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5000W—Pure Sine Inverter by Wagan Tech
7
www.wagan.com
User’s Manual—Read before using this equipment
©2012 Wagan Corporation
All Rights Reserved.
Wagan Tech and wagan.com are trademarks used by Wagan Corporation.
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Load Considerations
When an appliance with a motor starts, it requires a momentary surge of
power. This surge of power is the “starting load” or “peak load”. Once
started, the appliance requires less power to continue to operate. This is
known as the “continuous load”. It is important to know the starting loads and
the continuous loads of the appliances that are to be powered by the inverter.
Appliance power is rated in watts. This information is usually stamped or
printed on most appliances and equipment. In some cases, a tool will be rated
in amperes. To convert from amps to watts, multiply:
Amps x 120 (AC voltage) = Watts
This formula yields an approximation of the continuous wattage load of that
appliance.
The startup load of an appliance is a major factor of whether this inverter can
power it.
Startup load is momentary. With many appliances, it is approximately twice
the continuous load, but some appliance startup loads can be as high as eight
times the continuous load.
To determine if an appliance or tool will operate with this inverter, run a test.
This inverter will automatically shut down in the event of an output overload,
so there is no danger of damaging either the inverter or the equipment. When
lit, a red LED indicator signals a fault.
Planning the Inverter System
Any large wattage inverter system requires planning before installation. There
are several steps to the planning process so the user must determine the
following:
• Maximum inverter wattage required.
• Operating time (run time) needed between battery recharges.
• Battery bank capacity in amp-hours.
• Charger requirement to charge batteries within a practical time.
• Distance between battery bank and inverter.
Determining Maximum Appliance Wattage
Microwave oven specifications list cooking power (watts) and appliance
power. Appliance power is the AC load the inverter has to supply. Do not
exceed the 5,000 watt maximum AC load or the inverter will shut down.
Most other electrical tools, appliances, and audio/video equipment have
labels that list the unit’s power requirements in watts. If the tool or device is
rated in amps, multiply the amps by 120 (120V AC) to determine the watts. For
example, a power tool rated at 4 amps will draw 480 watts.
Remember to consider the startup surge that motorized appliances will cause.
Do not exceed the 10,000 watt surge rating of this inverter this can cause
immediate overload shut down.
At 5,000 watts continuous output, this inverter requires a DC power supply
(battery bank) that can continuously supply 417 amps at 12V DC for the
duration of the run time.
Configuring the Battery Bank
To determine the minimum battery ampere-hour rating that you will need to
operate appliances from the inverter and any DC appliances powered by the
battery bank, follow these steps:
1. List the maximum continuous wattage that the inverter has to supply.
2. Estimate the number of hours the appliances will be in use between
battery recharges. This will vary depending on appliances. For example,
a typical home-use coffee maker draws 500 watts during its brew
time of 5 minutes. It maintains the temperature of the pot, requiring
100 watts. Typical use of a microwave oven is only for a few minutes.
Some longer operating time appliances are lamps, TVs, computers and
refrigerator/freezers.
Determine the total watt-hours of energy needed. This is done by multiplying
average power consumption in watts by hours of run time. For example: 500
watts for 10 hours = 5000 watt hours. To get an estimate of the maximum
current (in amps) that a battery bank must be capable of delivering to the
inverter, divide the load watts by ten. For example a 500 watt appliance load
will need 50 amps at 12 volts DC. Using the 500 watts (or 50 amps) for 10