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terracraft-geoff avatar image
terracraft-geoff asked

Pheonix Inverter Wire Gauge Limitation vs. Peak Rated Power

Hello,

The 500VA Pheonix VE.Direct Inverter is rated to support up to 900W of peak power, according to the datasheet. However, the maximum wire gauge that can the screw terminals can accommodate is apparently AWG8 (also according to the datasheet). If the inverter is running from a 12VDC power source and the power demand is surged to ~900W, then the inverter would pull over 80A (accounting for some efficiency loss) which is well above the ampacity of an AWG8 cable. This seems like a potentially dangerous situation, or am I missing something? Thank you


Geoff

inverter current draw
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2 Answers
Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

The inverter can supply the peak power only for a few seconds so I see no problem with the wire size.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

But I agree, the peak power really isn't an issue for wire sizing. Use the maximum continuous power for wire size.

Marine wire has 105°C insulation. Marine 8 AWG will handle 80 amps continuous.

90°C 8 gauge wire will handle 55 amps which includes SOOW "rubber covered" cord and THHN individual wire. But I recommend Marine wire because it is much more flexible, not to mention designed for harsher environments.


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