EG4 3kw inverter follow up review and testing~ signature solar off grid solar inverter

[@davideo.7754]

Great points! Before getting into solar, I watched and learned, learned and watched, read and learned more. It took me awhile, but then I finally made it, thanks to valuable resources like yourself and other great YT channels on solar. It's a learning curve for sure, but at the end of the day it's rewarding. Thanks for this follow-up video.😉

[@ry2456]

All these all in one units look great to me. They save so much work, materials an planning. The problem with them is the idle draw. Not great for people like me that live in locations with long grey winters. Some of these short days the panels produce 10% or less their max capacity. Multiply the draw by 24 hours and that's how much extra needs to be produced and stored. This unit would be about 1440watts. If they got the idle down to below 30 watts or even less I would be very tempted. This unit is such a good price for what you get. Perfect for backup power, a cabin, shed, shop. Maybe pair this with a little Victron phoenix inverter that has low self consumption for the 24/7 draws like freezers.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Yeah, paired with a 48v phoenix it would make a more efficient system. Idle consumption is really something that some people don’t consider when designing a system. Then again, for some users it won’t be much of a concern. It all depends on their average solar input, and the amount of storage they have. These are great units for space saving and over all installation. I’m sure they’ll eventually get the idle consumption down.

[@ry2456]

I am planning a 16kw array off grid setup. I alread y have a fair number of part. Victron based. Unfortunately I jumped the gun and later realised that the multi plus II 48/5000 inverters are still in the process of being UL tested. Just hope that when they get approved I can use the ones I got already as they don't have the label. My fault. If I can't use them I am hoping that in a couple years time there will be UL listed all in ones with 30watt or lower idle. Thanks for the great video!

[@l0gic23]

Thanks for covering critical loads panel.

[@AdamDeLayDIY]

Nice walkthrough for beginners! Very easy to understand. Thanks!

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I try to picture what I would need to hear when I first started. 🙂

[@AdamDeLayDIY]

@@GavinStoneDIY That’s a great idea! Gotta think of all the stuff we had to look up and try to figure out. All the stuff we were confused about.

[@Mike-01234]

I agree always go 48V.

[@ericklein5097]

Makes no sense to invest money in 12/24V gear only to later size up to full scale residential loads on a 48V system… And then have a bunch of useless stuff sitting around that’s incompatible with your system.

[@Mike-01234]

@@ericklein5097 I have a Renogy 20-amp 12V charge controller hardly used, and a 12V inverter sitting here collecting dust. Not much of a market for used inverters people don't trust them. Problem is with solar start out wanting to just power a light light next thing you know wanting to power an Air conditioner. Easy to get carried away.

[@chrisw9451]

Seems like power saving mode would be great for running two of them on your RV. If you are running the ac on your main 3000 and then kick on your microwave the second could kick in and run the extra.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Theoretically if it were wired that way it could work yeah. But for that you’d probably need two load panels.

[@charlesjohnson-bg2vr]

Setting 4.. I made a portable station out of this eg4 set.. I will run my tv that pulls 300watts just for fun.. I must try that setup.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Yeah this inverter seems really popular for portable power station builds. Super lightweight and easy to wire.

[@bhbaker220]

Thanks for the follow up video

[@Javaman92]

I'm thinking of buying one of these. I'm retired with not a lot of money to work with. I have a small 12 volt system that I built for the time when I was RVing offgrid for a few years. I have 600 watts of panels sitting here that I have been using to run my refrigerator, just to take that load off of my electric bill and do something with the system I have. Well, the batteries are dying so I am thinking I should upgrade. I guess I will be using this for critical loads. DO YOU THINK this is my best bet? I know I will have to add some more solar panels and a battery. Thanks for any input from anyone.

[@fergman300]

When you run two of these inverter in Parallel....can you have both 110 as well as a 220 outlet. I would imagine that would be sorted out thru the load panel.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Yes. With two of these in parallel they can generate what’s known as split phase output. So at that point you can run 120/240v appliances.

[@WattsMiner]

Nice video, I love the two 3000s I have.

[@paulminott150]

I’m considering the eg4 3kw which would work for most of my critical loads. However I have a 230v mini split for my garage “man cave”. Do you think it wise to experiment with the eg4 and maybe add another one down the road or save up and go with the 6000xp from the jump. I should add I’m just getting started down the solar rabbit hole.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I really like the 3k. But if you ever plan on expanding to 240v then I would start with the XP. It uses around the same idle consumption as the 3k. And has double the power. Save up and go bigger. You won’t regret it.

[@Bren39]

You moved the fridge hot wire from the main panel to the eg4. What about the ground and the neutral.. That still be coming from the main right??? Should the ground and neutral in the eg4 be bonded or not for this application.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Not bonded for this application if the ground and neutral are supplied by the main panel. So the ground and neutral can be supplied with larger gauge wires from the main. And then after that, all the smaller circuits like your fridge you can just move the hots over.

[@tsp2jxd]

Excellent follow up video. I commented on the NG bond screw in your fisrt video. I installed one to be bonded when in battery/inverter mode and have AC in connected. Without the screw installed, what is your solution for being bonded when in battery/inverter mode?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

With the screw out and without AC in connected to grid, I would bond the off grid sub panel. that way I would still be bonded in one location. If I had the AC in hooked to the grid then that would be supplying my bond. If the screw is in, and you also have ac in supplied by the grid, the inverter would technically bonded in two locations. There is some variables involved with that though.

[@egkingjr]

Great informative content! I’m thinking about this inverter for small off grid workshop. I’m wondering how the powersave works when a mechanical timer starts a ventilation fan load and then stops the load. Does the powersave work as advertised and start inverter and then go back to powersave? What is the idle consumption with powersave mode but pv charging (battery charger in use)?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I’m not sure what the consumption would be with PV. I’m going to be testing another inverter so I had to remove the little guy. From what I can tell the power saver does work as advertised. I did see though that if you have a small load that needs to ramp up from 0 watts it wouldn’t activate the inverter. In other words the inverter stays asleep unless you have a legitimate load kick on.

[@egkingjr]

@@GavinStoneDIY the fan I’m looking at is 70w. Is that under or over the small load you said did not trigger the inverter to kick on out of power save?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@egkingjr I think that would be fine yeah. I just had a charger that wouldn’t activate it. But it was starting from 2 watts. So that’s a different story there.

[@seanmalone7920]

id like to install this in my 7x16 trailer conversion. Would i run power from my ac out to a breaker panel than from my panel to all my outlets and lights? i also plan to run a 9kbtu mini split with this setup .

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Yes that’s how you’d want to do it. The panel essentially allows the power to branch off in different directions. So you could think of it as a hub for the power. One breaker for the mini splits and probably 1-2 breakers for the outlets.

[@SolarinStarke-kt2lm]

Does this unit have any issues with light flicker like the 6500 do? I’m thinking this may be a cheap solution for me to put my light circuits on this as a sub panel to my 6548, Rather then just replacing them because of the light flicker issue.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I didn’t have it hooked up to any light circuits when I tested it. That could be a potential solution. What model 6500’s do you have?

[@SolarinStarke-kt2lm]

I have the Sungold SP6548’s.

[@easttexascowboy257]

Nice follow up!

[@Yowhatsupman]

Thank you

[@bhbaker220]

Do you need to carry the neutral and ground to the critical loads panel or just the hot wire?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

You would carry a heavier gauge neutral and ground first from the main panel. And that covers all the smaller breakers you move over. So the small breakers you just transfer the hot.

[@donbrenczeizinger6571]

Great video

[@OP-fd4lh]

Question if possible: The shipping price for EG4 Batteries are just way too much for me (about $347) so I am looking at buy another 48 Volt battery brand. To my understanding, this EG4 All In One Inverter can only communicate with EG4 brand batteries. How bad would it be for me to have a system where the EG4 All In One inverter cannot communicate with the batteries? Thank you in advance

[@GavinStoneDIY]

You can use the batteries in what is described as “open loop”. Which means you wouldn’t have battery coms. So the inverter would be set to lead acid. It will work fine like this. Communication is just nicer. However, if you’re ordering soon, Current Connected still has a free shipping promotion going till the end of the month. So a couple more days. Which is super cool. So you can still get the EG4 budget battery with free shipping. I think the promotion code is Gavinstone. Either way will work. But the new lifepower would be ideal. www.currentconnected.com/product/eg4-lifepower4-lithium-battery-48v-100ah-server-rack-battery-ul1973-ul9540a/?ref=xhJJBPDS

[@txdb9527]

Jumped on the EG4 wagon and bought a 3000EHV and one EG4 LP batt. Combined with 10 280w used panels I got off FB, it runs a 1 ton window unit all day in my shop. Only issue is the indicated PV voltage noted on the inverter screen is almost 100v less than I’m measuring where the PV wires come into the inverter. (235v vs 330 measured). Any ideas why?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

That’s coo! There’s a bunch of potential uses for this inverter. I figured an AC unit would be a great idea for using this on. As far as the voltage. Are you measuring voltage as the unit is under load? If not then the voltage would be the VOC of the panels. And once the loads are applied it drops down.

[@AblazeWorship]

what is a good split phase inverter? have you had any experience with any?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I’m using the EG4 18kpv now. I have been running my house on it for months. It’s a split phase inverter. I’ve got some videos on that.

[@sokbattery]

Great video!

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Thanks for watching! You have cool batteries. 😉

[@Javaman92]

OH and do you think this would level one charge (120 volt) my LEAF?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

For what you’re describing, I think your best bet is the eg4 6000xp honestly. The cost is a bit more. But it still comes with the breakers that are needed. The idle consumption is nearly the same or less then the eg4 3k. And you’ll have more available power on hand. And it’ll easily charge the leaf. If you haven’t watched my videos on the 6000xp maybe check that out first.

[@cgutowski471]

Any LED light flicker with that 3k inverter?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

In my testing I’ve using it for loads like compressors and tools. However, I have talked to multiple people that have said they don’t have any issues with flickering.

[@johnwu777]

I'm having trouble enabling "Power Saving Mode" in program 4, also the inverter is always in "Parallel mode" in program 28. Not sure why is doing that. Every time I try to change these two settings it just reverts back.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Are you exiting out after selecting the setting? Often times the setting won’t stay unless you do that.

[@johnwu777]

@GavinStoneDIY Thanks for the reply. I figured it out, it was the Parallel mode that caused the issue. All I have to do is to have two power sources, battery and (PV or Shore), and switch the parallel to single mode. Then I was able to enable the power-saving mode.

[@wesbutler8289]

I was having the same "parallel mode" thing and reached out on the diy solar forum and found out the inverter needs to be in standby mode to change that setting. Couldn't find that in the manual.

[@johnwu777]

@@wesbutler8289 In order to switch to standby mode you will need to have 2 sources of power. If not the inverter will just shut off. I've tested this issue, you don't need to switch to standby mode to fix this issue. All you need is to have 2 sources of power. In my case, 1. Battery 2. Plug the inverter to my home outlet.

[@brainstorm3446]

Just make shore you want it, because if you diside to return it they will charge you a restock fee.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Yes. That makes sense. They can’t sell it as new.

[@MyChannel-vm6dw]

How do you run household 12v appliances? Everything in a US house is 12v other than the split phase stuff

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Everything is typically 120v/240v in the US. And this is a 120v unit. So if you needed to power 240v loads you could have two of these in split phase to generate 240v. If you did need to power 12v dc appliances you can use something called a buck converter to lower the voltage from 48v to 12v.

[@jetfirers5139]

I couldn't get the app to connect ugh

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Call eg4 tomorrow. They should be able to help.

[@jetfirers5139]

And of course as soon as I post. It magically connects by itself lol