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julien asked

Phoenix 12/250 inverter neutral grounding and other ABYC requirements

I've just made the acquisition of a Pheonix VE.Direct 12/250 inverter for my sailboat. I understand that it has been engineered and manufactured according to european standards, but I would like to clarify some points to see if and how it should also comply with ABYC rules.


  • Neutral grounding

    According to ABYC E-11.5.3.2.4 and A-31.7.7.1.2:

"The inverter output neutral shall be grounded at the inverter."

Considering now the warning in the manual first page, I understand that the inverter comes by default with a floating (a.k.a. a non-grounded) neutral:

"The AC output is isolated from the DC input and the chassis. Local regulations may require a true neutral. In this case one of the AC output wires must be connected to the chassis, and the chassis must be connected to a reliable ground. Please note that a true neutral is needed to ensure correct operation of an earth leakage circuit breaker."

Am I understand properly the meaning of that paragraph and am I right to think that the neutral will have to be connected to chassis ground to comply with ABYC ? Is there gonna be any other issue that I need to be aware of in doing so (and why it shouldn't have been done by default ?)

  • Circuit protection

    According to ABYC A-31.5.3.5:

" Integral inverter receptacle(s) shall be protected by an integral Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) device in accordance with [ABYC E-11]."

Is there a GFCI on the inverter receptacle (NEMA 5-15 R), as the manual is silent about it ?

Also, is there any recommandation for selecting DC input wire protection device ? I've seen that many inverters recommend to use a Class-T fuse, but I'm planning to protect the DC input wire with a 60 amps circuit breakers (https://www.bluesea.com/products/7547/C-Series_Flat_Rocker_Circuit_Breaker_-_Single_Pole_60A). Is there any problem with that ?

  • Certification

    According to ABYC A-31.5.3.2:

"All marine power inverters shall meet the applicable requirements of UL 458"

I've seen that some older model have that certification, but I haven't found it in the documentation that came with the 12/250. So is the unit certified to the mentioned standard and/or can the stated standard by the manual (IEC-60335-1) acceptable for marine use ?


Thanks a lot everybody


Grounding
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1 Answer
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julien answered ·

After having open the inverter as explained in the instruction manual, I just realized that the PE yellow and green wire shown in the exemple, as well as the male connector on the PCB are not present in the assembly. Could someone from Victron explains me the reason for that and let me know if there factory wiring makes a floating or true neutral ...

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Hi @Julien

If that wire is not present, use an external N-E connection.

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