Why and how grounding is needed for Inverters
Hi,
I have a very noisy mains line. When my amp(s) are plugged directly into the wall efficient headphones like Focal Utopia sound like a modem from old days. It sounds like data transfer is happening. I tried diagnosing the problem by demoing smaller inverters like ones from Duracell(500Wh) and Ecoflow Delta(1200Wh). They did alleviate the problem, but the issue with them is when in charging mode their fan is constantly on. They are not really loud but distracting.
I am thinking of this particular Renogy Model inverter . My power requirements are really meager - 50W for my headphone amp and 75W for my Holo May Dac. Add maybe another 100-150W for future. So the inverter is kind of overkill but seems cheaper than most audiophile solution. When listening I'll run off the battery and other times it will be charging from the wall.
What I am confused about is grounding in that particular inverter. I am planning on keeping the inverter in my listening room in some corner. There are no children so no one should be going and touching it. What I am not sure about - is grounding needed in this inverter ? If so how do I do it? My mental model is - Use the inverter/charger + 12V LiFe battery + DC breaker + DC switch + 3 Pin cable to connect to the charger to wall plug + Modify a power strip and hook that directly to the inverter. Then plug in my Amp and Dac to the power strip. Is there any further explicit grounding needed? If so, where and why?
Thanks.
Hi @jea48 , The manual you have shared above is for a different inverter ONLY model. The one I posted above is inverter and charger model. Both are 2000W models. The model you have posted is the one that got me confused. It does have a separate grounding post that the inverter + charger does not seem to have. I could not find anything related to grounding in the invert + charge model's manual |
Look at page 13 in the manual. The picture shows the safety equipment ground as part of the AC power in wiring. If the unit will be plugged into a wall outlet the safety equipment grounding conductor of the in wall branch circuit wiring is used. The terminal strip on the unit shows where to land, terminate, the ground wire from the power cord.
The video shown on the page is for the 3oooW unit. Apparently the only difference between the 2000W and 3000W is the FLA rating... . |
@jea48 Thanks for confirming. |
@jea48 is one of the very few here that I trust with information about AC electrical. I have seen responses from others in other threads that seem to have authority until pressed for actual facts. I am glad that we have few people here who understand these electrical circuits well enough to point us in a safe direction. |
