Hello! We've had our inverter for just under a year I think. We plugged our inverter in to be charged but may not have unplugged or plugged something in correctly as there was a large popping sound and it seems a form of power surge has blown our inverter. The LCD screen turns on but the inverter won't charge nor will it power anything else. The usb type of ports look burnt/fried but the other plugs look fine. We insured it with Naked (Hollard) and they sent an assessor out who agreed it was fried and needed replacing. 

Despite the assessor's findings, the claim has been rejected, stating that it's impossible for it to be a power surge issue and can only be degradation as a result of long-term use. Obviously we know that is not what happened as we experienced the "blowout" as soon as it was plugged in and then the immediate non-working of the inverter, which is relatively new and has not been put under extreme loads. They are saying it can only be 'degradation' since it turns on but won't charge.

 

I would be very grateful for some expert knowledge / power surge issues with inverters facts / resources / etc that I can use to support my appeal with the insurance.

 

Lastly, should we not win with the insurance, are there places which may be able to fix it or who would want to buy it for parts or something along those lines?

What brand of inverter is this?

Were you plugging something into the USB port at the time of the incident?

It's certainly possible for power surges to damage inverters, despite protections that they should have. With frequent load shedding, transients on the AC input line would be much more frequent. It's hard to see how a USB port could be damaged by such a transient, however.

20 hours ago, LvMK said:

Hello! We've had our inverter for just under a year I think. We plugged our inverter in to be charged but may not have unplugged or plugged something in correctly as there was a large popping sound and it seems a form of power surge has blown our inverter. The LCD screen turns on but the inverter won't charge nor will it power anything else. The usb type of ports look burnt/fried but the other plugs look fine. We insured it with Naked (Hollard) and they sent an assessor out who agreed it was fried and needed replacing. 

Despite the assessor's findings, the claim has been rejected, stating that it's impossible for it to be a power surge issue and can only be degradation as a result of long-term use. Obviously we know that is not what happened as we experienced the "blowout" as soon as it was plugged in and then the immediate non-working of the inverter, which is relatively new and has not been put under extreme loads. They are saying it can only be 'degradation' since it turns on but won't charge.

 

I would be very grateful for some expert knowledge / power surge issues with inverters facts / resources / etc that I can use to support my appeal with the insurance.

 

Lastly, should we not win with the insurance, are there places which may be able to fix it or who would want to buy it for parts or something along those lines?

What is make and model of the inverter? 

Did you buy it new? What about the manufacturer's warranty. 

Is the installatiin COC'd? 

You say lcd is on, does it display any error? 

What type of battery are you using? Is the battery still fine.? 

Edited August 12, 20232 yr by BritishRacingGreen

 Intentional and unintentional damage is covered by home contents insurance, check your policy wording and confirm. The go back and Just tell them it got blown when you mistakenly plugged a device in the USB ports and that the damage was not caused by power surge or degradation as they claim. The assessor saw that it was not damaged by power surge, that is why they reject your claim. 

Hi All,

Thank you so much for your swift replies. @Coulomb It is an EcoFlow RIVER EF4 . I do not remember if something was being plugged in to the usb at the time.

@BritishRacingGreen We bought it brand new, I will check about warranties. Thank you. I think the LCD turns on because it still has charge on the internal battery (does that make sense). It still shows 29%. The usb-c plug works / will charge something but it shows overload when trying to charge the inverter.

@hoohloc So maybe I am using the term power surge incorrectly / don’t understand this term. I think we may have rather “closed the loop” - plugging it in to charge after load-shedding while it was still powering the house? Perhaps this is a more accurate term?

I’ve added a pic of the usb slots only being fried after this incident.