Testing 120V AC inverter limits

[Dark-Fx]

Our travel trailer has an aircon unit with a supplemental 1500W resistive heater I put in it. Over the winter I have been occasionally running it off the AC inverter in my R1T instead of wasting propane when I am doing work on it.

I knew it was over the limit of what the Rivian inverter is rated for but it would never fault out even running for an hour. Finally got around to sticking my kill-a-watt in line. The kill-a-watt was constantly beeping the whole time, so it wasn't happy about the load exceeding the rating. Not sure I'd leave it in line full time because of that.

Power factor of the load was being displayed at .99, output was bouncing around in the high 1800 low 1900 watts, occasionally would display over 2000W. I am assuming this was a period when the onboard converter was charging the 12V battery. Voltage was displayed around 113V and current jumping around 17A.

I'm a bit surprised it wasn't dropping the voltage out further but with the high power factor of the resistive load, it seems like you can probably run over the rating for a long time.

I tried running the same thing off my Fisker, which says is rated for 1600W and it would fault out after about 1 second.

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[LongJoSilver]

Thanks for sharing - I charge my home batteries and monitor the same way when our power goes out!

 

[COdogman]

Interesting. Rivian says their AC limit is 1500W? That goes significantly past it. I wonder if it doesn't fault because it's a steady load vs if one tried to run a HD power tool or espresso machine off of it?

 

[CharonPDX]

I tried plugging my trailer into my bed 120V outlet. With a Kill-A-Watt in between.

I could hit 1500W no problem, but the instant I peaked over 1600W for even a fraction of a second, the Rivian's electronic breaker would trip. Of course, plugged in to a household outlet, I determined that the air conditioner peaked at 1650W for about one second on startup. Then would steady-state drop below 1400W.

I wonder if newer built units have a higher peak capability?

I ended up getting the cheapest power bank I could find that had a <1600W peak rating. An EcoFlow Delta mini. Has 1800W surge rating. I use it as a "buffer" between trailer and truck, and it smooths out those little instant-too-much-draw peaks. Also lets me take the truck for a quick errand and still have the AC systems working in the trailer for a short time when off-grid.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I wonder if newer built units have a higher peak capability?

My R1T build date is 02/22. Air conditioners don't always have a very high power factor, I'm thinking that it's probably why I am not having an issue with a resistive heating element.

 

[CharonPDX]

My R1T build date is 02/22. Air conditioners don't always have a very high power factor, I'm thinking that it's probably why I am not having an issue with a resistive heating element.

Interesting. Yeah, yours is older than mine then. (07/22.)

 

[R.I.P.]

Interesting that all of our inverters do not seem to be equal. Mine will trip quite quickly with any loads above 1500 watts.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Interesting.... Is it possible some trucks got higher rated units due to supply chain issues?

It could also be load dependent too. I'm surprised it didn't drop below 110v. How many ft of conductor between the outlet and load?

 

[Dark-Fx]

Interesting.... Is it possible some trucks got higher rated units due to supply chain issues?

It could also be load dependent too. I'm surprised it didn't drop below 110v. How many ft of conductor between the outlet and load?

12ga 25 foot extension to the meter, adapter to TT-30, then the 25' 30A cable to the rear of the trailer. I didn't measure voltage inside but I wouldn't expect that much drop on the 30A.

I found out not too long ago that the inverter in our R1S isn't turning on. Didn't try to use it for this at all, needs to go in for service for a couple small things anyway. Entirely possible they have used different hardware for other vehicles.

My R1T seems to have ground floating in the middle of hot and neutral, as though it's actually a 240V source with the output voltage turned down. If I put a neutral-ground bonding plug it trips off immediately. Could be a way to differentiate hardware?

 

[GA_Rivian]

Has anyone verified whether the inverter is pure-sine wave?
Has anyone tried converting to 240 using a 1:2 step up transformer?

I need 240 for my well pump. Seems to run frig / freezer fine on 120.

 

[R1Sky Business]

What

Our travel trailer has an aircon unit with a supplemental 1500W resistive heater I put in it. Over the winter I have been occasionally running it off the AC inverter in my R1T instead of wasting propane when I am doing work on it.

I knew it was over the limit of what the Rivian inverter is rated for but it would never fault out even running for an hour. Finally got around to sticking my kill-a-watt in line. The kill-a-watt was constantly beeping the whole time, so it wasn't happy about the load exceeding the rating. Not sure I'd leave it in line full time because of that.

Power factor of the load was being displayed at .99, output was bouncing around in the high 1800 low 1900 watts, occasionally would display over 2000W. I am assuming this was a period when the onboard converter was charging the 12V battery. Voltage was displayed around 113V and current jumping around 17A.

I'm a bit surprised it wasn't dropping the voltage out further but with the high power factor of the resistive load, it seems like you can probably run over the rating for a long time.

I tried running the same thing off my Fisker, which says is rated for 1600W and it would fault out after about 1 second.

What happens when it faults? Do u just unplug and plug again? Is there a reset to do? TIA

 

[Dark-Fx]

What

What happens when it faults? Do u just unplug and plug again? Is there a reset to do? TIA

It just turns off. Just have to turn it back on from the display. If it doesn't turn back on then something probably broke.

 

[theadonnan]

Since Rivian doesn't seem to be in any hurry to support vehicle to load I'm interested in using the EG4 Chargeverter GC with the Rivian's 1500w inverter for emergencies. It should enable me to charge some Anker F3800 batteries via the dc solar inputs. This in theory should work, right?

 

[KBabione]

I'm interested in using the EG4 Chargeverter GC with the Rivian's 1500w inverter for emergencies. It should enable me to charge some Anker F3800 batteries via the dc solar inputs. This in theory should work, right?

Stupid question for you...It looks like the Anker F3800 will draw 1800W from the grid to charge. Can you adjust that to 1500W with an app or on the unit so that you can go direct from the Rivian outlet to the Anker? I use an Bluetti AC180 for camping and tailgating and, thankfully, it's maximum draw for charging is 1500W so it charges quite nicely from the Rivian. I've only tripped the Rivian when the AC180 was plugged in because it passes all draw straight through to the grid (which was my Rivian) and I exceeded the 1500W limit. Unplugged the AC180 goes to 1800W with up to 2700W peak.

 

[theadonnan]

Stupid question for you...It looks like the Anker F3800 will draw 1800W from the grid to charge. Can you adjust that to 1500W with an app or on the unit so that you can go direct from the Rivian outlet to the Anker? I use an Bluetti AC180 for camping and tailgating and, thankfully, it's maximum draw for charging is 1500W so it charges quite nicely from the Rivian. I've only tripped the Rivian when the AC180 was plugged in because it passes all draw straight through to the grid (which was my Rivian) and I exceeded the 1500W limit. Unplugged the AC180 goes to 1800W with up to 2700W peak.

Yes I could charge it directly from the AC input (and is adjustable), but when you do that it shuts off the 240v - which would kill the house power (our Anker units are tied into the home's 240v with their fancy home power panel).

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