Inverter

conntaxman

I have a CPP Crucial power Modle ft003k3800f1 ser.MN0264A inverter.its 48 volts.I bought it at an auction.My question is running time / AH. i always think that you will get more running hr;s out of 12v system, I guess because you have more batteries,say with only 4 you can have oh 400amh [100x4=400] each so you have 400 amp hrs. Now if you go with a 24v sys, you will need 8 batteries to get the same. [A lot more batteries]Lager COST] So now with a 48 volt sys.you need 16. now thats alot of batteries. so were is the benefit? I think it would COST alot more just in batteries, wouldn't the Larger Wire size for the 12v or 24 v sys be a better bet.
John

Cariboocoot

Re: Inverter

I don't know if you've ever read this, but you should: http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?15989-Battery-System-Voltages-and-equivalent-power

Otherwise, the higher the system Voltage the more efficient the conversion for any given Watt output. The other large determining factor is how much power the inverter itself consumes, and that is not system Voltage dependent (you can have two different inverters of the same size from two different companies which use two different amounts of power to accomplish the same thing).

conntaxman

Re: Inverter

This is an old model and the company couldn't /wouldn't give be a booklet for it.So now im trying to find out how much current this uses just on stand by, the unit is large,about 36inches tall about 20inches wide and about 24 inches long. I really didn't look at the insides to much, just from the back-side. Really don't know if it works, but im pretty sure that it dose.
John

ggunn

Re: Inverter

conntaxman wrote: »

I have a CPP Crucial power Modle ft003k3800f1 ser.MN0264A inverter.its 48 volts.I bought it at an auction.My question is running time / AH. i always think that you will get more running hr;s out of 12v system, I guess because you have more batteries,say with only 4 you can have oh 400amh [100x4=400] each so you have 400 amp hrs. Now if you go with a 24v sys, you will need 8 batteries to get the same. [A lot more batteries]Lager COST] So now with a 48 volt sys.you need 16. now thats alot of batteries. so were is the benefit?

When you double the voltage you need twice the batteries to get the same number of amp hours, it's true, but those amp-hours are at twice the voltage. Watt hours is the true measure of power and Watts is volts times amp hours, so when you get the same number of amp-hours at twice the voltage, you have twice the power. There's the benefit.

Photowhit

Re: Inverter

conntaxman wrote: »

My question is running time / AH. i always think that you will get more running hr;s out of 12v system, I guess because you have more batteries,say with only 4 you can have oh 400amh [100x4=400] each so you have 400 amp hrs. Now if you go with a 24v sys, you will need 8 batteries to get the same. [A lot more batteries]Lager COST] So now with a 48 volt sys.you need 16. now thats alot of batteries. so were is the benefit?

Hi John,

I think you have amperage/Current confused with power/wattage. While 400Amps at 12volts vs 400Amps at 48Volts looks similar. The power or wattage is equal to the amps x volts.

Photowhit

Re: Inverter

John Have you looked around at Their web site?

http://www.crucialpower.com/about.html

My guess is you have a UPS, uninteruped power supply, generally designed to keep sealed batteries maintained so they can provide power during outages.

conntaxman

Re: Inverter

Photowhit wrote: »

John Have you looked around at Their web site?

http://www.crucialpower.com/about.html

My guess is you have a UPS, uninteruped power supply, generally designed to keep sealed batteries maintained so they can provide power during outages.

hi Photo, yes and i also called them, the woman said that it was obsoleate and didn't have a schematic for it.
Im just trying to figure out how to wire it up.
John

Cariboocoot

Re: Inverter

conntaxman wrote: »

hi Photo, yes and i also called them, the woman said that it was obsoleate and didn't have a schematic for it.
Im just trying to figure out how to wire it up.
John

Without a schematic that can be very dangerous.
Trying to "black box" a 120/240 Volt unit is an invitation to sparks, smoke, and fire. Look for fuses and any other components with Voltage and current ratings on it.
This is a very tricky thing to do if you haven't done this sort of thing before.

waynefromnscanada

Re: Inverter

Seriously, unless you want to keep this device on a shelf as a conversation piece, the best thing would be to sell it to someone with an interest in old electronics, who could strip it down and perhaps recycle some of it's internal parts.
The chances of this unit ever being useful again for it's original purpose, whatever that may have been, is nil.
The chances of seeing it emit smoke on the other hand, is very high. But that's not always a bad thing, it can be a rather exciting thing if one if bored and has a fire extinguisher handy.

conntaxman

Re: Inverter

Photowhit wrote: »

John Have you looked around at Their web site?

http://www.crucialpower.com/about.html

My guess is you have a UPS, uninteruped power supply, generally designed to keep sealed batteries maintained so they can provide power during outages.

.
Im sure that i figure out the wiring of it also.and the two lug scews were loose for L3 and L1, that is were the 220 ac goes,one leg [110] goes to L3 the other leg goes to L1 and ground to ground, then the AC 120 comes out of TB1-3 andTB1-2. The batteries hook up underneath . So now I just have to get 2 more 115ah batteries to get my 48 volts and see how it works out.
Their sure is a LARGE transformer in the bottom ,looks like 12 inches square.
Now i will have to try to figure out ,like the difference of the 48 volt to a 24 volt sys. I always think that you need like double the batteries because now i need 4 just to get 48 volts.ha ha ,12 volt you only need 1. But it sounds like everyone is saying NO.
what if i ran this computer, 1.6amps or 150watts, thats what the wattameter said. If i ran a 12 inverter with 4 115ah bat. vs 48v inverter with 4 115ah bat, would i get the same run time? 460ah vs 115ah
John

Cariboocoot

Re: Inverter

John; review this thread: http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?15989-Battery-System-Voltages-and-equivalent-power

What you're looking at is stored Watt hours: 400 Amp hours * 12 Volts = 4800 Watt hours, and 100 Amp hours * 48 Volts is also 4800 Watt hours.
(Numbers simplified to make the math easier 'cause I'm being lazy today. )