Hi gang, I have a recurring problem that should be easy to solve, but corporate politics are making it ridiculous. I build custom vans for a non-profit organization. They are governed by committee, and a committee of people who know NOTHNG, yet think they know better than we do.
Short story- The Samlex SAM3000-12 inverters see 14.4v when the truck is running. This causes a GFCI receptacle to see too much ac voltage, and shut down.
Long story- Mercedes evidently made a change to the ‘19 Sprinter and added an internal Automatic Charge Relay/battery separator. These vans are the only ones with the issue. On the ‘18s, we installed a Blue Sea ACR, and didn’t have the problem.
Now... the GFCI in question does not function properly anyway due to the limitations of the modified sine wave inverter. It SHOULD just be replaced with a standard receptacle, yet some committee member decided hat not having a GFCI “will kill people”, and even with the explanation, corporate won’t hear it.
The end users are on our side, and just want a solution. They need the inverter to function with the truck running.
My thought is some form of voltage regulator?.?. Either on the 12v input, or the 120ac output. I find some tiny, cheap adjustable regulators, but this needs to be bulletproof. Failure is not an option. It also can NOT require any input or attention from the users. Set it and forget it...
It must be small to allow for mounting either inside the seatbase with the rest of the electrical components, or underhood if it’s on the 12v side.
Thanks!
Short story- The Samlex SAM3000-12 inverters see 14.4v when the truck is running. This causes a GFCI receptacle to see too much ac voltage, and shut down.
Long story- Mercedes evidently made a change to the ‘19 Sprinter and added an internal Automatic Charge Relay/battery separator. These vans are the only ones with the issue. On the ‘18s, we installed a Blue Sea ACR, and didn’t have the problem.
Now... the GFCI in question does not function properly anyway due to the limitations of the modified sine wave inverter. It SHOULD just be replaced with a standard receptacle, yet some committee member decided hat not having a GFCI “will kill people”, and even with the explanation, corporate won’t hear it.
The end users are on our side, and just want a solution. They need the inverter to function with the truck running.
My thought is some form of voltage regulator?.?. Either on the 12v input, or the 120ac output. I find some tiny, cheap adjustable regulators, but this needs to be bulletproof. Failure is not an option. It also can NOT require any input or attention from the users. Set it and forget it...
It must be small to allow for mounting either inside the seatbase with the rest of the electrical components, or underhood if it’s on the 12v side.
Thanks!
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