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cosecha avatar image
cosecha asked

700w Instant Pot on a 1200VA Phoenix Inverter

I am attempting to run a 3 quart Instant Pot Duo that claims to draw 700 watts of power off of a Victron Phoenix Ve.Direct 12/1200 Inverter. When I turn the Instant Pot on, I monitor the wattage draw on the Victron Connect App, it shows the wattage go up to 900w within the first 10 seconds and then the inverter cuts off. I get a double flashing red light error off of it, which is the high temperature error, although I'm trying this in cold ambient temperature. I have seen several video and heard several accounts online of people running this same instant pot (and even some larger ones) off of 1000 watt inverters. Does anyone have any insight as to what I may be missing or doing wrong here. It seems it should work, if the Phoenix has a 1000w rating with a 2200w surge. Any advice or suggestions besides getting a bigger inverter which is not an option?

The videos I am refering to can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDFwJNwN_14&t=681s

https://www.loveyourrv.com/instant-pot-boondocking-power-draw/

Phoenix Inverter
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Justin Cook avatar image
Justin Cook answered ·

Please post some photos of your setup; while you're definitely running at the very peak of the inverter's continuous capability, the over-temperature warning may well be from undersized cabling / wrong wire type / off-brand breakers or fuses / loose connections, which we may be able to see in some photos.

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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·

In addition to the above. The power factor of some appliances is 0.5. so 700W is actually 1400 VA.

It could also be messing with the sine wave. Which would also make it overload.


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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ Alexandra ♦ commented ·
I use them regularly just on larger systems. They don't do anything nasty to the inverter, it's a fairly basic element they turn on/off via a relay, so temperature is determined by how long/how often they switch it on for.


Easiest test is to set it to saute, and see if the less/more setting makes any difference to the normal setting.

It may also help to know what the battery setup and voltage is.

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Justin Cook avatar image Justin Cook ♦♦ Alexandra ♦ commented ·
@Alexandra I too was wondering about the PF of those - I wish the guy in the first YouTube video as linked had set his Kill-A-Watt to measure VA instead of watts, but alas.

If it's just an on-off heating element though, shouldn't be too bad - but if it's moderating heat like many heat guns or blow driers that tend to use half-wave rectifiers, that would indeed cause this sort of issue. Well, we'll see if there's any followup from the OP \_(o-o)_/

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Michelle Konzack avatar image
Michelle Konzack answered ·

This sounds as if the Battery is to small and/or the cables between the Battery and Phoenix has a too small cross section.

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cosecha avatar image
cosecha answered ·

Thanks for the replies everyone. My apologies, I was mistaken and was not getting the overheating error, but I was getting a double pulsing green light which is the overload error. I have a 206ah SOK LiFePO4 battery, I have used 2AWG wire which is the largest the inverter can take and the connections seem secure. I did get the fuse off of Amazon, do you think this could be a problem? I used a multimeter to test the voltage going into the inverter, right at the terminals where the 2AWG goes in, and when the inverter switched on, the voltage dropped down to 12.48v. Before it switched on it was at 13.4v. I don't understand power factors, but it seems if these other people have done it, it should be possible right? Is it possible the inverter is faulty? Is it possible Instant Pot made a newer version and it changed something? Follow the link to see my setup. Thank you.


https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zpyj48z37E8





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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·

@cosecha

Voltage drop under load means there is a high resistance connection point.

Since you cable is beefy it is very likely it is the fuse connection.

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k-k avatar image k-k commented ·

The copper-work looks nice, BUT a the mega-fuse with the small sensor cables attached: would it be better to torque "the beef" and use a second nut above for the filigran sensorcables?

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cosecha avatar image cosecha k-k commented ·
Those sensor cables are not on the connection for the inverter. They are on the connection going to the 12v fuse block. The inverter is the farthest right connection. Good point still though.
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k-k avatar image
k-k answered ·

Sometimes its forgotten: is the instantpot a 230V/50Hz or could it be 240V/60Hz.

if it uses induktion-heating beware: the wattage variation can be made by pulsing (PWM). Inverters with gridcode don't like that much.

Do you have a plain simple toaster (or sth.else, incandescent light) with a wattage around 700Watt use it for testing. These are the most primitive loads, so they must work.

Think about for a backup for your instapot -> a primitive one 2 position knob "cook/warm" 600W/60W no thrills ricecooker. These are 99.99% real ohmish devices. (Don't forget to detach -> 60W 1knob). My old EF River drive it flawlessly.

A household energymeter - with cos phi measuring - costs 10-20€, a good invest. [0.8 Rule of thumb 100W=125VA appliances, worser only small LEDs]

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k-k avatar image k-k commented ·

Edit: 13.4V sounds not like the batt is full. Does eventually the BMS the "kill-switching"?

Edit2: Assuming 230V have you tried 220V or lesser?

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cosecha avatar image cosecha k-k commented ·

I talked to the battery company and they said the cut-off is 10.8v. I’m in the US and according to the Phoenix user manual, it is 120VAC +/- 3%

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k-k avatar image k-k cosecha commented ·

Your phoenix has a ve.direct interface.

So its possibleto tweek some parameters. The more "ohmish" your load is, the more effect has a inverter output voltage deviation. Give it a try.


(You measured 900W) ÷ 120V = 7.5A

R=U÷I -> 120÷7.5 = 16 ohm

P=U^2÷R

110^2÷16 = 756.25W

120^2÷16 = 900.00W

130^2÷16 = 1056.25W






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