rest of the bus. When the bench lid is closed for couple hours, and I open the lid, it get very warm in there. The fan in the inverter is working fine. I am concerned this heat may damage the inverter if not, worse, lead to fire. Wondering if I should set up an additional 12V computer fan to create air flow in the compartment where it is set up. Any thoughts / experience with that ?

[rffffffff]

I think it would be silly not to!

All electronics work better when they’re in a good environment and heat is a good way to help things fail. Keep it cooler and it’ll keep you happier.

[Danjo]

Maybe hook it up to a thermostat that’s inside the compartment, to kick on when it hits 100 or something? I suppose you’d need the thermostat to control a relay...

[joeblack5]

cool is better, not sure about your batteries, are these ventles? If they are wet lead acid then you should be careful with the potential of explosive gasses and also those gasses can be corrosive so not so good for the electronics in the inverter.

good luck
Johan

[s2mikon]

I'll second what joeblack5 just posted. If you haven't had the privilege of watching a battery explode you are missing out.

[Seb1]

Those batteries are AGM sealed, so from an off gasing perspective, they should be safe. But now I am reading that they can be more temperature sensitive. So y'all comforting me in my thinking of putting a fan, and thermostat controlled idea is even better. I did not think much of this heat thing when I laid out my plans. Still learning.

[s2mikon]

Every time I hear the words heat and electronics I'm reminded of the times my new 1978 ford fairmont electronic ignition left me stranded on the side of the road. It was called autolite runabout ignition. It would runabout 2 hours.

[joeblack5]

No worries then, I can not see the pic very clear but if you batteries are setup in parallel like that then it would be better if your inverter would feed of the first and the last battery instead of one battery on the end. That would help with equalizing the current delivery from each battery.



Batteries like cool for a longer life. That is the aging effects of the acid are less at lower temps.

Nice box in a box.

[s2mikon]

I can't tell from the picture but can you place a separator board between the batteries and the inverter and run the cables through holes and seal the batteries from the inverter to keep the batteries cooler? Then fan cool your inverter box. The instructions for my inverter said to mount it vertically for proper cooling. The fans are in the bottom and air exits out the top. They tell us how efficient these things are and then how important it is to keep them cool. The heat is the inefficiency. I should have mounted mine on the kitchen counter next to the stove as a finned cook top to grill steaks on.

[Seb1]

Thanks for the great tip Johan on the equalization. Easy to fix.
My neighbor calls my box in a box the secret coffin. Wonder why.

[Seb1]

I thought about the separator between batteries and inverter, but got lazy in my plywood/Kregg jig frenzy. Now thinking about it, I better not put one and create a flow with fans in and out across the whole length to keep batteries and electronics cooler. One thing I probably screwed up though is that I kept my engine coolant heater hoses running along the same box including original fittings, so that way if they leak in the inverter, I'll have a nice firework under my butt !

[TJones]

Originally Posted by s2mikon

Every time I hear the words heat and electronics I'm reminded of the times my new 1978 ford fairmont electronic ignition left me stranded on the side of the road. It was called autolite runabout ignition. It would runabout 2 hours.

I can relate. The ignition switch on my sweet 1980 Fairmont station wagon that I drove in high school shorted and caught on fire one morning. Fortunatly there was snow on the ground so I packed a few handfuls of snow around the steering column until it quit smoking.



Ted

[kazetsukai]

I kinda went overboard with inverter ventilation, so here's a pic of that. My inverter (8kW Split Phase Power Jack) is in the underbelly storage which was sealed, so I figured it was necessary.


The black box in the middle is a 6" inline duct fan meant for "hydroponics".

Currently waiting for my new inverter to arrive, when it does it is likely going inside the cabin where this setup will be removed, opting instead for cabin ventilation.

[1 bus]

So I am sure that vane-axial fan moves a plenty of CFM but what did you do for the inlet? Is it filtered? Also, where does the exhaust vent? If outside hope it has screen to keep the critters from moving in.

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by 1 bus

So I am sure that vane-axial fan moves a plenty of CFM but what did you do for the inlet? Is it filtered? Also, where does the exhaust vent? If outside hope it has screen to keep the critters from moving in.

The fan is the inlet- it pulls from a charcoal carbon filter.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Inch+Air+...ref=nb_sb_noss

Kind of overkill. Yes, the exhaust outlet is screened to keep critters out. Keep in mind I'm not exactly recommending others mimic this setup- it would probably be sufficient to ventilate the box only in the pictures shown above, I just wanted that CFM blowing directly on the transformer. .

[ABBus]

I use two fans (CF12025BLA2PACK from Amazon) and a temperature controller (B07H2X4NNR). Easy to set-up, and very efficient.

[Seb1]

Cool. I am actually contemplating the AC Infinity AIRPLATE T8 dual fans with temp control (1 fan sucking air in on one side of the box, the other one pushing air out on the other end of the box).

[Rivetboy]

A filtered fresh air supply duct on the bottom of the enclosure with a negative pressure exhaust fan on the top of the enclosure would use 1/2 of the energy of two fans and be more efficient as hot air rises, which would assist in the air exchange of the compartment. At certain ambient air temperatures, convection might create enough air exchange to give sufficient cooling with out the fan in operation.

[Rivetboy]

Example "A" for your viewing enjoyment