Posted January 10, 20232 yr I have connected my Axpert Inverter output to a 'floating' neutral in my home wiring. In other words, I've separated all the loads that run off the inverter onto a totally isolated neutral and the live inverter output is wired to those selected loads (through circuit breakers in batches). Three questions: 1. Is this legal wiring practice 2. Should I be connecting this floating neutral to earth at some point 3. Did I need to run a separate (floating) neutral in the first place ? I viewed the inverter as having total electrical isolation between the input ac and the output ac !
January 10, 20232 yr Axpert inverters do their own neutral earth bonding when Eskom isn't present(While load shedding) Check with A volt meter to see if their is any voltage between neutral and earth.
January 11, 20232 yr On 2023/01/10 at 11:39 PM, Pat de Klerk said: I viewed the inverter as having total electrical isolation between the input ac and the output ac ! Certainly Axperts connect AC-in to AC-out at times during normal operation, though on the bench with no power, they should be isolated. I doubt that many, if any, are isolated AC-in to AC-out.
January 11, 20232 yr Do yourself a favour and measure the voltage between neutral and earth. As mentioned by @Jacques Ester, the axperts often have a built in neutral-earth bond. However, if you are getting +50V then your's may not have this. Turns out some OEMs remove an earthing screw near the inputs on the main board since it can lead to earth tripping in certain regions of the world. If yours is one of the ones with a potential difference between earth and neutral, you may have to look into an external earth-neutral bond. Most appliances need to be earth by regulation, if there is a voltage potential between neutral and earth you need to get it sorted before something (or worse someone) gets damaged...
January 12, 20232 yr Author Thank you all for the advice given. I'll make some measurements and correct what is necessary. However, it seems that I did not need to 'float' the neutral out of the inverter in the first place (trying to be too smart as usual !!!)
January 12, 20232 yr If I may add a question: For SunSynk inverters, I see mention of installing a relay to activate earth-neutral bond when the grid goes down. There is a port for this purpose. But when I asked my installer about this, he was adamant that it is not necessary because the bond is managed internally within the inverter. So my Question: Does anyone here know for a certainty whether I'm safe running SunSynk with no Neutral-Earth relay installed?
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.