What size wire, fuse, or breaker will I need?
Inverters have two or three sets of power carrying wires to be concerned about: the wires from the battery to the inverter, the wires from the inverter to the home (or other AC load), and in some cases the wiring from a backup generator or other AC source. The wiring for the AC to the home and from the generator is sized just like you would for AC wiring in a utility connected home. It is usually #10, 12, or 14 standard AC wire. For the small inverters, 800 watts or less, #16 can be used but the mechanical strength of small wire leaves much to be desired. The wire or cables from the batteries to the inverter are much more critical, and are often undersized. In some cases, the cable may be large enough to carry the “static” load of a motor, but on start up will drop so much voltage in the cable that the inverter will shut down on low voltage cutoff. The same thing can happen with small inverters and TV sets – a TV may only use 100 watts, but the start up surge may be 300 watts for a few
Inverters have two or three sets of power carrying wires to be concerned about: the wires from the battery to the inverter, the wires from the inverter to your equipment. The wiring for the AC to the equipment is sized just like you would for AC wiring in a utility connected venue. It is usually #10, 12, or 14 standard AC wire. For the small inverters, 800 watts or less, #16 can be used but the mechanical strength of small wire leaves much to be desired. The wire or cables from the batteries to the inverter are much more critical, and are often undersized. In some cases, the cable may be large enough to carry the “static” load of a motor, but on start up will drop so much voltage in the cable that the inverter will shut down. The same thing can happen with small inverters and TV sets – a TV may only use 100 watts, but the start up surge may be 300 watts for a few seconds. Wire lengths from the battery should always be kept as short as possible, but not so tight that there is a strain o
