Using a blender on solar

[Emma]

Am looking at moving in with my boyfriend who has a 3kva inverter but I have a 3HP blender! 

Does anyone work on solar and use a blender? I'm trying to work out whether we need to go to the expense of upgrading to a 5kva inverter or downgrade my blender but if so, what to?

[Guest]

Welcome Emma.

3hp blender is about 2.24kW. 
3kva inverter is also round about 2.5kW.

It may be cheaper to get a smaller blender, than upgrade, unless you need to upgrade for more reason than a blender.

Wait for more responses though.

[___]

2kw blender? Good grief, I suppose you can blend a whole leg of lamb in one go with that? :-P I have a big Mitre saw that uses less than that... :-)

[Jaco De Jongh]

@Emma Do you mind posting a pic of the label on that blender, I always thought our blender is big and its only rated 500watt. I would just like to see something before you plan an upgrade. 

Edit: The reason i am asking, if you look at this blender for example: http://www.healthappliances.co.za/juicers/shop/katana-3hp-super-blender/ the 3hp in the name do not match the 1500watt rating. They do state its a energy efficient motor ,but i think the true watt rating will be the determining factor in the answer to your question.

[DeepBass9]

It should be fine. Things like power tools, kitchen appliances are only normally used for short periods, and also not often at their maximum power rating.

[Jaco De Jongh]

2 hours ago, DeepBass9 said:

It should be fine. Things like power tools, kitchen appliances are only normally used for short periods,

Emma, I agree with @DeepBass9., but after seeing the the watt rating, my next question would have been, what else is running off the inverter. If for example , the inveter is running with a constant load of 1.5kw, the blender will cause a overload condition, but if its running a constant load of lets say 300watt, it should be able to run a blender like the one in the link above.

So the answer to your question is not that straight forward, there is a couple of things to look at.

[superdiy]

What type of inverter does he have - make and model? If it is an infini or Imeon and even some others, you might not have a problem while grid power is available, because the infini and Imeon inverters can be "overloaded" by at least 100% if the grid is available, so even if the "constant" load is 1.5KW and the blender draws 2.5KW the 3KW infini and 3KW Imeon inverters won't mind. 

But, as @Jaco de Jongh has asked, please post a pic of the label of the blender as well.

[Emma]

[Jaco De Jongh]

@Emma,thanks for the pic. The KW the inverter can supply as a constant load is the same as the KW the blender will consume. So theoretically you can use it. As @superdiy mentioned the type of inverter  and if it is connected to to the grid or to the batteries will determine if you will get a over current trip or warning. I am sure with some careful consideration of what other loads are used at the time you want to use the blender, you can get away with it. I agree it is for short periods and that no one will use a blender for 30 min non stop, but stopping and starting will even result in a much higher inrush current.

I  personally would not overload my inverter to often, even for short periods of time, but that is my personal preference.

Edit: Maybe I wasn't direct enough in my answer above, Although you might get away with using the blender. If I were in your situation, I would not do it, I will either get a smaller blender or a bigger Inverter.

[DeepBass9]

2.3kw! Wow that's quite a blender! I don't have any power tools that pull that much!

[Guest]

13 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

It may be cheaper to get a smaller blender, than upgrade, unless you need to upgrade for more reason than a blender.

Right back to where we started. 

To manage the load, yes it is an option, but we all know how many times we have had to jump to stop the inverters from switching off before the family learned.

My 2 cents, reduce the load, upgrade the inverter - and I would lean toward this upgrading inverter because first there was just one, then there was two ... 

[SilverNodashi]

Yup. Our blender is only 1Kw but doesn't cause any interference on the inverter. 

[DeepBass9]

Just because it is rated at 2.3kw, doesn't neccesarily mean it will draw 2.3kw as it operates at a fixed RPM. You'll probably be able to dice granite with that blender at which point it may draw 2.3kW, but when blending softer materials should draw a lot less. Measure it with the inverter, you'll be able to figure out its power draw under normal operating conditions. 

[Guest]

A 3000va inverter with a SWAMBO moving in ... let me get the popcorn. 

[___]

Well, I wanted to suggest getting a boyfriend with a bigger inverter... but until now I resisted making any jokes about bigger things.

[Emma]

Wow! Thanks for all the help. I'm more a  Bearfoot Princess (hippie in training) than a SWAMBO 

The house we live in is 7m long x 2.4m wide x 3.5m high and is on wheels. It has two solar systems. The first being a 90 watt panel and a single 12 volt battery which runs the 12 volt water pump and low wattage LED lights. The second system is 3 x 180 watt panels, 4 Trojan 6 volt batteries and a Renesola 3kva 24v inverter with a built in PWM. We use gas to heat water and cook. All we use the solar for is a fridge, two laptops, two phones and a baby blender. The question is can the big 3HP blender cone to stay? 

[SilverNodashi]

6 minutes ago, Emma said:

Wow! Thanks for all the help. I'm more a  Bearfoot Princess (hippie in training) than a SWAMBO 

The house we live in is 7m long x 2.4m wide x 3.5m high and is on wheels. It has two solar systems. The first being a 90 watt panel and a single 12 volt battery which runs the 12 volt water pump and low wattage LED lights. The second system is 3 x 180 watt panels, 4 Trojan 6 volt batteries and a Renesola 3kva 24v inverter with a built in PWM. We use gas to heat water and cook. All we use the solar for is a fridge, two laptops, two phones and a baby blender. The question is can the big 3HP blender cone to stay? 

@The Terrible Triplett will LOVE you!

[subok01]

Emma, I initially thought you were pulling our collective leg, and I was waiting for the punchline. Your latest post puts things in context though. Good luck with the decision as you seem to be stuck... I would think that blending adult food for a baby will not push the blender to the max of the inverter's capacity. Have you tested it yet as suggested? The inverter will just trip if it gets overloaded.

Solar System Designer and IT Systems Auditor

[Energy-Jason]

Inductive loads ?

Might pull 4 x its capacity at start? Will inverter handle?

Sincerely

Jay

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Emma said:

Wow! Thanks for all the help. I'm more a  Bearfoot Princess (hippie in training) than a SWAMBO 

The house we live in is 7m long x 2.4m wide x 3.5m high and is on wheels. It has two solar systems. The first being a 90 watt panel and a single 12 volt battery which runs the 12 volt water pump and low wattage LED lights. The second system is 3 x 180 watt panels, 4 Trojan 6 volt batteries and a Renesola 3kva 24v inverter with a built in PWM. We use gas to heat water and cook. All we use the solar for is a fridge, two laptops, two phones and a baby blender. The question is can the big 3HP blender cone to stay? 

Amen!!!

My type of solar system. And Barefoot Princess ... I LOVE it! (Yes, Silver is right.) 

Respect.

Keep what you have, make it work Emma for as Subok said, test it. It may work with T&C's as said above.

And you guys will be able to manage the load to determine what is on when. Don't waste more money. Make it work.

Let us know how the test went. 

EDIT: Worst case a smaller wattage blender.

 

[Emma]

Okay so the blender came to stay and I've done two tests already.

First one was with a combination of wet and dry (powder) ingredients which we went through all of the settings - low, medium, high and pulse. It worked perfectly. We watched the wattage used and it was below 600 watts. When pulsing there looked to be a warning sign on the inverter display but all good.

Second test was a smoothie with whole spinach chard leaves, large chunks of pineapple and apple and little liquid (which means it has to work harder). Used low and medium settings and also timed setting which goes from low to medium to high. Had to run the blender for longer. Wattage was under 1000.

Both tests done in the day time.

Next test is with dry ingredients such as dates and almonds - will keep you posted.

Off to do some gardening barefoot princess style 

[Emma]

Okay so the blender came to stay and I've done two tests already.

First one was with a combination of wet and dry (powder) ingredients which we went through all of the settings - low, medium, high and pulse. It worked perfectly. We watched the wattage used and it was below 600 watts. When pulsing there looked to be a warning sign on the inverter display but all good.

Second test was a smoothie with whole spinach chard leaves, large chunks of pineapple and apple and little liquid (which means it has to work harder). Used low and medium settings and also timed setting which goes from low to medium to high. Had to run the blender for longer. Wattage was under 1000.

Both tests done in the day time.

Next test is with dry ingredients such as dates and almonds - will keep you posted.

Off to do some gardening barefoot princess style 

[Emma]

Okay so the blender came to stay and I've done two tests already.

First one was with a combination of wet and dry (powder) ingredients which we went through all of the settings - low, medium, high and pulse. It worked perfectly. We watched the wattage used and it was below 600 watts. When pulsing there looked to be a warning sign on the inverter display but all good.

Second test was a smoothie with whole spinach chard leaves, large chunks of pineapple and apple and little liquid (which means it has to work harder). Used low and medium settings and also timed setting which goes from low to medium to high. Had to run the blender for longer. Wattage was under 1000.

Both tests done in the day time.

Next test is with dry ingredients such as dates and almonds - will keep you posted.

Off to do some gardening barefoot princess style