User`s manual
Elite
™
1000W PRO by Wagan Tech
®
www.wagan.com
7
©2012 Wagan Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Wagan Tech and wagan.com are trademarks used by Wagan Corporation.
User’s Manual—Read before using this equipment
8
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 115 (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
1,000 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 115 (115V AC) to determine the watts. For example, a power
tool rated at 4 amps will draw 460 watts.
Remember to consider the startup surge that motorized appliances will cause. Do
not exceed the 2,000 Watt surge rating of this inverter. This can cause immediate
overload shut down.
At 1,000 watts continuous output, this inverter requires a DC power supply (battery
bank) that can continuously supply 100 amps 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 = 5,000 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 hours example as above, then
50 amps is needed for 10 hours. This provides us with the basic amp-hours (AH) of
battery that is required. Ten hours at 50 amps equals 500 amp-hours (AH). There
are additional factors that determine actual run time. These include:
• AC appliance load and time in use (basic AH).
• Cable gauge and length (cable losses).
• Charge level of the batteries (between use, chargers have to be able
to fully charge the batteries).
• Temperature of the batteries (colder batteries provide fewer amps).
• Age and condition of the batteries (older batteries lose AH capacity).
• Compliance with turning off unnecessary AC loads.
• Use of DC appliances and compliance with turning off unnecessary
DC loads.