Neutral Earth bonding of inverter

[Justloadit]

But I will try to make it as save as possible by introducing an ELU.

An ELU will not work if you do not earth the inverter 'output Neutral', as there is no return path for the detection coil to operate.
I suspect that with all these inverters, there is usually a small value capacitor connected between the inverter output and the 'Neutral' leg of the output plug.
This capacitor cause the typical readings that you get with your multimeter when measuring the output of the inverter.

[Derlyn]

@ Justloaded. The way I understand it is that the earth leakage will work if the neutral and earth is not bridged on the output.

If someone were to shock down to earth , then the difference in currents between the live and neutral will be detected by the earth leakage and it will trip, much the same as if one shocks down to earth from a double insulated appliance that is fed with live and neutral only, excluding an earth.

However, should the output of the inverter be in a vov configuration, then the earth leakage wont trip.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Justloadit]

@ Derlyn. The inverter shown by the OP does not have a VOV. They have a booster circuit multiplying the 12V Battery through a transformer to 230V AC out. So the battery and earth is effectively isolated by the transformer. If the Inverter Neutral output is not connected to earth before the ELU, the the ELU will not work. Of course the "Earth" connection is important, not only to the metal housing of the inverter, but also to the 'House' earth, as one would expect this to be a good earth point.

I can not vouch for the VOV, in which the 'O' connection is earthed, if it would trigger the ELU. Theoretically it should.

[Derlyn]

Thank you, my brother, much appreciated. 👍👍

[JackC]

"Of course the correct way, as with a generator as well, is to connect a load to the output before taking voltage measurements. I use incandescent light bulbs"

I done it with a small hair dryer as load, the voltages remain the same as tested previously. I also tested the current with a clamp meter both on live and neutral (basically the same 2.3 Amp) and when I include both neutral and live in the clamp meter I get a reading of 0.07 Amp. As explained by various forum members it seems like an inverter developed specifically for mobile use.

[Derlyn]

"Of course the correct way, as with a generator as well, is to connect a load to the output before taking voltage measurements. I use incandescent light bulbs"

I done it with a small hair dryer as load, the voltages remain the same as tested previously. I also tested the current with a clamp meter both on live and neutral (basically the same 2.3 Amp) and when I include both neutral and live in the clamp meter I get a reading of 0.07 Amp. As explained by various forum members it seems like an inverter developed specifically for mobile use.

Thanks for that feedback brother. Interesting. So it seems as if that inverter has a VOV output.
Like you say ..... specially made for mobile use.

Cheers.

[Justloadit]

I also tested the current with a clamp meter both on live and neutral (basically the same 2.3 Amp) and when I include both neutral and live in the clamp meter I get a reading of 0.07 Amp.

Could the 0.07Amp be an electronic amplifier offset value that is inherent in the clamp meter?
This can be verified, by reading the display, with the jaws shut before doing the measurement. Some of the Clamp Amp meters do have a 'Zero' button.
Anyway a Clamp Amp meter with a 40/20Amp range will not read AC milliAmps correctly, as it will be out or range for the specific amp meter range.
To do these kind of low AC milliamps measurements, one will have to get a high quality, expensive AC Clamp Meter.

[JackC]

Leakage Current

"To do these kind of low AC milliamps measurements, one will have to get a high quality, expensive meter"

Repeated the test with a RS-Pro Leakage Current Clamp meter. Readings are Live- 2.180 Amp, Neutral- 2.179 Amp and with both live& Neutral together 0.001 Amp (1 Milli Amp).

[HGTesla]

Most inverters now these days have the FG or G connection as well as a neutral for internal ground fault protection.This is a standard affair with earth bonded neutral utility installation.