Phoenix compact 1200 x 2 in parallel, 24 vdc, with years of flawless operation.
I am concerned for frequent brief buzz noise at inverter when connected a “50w” AC hair iron that works with rapid electronic switching to perfect temperature control.
I fear the frequent Inverter buzz noise indicates damage or excessive operations of IGBT or other electronic switching actions.
I have measured by BMV the DC current spikes of 30A at buzz moment, mostly the spikes are around 13A = 312W at 24vdc.
In a fifteen minute hair session the noise occurs dozens of times, certainly 50 or more.
3 questions:
Is DC arcing damage a problem at inverter?
Is there an inverter electronics MTBF risk? Due to so many more switching operations of such a hair iron.
Is there official Victron advice on connecting such a load with respect to inverter reliability and MTBF considerations?
Thank you Victron Community and attentive Victron personnel!
It’s probably just the transformer making the noise due to varying magnetic field, not arcing.
If you’re worried, replace the hair iron with a better one that has a proper electrical certification - it’s probably the least expensive item!
A clamp ammeter with an AC line splitter plugged into the outlet would be a worthwhile investment. Then you could see what the iron is actually drawing.
It wouldn’t be practical for them to provide that kind of info - there is no way for them to predict all the possible loads and interactions.
e.g. add a second device with a motor like a small fan, and then add a laptop power pack, and then add a dimmable light bulb and dimmer… there’s no end of combos that will be weird in their own way, and then combined its impossible!
As long as the Philips isn’t a counterfeit, its probably fine.
This is a common issue found with some hair applainces, and others too. They control power usage by using part of the full power cycle, typically done in lower cost devices as it is a more cost effective way of doing it.
Many topics on this you can search for.
It causes a rather unpleasant vibrating buzz and can result in overloads, device depending, due to it trying to pull a disproportionate amount of power through a partial cycle.
It is better to replace with a device that uses better power control, or to run it at full power not below. There isn’t data about the long term effects of using devices like this but it isn’t a very nice load to put through a low-frequency inverter.
Thanks Nick and Community! While other connected loads have electronics influence, they are resistive and simply on/off and well in power range of the inverter.
The hair iron load is the influence resulting in frequent operations. If DC arcing is not an issue, still the number of operations relative to the component MTBF rating (a known value, if not public) could be evaluated for risk.
Thanks again! More than anything I think I should get over it and let the hair ironing flourish.
Rule one, if it is the boss’s hair, don’t muck with that routine. It is more dangerous than power electronics.
I helped family who had a travel hairdryer they attached to a new quattro. It sounded like it was trying to climb off the wall.
They bought a new, snootier dryer - wife happy, inverter happy
- it’s probably the least expensive item!
