Leviton GCFIs and inverters

[Iceni John]

Today I found out something with my Leviton GFCI receptacle: it's the 15A "Self-Test SmartlockPro" version. When I started my inverter (a Magnum MS2000), I couldn't reset the GFCI's Test/Reset buttons and its red indicator light was flashing quickly. The Leviton leaflet says nothing about this, but I later realized what was happening. When the Magnum is in Standby/"Sleep" mode it sends out a brief pulse of power every half second or so, and only if it sees a load greater than 5W will it begin to produce continuous AC power. The Leviton didn't interpret the Magnum's brief pulses as viable power, so it couldn't reset itself. I needed to run a load on another AC circuit to wake up the Magnum, then the GFCI reset as it should.

I wonder how many GFCIs have been returned as defective by RV/boat owners and off-gridders, when they were actually perfectly OK?

John

 

[Tin Roadtube Vagrant]

Is it a good plan to creating constant parasitic drain to keep things straight? I took mine out because the inverter has built in GFI and my shore power feed does as well.

 

[nikitis]

Battery disconnects are a good deterrent against parasitic drains