I am trying to use Phoenix 12/250 via cigarette lighter socket. The load is my laptop adapter which is 80W but the inverter shuts itself down. Is there a way to make it work?
Does the Phoenix run without any load?
It does, even with a small load of 20W(Soldering iron).
The charger, like many others, has a very high and very short inrush current pulse. The soldering iron, on the other hand, does not.
It is virtually impossible to prevent this. Repeated switching on could have charged the capacitors at some point … then it could work.
An inrush current limiter could help. Here is another resistor in series to the load … which is switched off after a short time when the capacitors are charged.
But I have a chinese inverter(not pure sine) which worked like that for years. Now I decided to buy a better product, turns out it’s worse..
Victron is no worse … just different. The production of a real sine curve is just much more complex than that of a simple rectangular or trapezoidal curve.
But what is causing this, a voltage drop?
Maybe …
Can you access the Pheonix with your smartphone via Victron Connect or don’t you have any other accessories?
It’s not smart and I don’t have the USB or the bluetooth interconnect. Forgot to mention that when connected directly to the battery it works ok. I tried measuring the voltage drop with a multimeter but it looks it is way too slow.
You can set these parameters via VE Connect. It is therefore also possible that the voltage really drops too much and you have an undervoltage shutdown.
Which cable did you use to connect the Phoenix to the cigarette lighter? 2.5mm?
Mine didnt came with any wires. The cable I used was 1mm, but it is only 20 cm long.
Forgot to mention that its red light blinks two times.
In purely mathematical terms, 20A (and even more during the switch-on pulse) should flow through the cable. Even if it is only 20cm, a voltage drop could be the reason.
But the other way round, you will have an 80W charger connected to it. With power loss, you need at least 120W / 12V = 10A …
10A would have to pass through the 20cm 1mm back AND forth all the time without a voltage drop …
Make the supply cable from the cigarette lighter at least 2.5mm … then it should work.
Mathematically the voltage drop should be 0.3V, which I don’t think should cause these issues.
“Forgot to mention that when connected directly to the battery it works ok” …
Contact transition from the cigarette lighter back and forth …
more diameter for the short cable and it will definitely work.
Will try and report but I think that probably the cigarette lighter wiring is already too weak.
The problem is that I dont have a good ventilated space to mount the inverter and I actually don’t need it that often so I am ok taking it out only when needed. Can I use Anderson connector for that?
Happy to read your report
The back-up fuse of the cigarette lighter should already be 20 amps … but you’re right … it all comes together …
This would of course be possible with an Anderson and an appropriate back-up fuse on the battery.
I have tried with 4mm cable and it’s still not working
..
You could try to take 2x 55W bulb with a cable … connect them to the cigarette lighter and measure the voltage !!! Attention Hot !!! … then we have an approximate impression of the condition. Actually almost frightening for a cigarette lighter … it should actually have a much better ‘cable path’.
A cigarette lighter socket really ought not be used for this type of load, 10A max but maybe not for continuous service, the contact surface is quite small and easy to create a high resistance and lots of voltage drop.