I. Vehicle Inverter
In-vehicle power inverters are widely popular in overseas markets. Due to the high rate of car ownership abroad, inverters can be used to power electrical appliances and various tools when traveling for work or leisure. Since China's entry into the WTO, the number of private vehicles in the domestic market has increased significantly. Therefore, in-vehicle power inverters, as DC-to-AC converters used on the go, bring considerable convenience to your life and are an essential automotive electronic accessory.
Car inverters that output power through the cigarette lighter socket can be 20W, 40W, 80W, 120W up to 150W. Higher power inverters need to be connected to the car battery via cables. Connecting household appliances to the power converter's output allows you to use various electrical appliances in your car as conveniently as at home. Compatible appliances include: mobile phones, laptops, digital camcorders, cameras, lights, electric shavers, CD players, game consoles, PDAs, power tools, car refrigerators, and various travel, camping, and medical emergency devices.
II. Use of Vehicle Inverters
Because an inverter is an electronic product, design engineers anticipate all possible problems before designing it, resulting in a more user-friendly product design. Therefore, most inverters have overvoltage, undervoltage, and power protection circuits. However, for inverters exceeding 300W, in addition to the above protections, additional circuits are added for temperature control, low-voltage alarms, and fan power control. This means that various operational errors can occur during use.
1. When unloaded, the inverter indicator lights and output voltage are normal. However, as soon as a load is plugged in, a beeping sound is heard and the red light illuminates. The load does not work. The main reason for this problem is that the battery you are using is not powerful enough. Therefore, when a load is connected, because the load power is greater than the battery output power, the battery voltage drops to the voltage of the low-voltage protection circuit, and both the inverter's low-voltage alarm and low-voltage protection circuit activate. This phenomenon is generally manifested as: the beeping sound is momentary (some inverters have self-locking protection circuits to ensure that the battery, inverter, and load are not damaged), and the red light illuminates. Some inverters beep intermittently until the load is disconnected. The red light then cycles on and off (in this case, the protection circuit is self-resetting; because the load, inverter, and battery are all in abnormal conditions, the battery can easily be damaged).
2. The inverter indicators are normal, and the output voltage is also normal. However, as soon as a load is plugged in, a continuous beeping sound occurs, even though the load is working normally. This situation is also caused by improper use.
(1) The problem is that your battery is not powerful enough, causing a low-voltage alarm, but the voltage has not yet reached the low-voltage protection level. Therefore, you will hear a long beep, but the inverter will function normally. There are two ways to solve this problem: increase the battery capacity or reduce your load.
(2) If the inverter indicator shows normal operation and the output voltage is normal, but a continuous beeping sound occurs when a load is plugged in, it may be caused by using an input cable with insufficient strength. This situation usually occurs after significant inverter modifications. The solution is to increase the size of the input cable. For 300W to 500W inverters, use 6 square millimeter wire; for 1000W inverters, use 10 square millimeter wire or more. The wire size also depends on the length of your input cable. For example, for 1000W inverters, use 10 square millimeter wire, which should not be longer than 50cm. If you need to extend the cable, you will need to use wire with a strength of 16 square millimeter or more. The maximum length is 1 meter.
3. If the inverter is connected and a red light illuminates but there is no output, this is mainly because your battery may be overcharged and the voltage is too high. If there is a beeping sound, the problem is that the battery voltage is too low.
4. The inverter fan doesn't spin when connected. Generally, inverter fans are output power controlled, meaning the fan speed is driven by the load. This reduces quiescent current and noise. Therefore, the fan is usually controlled to run at 100W or higher; it's normal for the fan not to spin if it's below 100W.
5. The inverter shuts down immediately upon connecting a load, and then restarts normally, only to shut down again upon connecting a load. This is mainly due to the following reasons:
(1) The inverter power protection is triggered due to excessive load power. For example, an inverter with a nominal power of 300W will shut down when connected to a 350W load.
(2) Insufficient peak power of the inverter. Generally, the peak power of an inverter is set at twice the nominal power. For example, a 100W inverter can reach a peak power of 200W. However, sometimes your load peak power is more than three times that. Even if your load is 90W, a 100W inverter cannot drive it because three times the peak power is 270W, which is greater than 200W. Therefore, you must pay attention to the peak power of the equipment when buying an inverter.
(3) The inverter power is insufficient.
