2000W Pure Sine Inverter - Blown Up! - Let's fix it!

A friend of mine asked if I could have a look at a 2000W Pure Sine Inverter he got off someone for free after it had been connected to a battery the wrong way round.
He thought to himself I know just the man to look at this (which is how I ended up looking at it).
The inverter appears completely dead, let's take it apart and see how much damage has been caused due to reverse polarity! and hopefully repair it!
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#electronicsrepair #electronics #electronicscreators
Novopal Inverter repair
2000w Pure sine inverter repair
dead inverter

[@emylrmm]

Nice to see a product like this repaired, not scrapped.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Ralph 👍

[@ovalteen4404]

Yeah especially since soldered-in fuses implies that it's a throwaway product.

[@sadiesherwood8390]

So cool! A free inverter! Just a quick suggestion: I'm an electronics technician, and after a repair, I plug everything in, but I don't assemble a unit before the test. That way if it smokes or sparks during the test, I can see where it came from so I know where to look to find the problem.

[@BuyitFixit]

Sometimes I do a quick test off camera, reason is if I test it and it works then people probably won't watch the rest of the video. Sometimes like on the Milwaukee impact driver I recently repaired I do a test and then do a real world test such as using the tool instead of just showing it spinning. Thanks for the feedback though Sadie, much appreciated 👍

[@shaunclarke94]

And if it doesn't work you don't have to pull it apart again!

[@kendom33]

Same here.

[@AlfistaWayne]

A very helpful video of some good and thoughtful work.

[@Mattlawton-ft6ew]

Absolutely

[@blg53]

I must confess I have never seen a broken electrical device of any kind where only fuses were the broken bits. I am truly amazed that it is actually possible. Normally fuses are blown as an after-effect of some other problem.

[@BuyitFixit]

Reverse polarity was the problem 🙂 I had similar with a Milwaukee LED flashlight I repaired fuse had gone OC, but as you rightly say they normally blow for a reason. Wish I had a penny for everytime someone has asked me too look at something and said 'it's probably just a fuse' 😂😂👍

[@blg53]

@@BuyitFixit So they build this expensive 2000W (pure sine!) invertor but could not be arsed enough to include a reverse polarity block? I do realize that at these currents that is not a trivial thing, but considering sophistication of the unit it is very strange.

[@BuyitFixit]

@blg53 someone suggested using a diode and a relay to ensure it was connected correctly, I thought it was a pretty neat solution.

[@blg53]

@@BuyitFixit Yes, seem good although if it is really 2000W then at 12V battery voltage it should be able to commutate currents close to 200Amps. So we are talking about a relay the size of a car starter one. Its possible I guess.

[@Sortskjegg]

Better than factory! I can understand soldered fuses on a circuitboard as they have space constraints, but in this case I don't see a good reason for it beyond saving a few pennies.

[@wherami]

Ugh. Found soldered fuses on my vauum sealer. What a mess removing them.

[@BuyitFixit]

My thoughts exactly.. cost saving.. although I think I saw one retailer selling these for around £250! fuses should be accessible and easy to change, and not the hassle I had to go through!

[@Mikere5]

Fuses in sockets is not a good idea in an item like this. Vibration and high currents are not good friends

[@BuyitFixit]

While that does make sense to me, I've seen plenty of 30a fuses in cars...

[@Boogie_the_cat]

Saving pennies while also ensuring most customers will have to buy a new unit rather than faf with blown soldered fuses. Planned obsolescence is most common for the more expensive, specialty items. Big Man CEO says to himself: "hey, if the customer can afford one of these, then surely they can afford two" It's gross. It's predatory behavior like that which Apple basically has incorporated into their whole business model. "We're serializing these parts so that stolen phones can't be parted out" I've heard Apple zealots say that if every other manufacturer always serialized all their phones parts, then people would stop stealing phones. Really? Do they think they understand the mindset of a thief? My town is full of homeless tweakers who would steal anything, serialized or not. If they couldn't sell it or part it out, they'd steal it just to take it apart, or just simply because they *could* steal it. There's no way to stop device theft. In my old apartment building, people stole my cat toys to throw them away, simply because they didn't like me. You can't presume that a thief is going to act based on rationality. That is not the criminal mindset. Apple serializes parts for profit, which results in more landfilled devices, yet they want to present a "green" image.

[@shaunclarke94]

PCB mount ATC blade fuse holders would seem a better option than adding so much extra length. You also seemed confident putting it all back together almost fully before testing. Haha. But glad it worked and an easy fix.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Shaun 👍Fuse holders would have been my preferred choice but my friend who brought it up was only up for the weekend, so didn't have time to order any. I just used what I had available.

[@TheOriginalEviltech]

@@BuyitFixit You can solder the spade connectors directly to the board, i have seen many inverters made that way. Just take the insulators off and straighten the tabs for crimping so they could feed trough the holes in the board.

[@BuyitFixit]

@@TheOriginalEviltech Thanks for the suggestion 👍

[@donnymeyer1984]

​@@TheOriginalEviltechYes, put two spade connectors on each fuse, put them through the board and solder. The fuses themselves hold everything in place while soldering. The fuses are all much easier to replace.

[@the3sounds]

@@TheOriginalEviltech That's a brilliant idea! Thanks.

[@inothome]

I was expecting a blown revers polarity diode, but a handful of blown fuses is even better!

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, I had been expecting the same, and possibly blown mosfets too!

[@Johny333-xk9js]

@@BuyitFixit how to know if mosfets are blown?

[@BuyitFixit]

@Johny333-xk9js check between the pins with meter on diode check. You shouldn't get shorts between the gate pin and source and drain. Sometimes you can trigger the mosfet with an test meter but you shouldn't get a short between the source and drain pins either.

[@Johny333-xk9js]

@@BuyitFixit thank you :D btw i fixed heater same problem broken fuse :D

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice 👍

[@naste.adrian]

The way you analyse and diagnose is golden.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@johnharrison373]

I would have taken the plastic off the spade connectors and opened up the ring that the wire goes in, snipped it to fit the hole in the PCB and soldered that. It looks a lot neater that way and still makes the fuses easily replacable. Just a thought.

[@BuyitFixit]

Good idea. Ideally I would have used PCB fuse holders but the owner was just visiting for the weekend so this was just a quick fix to get it running again.

[@Reaktanzkreis]

I bed all mosfets of the primary inverter had gone. This inverter got the same pcb as lot of other inverters of different brands. But in this case only the fuse blown. Congratulation!!

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes I was expecting the mosfets to be shorted too!

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes I was expecting the mosfets to be shorted too!

[@FHacivelioglu]

Hi, It is good to see that the MOSFETs and protection diodes are not blown. However, I never would do so kind of a repair, i.e., extending the fuses with cables, in such a high current path. The best you can do is to find some quick-fit sockets that are fitted to the AC output cables you removed during repair and then solder them into the PCB by shortening their cable side legs (to let them fit into the PCB holes). Then you can easily put the fuses on these PCB-type sockets that you create. Hence, in a repair, you would also be made removable fuse holders in that board which will be healthier than a cable extension when one considers the high current flowing along these lines. BW

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks, a few people have mentioned the same. I was just going to solder new fuses in, except the ones I had were cheap aluminium and would not solder. I would have used sockets except my friend was only up for the weekend and I didn't have any or time to order any. I used what I had available at the time.

[@ytmadpoo]

@@BuyitFixit Necessity is the mother of invention. I'm sure if you had the time you could have ordered some automotive type fuse holders to properly socket those (or at least inline fuse holders like they use for aftermarket car accessories).

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes totally. I've had to get creative a few times. Like when I repaired a solar inverter and only needed the service password and the response from the manufacturer was 'it's out of warranty, buy a new one' I did a video on that too 🙂👍

[@danielross868]

Its a matter of heat. You are only using a small pen iron. The wide tracks suck most of the heat. You needed to use a bigger (much bigger) tip iron with plenty of heat...@@BuyitFixit

[@grahamhall2662]

@buyitfixit Yes I moved house some years ago and had a similar situation with the house alarm. Sat there one evening with it on my lap after taking it out, a four number code gave maximum of 9999. Took me about 20 mins and learned the code, got up to about 1500, bingo. Still using the alarm to this day - stuff the installer firm. Good repair, hope it works for may years.

[@hannatree478]

I find myself incredibly excited and hopeful that one day with some tuition from a local electronics genius, I will be able to repair expensive (and those awful cheap) gadgets that are so often written off, when they break, by the companies/repairers that make or fix them. I've lived for 35 years with offgrid solar systems. Watching the horribly expensive demise of seven high quality inverters in that time, mostly due to lightning strikes and irresponsible installers, has become too much for me financially and in principle, NOT to try to do something about fixing them, so I'm learning how. While I'm waaaay off fixing the old SEA inverter that blew up mysteriously a short time ago ($6000 to replace it with a similar model and $2000 quoted for the capacitors and presumably other components plus labour), I had a win today fixing a big spot lighting torch I found in a skip, by resoldering two broken wires on the control boards, and replacing the battery and a spade connector to one terminal. Someone threw it away. I was able to get it working again. That's where I begin. Simple is a good place to start. The exercise is learning how, even if the thing cant be repaired. The inverter it seems may be able to be repaired for a few hundred dollars if I do it under the tutelage of a qualified electrician who can make sure it's a safe repair, a process that is underway. I'm already some of the way forward when I can diagnose what went wrong and that's why I pull things apart, BEFORE I throw them away. And I find so much that can be recycled in the componentry. Videos like this help by teaching me what's what and why it's there and what is possible with some out-of-the box thinking. As soon as I saw the soldered spade fuses, I thought "oh that's silly, what if... and voila! simple is best. A great way to see how it's done by the experts. Thanks.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks for your comments and kind words. I've actually repaired a couple of solar inverters and did a video on one if you haven't seen it. Perhaps it may help in diagnosing one of your inverters? I'm not and expert but I've got a fair bit of experience in repairing things 🙂

[@firestormv01]

During an extended power outage of unknown duration, I found the same issue with a primitive MSW 200W inverter. A soldered fuse was replaced with a couple of jumpers and a field-replaceable fuse. Inverter still works! It was an experience standing in a freezing room with battery operated light and soldering iron trying to get this dinky inverter working again.

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice 👍 Main thing is that you got it working again. Well done 🙂

[@markm1984]

Wow amazing job, I blew one up by reversing cables also, but they gave me a new one, have a blessed evening, great 👍 job 😊

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@ThriftyToolShed]

Awesome! Glad the fuses protected the front end!

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks! 👍

[@Ricardo-Royco]

Very goog job ! I remark that only fuses are broken. I think that this converter has a good protection ... Thank for this sharing.

[@BuyitFixit]

And thanks for commenting. If you're interested I've done much more interesting repairs than this such as the RGB laser or Thermal camera repair 👍

[@jaynelson4175]

When testing generators I like to use a paint stripper. They have a constant amp draw and are easy to control.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks for the tip. I recently looked at another one and used a 520w cupcake maker (resistive heater) for the load.

[@AntoninKral]

Had a same issue recently, different brand, very similar construction ... just ordered a bag of PCB fuse holders :)

[@BuyitFixit]

Great idea! I thought there would be something like that available but I just wanted it off my bench :) . They probably didn't bother adding them to save a few pennies...

[@TheOwlman]

@@BuyitFixit _They probably didn't bother adding them to save a few pennies..._ The problem with that type of fuse is generally with the holders - depending on the environment that it is used in it would be possible for corrosion to introduce a high resistance into the main current feed, and at 2kW (which I seriously doubt unless those fuses were rated in excess of 160A) this would lead to some serious heat from the dissipation. When I changed the batteries in my UPS I noticed the fuses were soldered in, and it is a reputable brand and not a cheap unit.

[@BuyitFixit]

Fair comment. Could well be the case.

[@ezzeldin101]

Flux is your friend, always use flux after sandpapering or grinding as you did to stick solder with soft surfaces that isn't pre-solderd like those fuses

[@BuyitFixit]

The fuses were aluminium. I did order some special aluminium flux to try and it is possible to solder to aluminium with it. Normal flux doesn't work.

[@gunnardannehl372]

Nice job! Interesting to see the fuses blow before the semiconductors. So they seem to be rated reasonably. My suggestion to the soldered-in fuses is the usecase of these inverters. In car or motorhome application with a lot of bumps and vibrations they cannot come lose.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍good idea but fuses in the vehicle's fusebox would suffer the same bumps and vibrations.

[@ElizabethFert]

i'm so impressed with your ability to engage the audience!

[@johnrobert2768]

Thank you so much, this has been really helpful. Different 'brand' name, different power rating. But the one I have has all the exact same major components, the same manufacturing methods, even identical packaging and info. markings. Clearly out of the same factory. It is so difficult to find reliable repair info. for this kind of stuff. So surprised at the cheap fuses, when the build quality is comparatively good and the majority of components are actually reasonably good quality. Ship, spoil and 'hapeth' of tar spring to mind. I am 90% sure there used to be a copper automotive spade jumper available - very short, all one piece, male at one end, female at the other. These would have soldered directly into the board slots and effectively made 'sockets' for the plug-in fuses.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks John Robert. I'm glad you found it useful. If you like electronics please check out some of my other videos. Hopefully you'll find those interesting too!

[@ovalteen4404]

These manufacturers tend to take actual work and then run off a bunch of 1-offs of their own to sell under their own name. Compare Aims Power (inverters sold by an American company) with SunGoldPower. It's identical down to the case design. Only the color is different. Yet another reason it's bad to run an economy on outsourcing.

[@johnrobert2768]

Totally agree. But its generally 'ignorant' pen-pushers in 'accounts' that win this argument. But even then it only ever 'pays' in the short term and the hidden costs of lost domestic jobs and GDP deficit etc. are left for the taxpayer and government to absorb. Not to mention the illicit acquisition of 'free' technology. And thank you for for the observations about the 'original' brands. Sooner or later their more comprehensive technical data and possibly 'spares' will be invaluable in fault-finding and repairs to extend the working life of these units.

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

Resettable fuses might be a good upgrade for the unit if you are keeping it. Just to add I would have thought it would be designed with reverse polarity connection protection but obviously not in this case.

[@BuyitFixit]

Good idea on both counts. It's not mine, I was just looking at it for a friend. I've since returned it.

[@imag555]

that is also my though .Good idea

[@dantronics1682]

Actually it was the reverse polarity protection that kicked in and blow all the fuses, you dont need resetable fuses for reverse polarity protection since you shouldnt be connecting it in reverse all the while. if the fuse blows in normal usase then you have a fault,

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

@@dantronics1682 if correct reverse polarity circuitry is installed it will not run by design and indicate such a fault in a similar fashion to better designed battery chargers.

[@dantronics1682]

@@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse true but "correct reverse polarity circuitry" would require a diode in series which would need to have a forward current capability of at least 100 amps and then dont forget there will be a junction voltage drop which desipate energy. so having the diode in parallel to blow the fuses is the simpliest solution

[@shoukatalihunzai1]

Haha nice! now the fuses are very much accessible for the next time if they blow up once again. Great work gentlemen ❤

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍Hopefully they don't connect it up wrong again 😂

[@599miata]

A very interesting solution with the fuses. Well done!

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍I would have preferred to use PCB sockets for the fuses, but the owner was only visiting for the weekend so I just used what I had to hand 🙂

[@599miata]

👍👍@@BuyitFixit

[@johnbutler5208]

I just bought a 1000 watt xyz and I love it . Thanks for the video. John

[@BuyitFixit]

You're welcome John 👍

[@nzhillbilly6468]

Just come across this video, nice to see that inverter repaired, good job.👍

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 🙂👍 I'd rather have used sockets on the board but I didn't have any or time to order any as the owner was just up for the weekend so I used what I had. Have a look at some of my other videos, I've repaired a ton of stuff including night vision, thermal camera, medical ultrasound etc.

[@redangrybird7564]

I'm about to buy an inverter, so I just wanted to have a peek inside one, thanks, good video.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks! You sound like me, I love having a peek inside things 😂😂😂

[@redangrybird7564]

@@BuyitFixit 😎👍

[@thetraindriver01]

Nice, super lucky with just the fuses blown 👍

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, I was expecting blown mosfets and diodes 👍

[@andytipping70]

think they solder the fuses to reduce contact resistance and so heat generation from iffy joints. by extending the cabling, I think you have significantly increased the resistance on the input side - so the output will turn off at lighter loads or higher supply current.

[@BuyitFixit]

Would that not be the about same as having the incoming supply lead extended by around 6" ? I did use fairly thick cable and x2 on each contact. Someone also mentioned about soldered in fuses but I've worked on plenty of cars that don't have the fuses soldered in. I know the resistance would be lower but I don't think it will make that much difference.

[@redneckbryon]

I had exactly the same one, used it once everything was hooked up correctly, when I went to use it a second time, it let out the magic smoke, luckily it was still under warranty from Amazon Canada.

[@BuyitFixit]

Oh dear, not a good advert for this product then.

[@brookesenfrance3852]

Super upgrade with the fuse holders

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@historyisfake9153]

I always sold fuse holders on so I have external fuses. Fixed a few and found this makes the problem fixable when someone does it again as its so common. Xx

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍Might be an idea if I get another one to repair in the future.

[@Reman1975]

On most inverters, if you reverse the polarity, the fuses pop before anything else is damaged. I had to do this same repair several years back because I bought an inverter on eBay that was "Spares or repairs" due to the original purchaser getting their wiring confused. It sounded like aggro, but it was too cheap not to get and try to fix. All that was wrong was that one was the 3x 30A internal fuses were all blown. As you said, it's a stupid idea for them to be soldered to the board, so I found 3x surface mount blade fuse holders, Dremeled a neat bank of holes for them in the end plate, and connected the holders to the board by soldering (IIRC) 10AWG silicon wire between them. I remember the thick wires made it fun getting everything back together, but it looked pretty much like it was mean to be like that when I'd finished. ...... And after all my messing about to make the fuses easily accessible, Sods law meant that I never had to swap them again. :D . I only replaced that inverter when I wanted one with a bit more power, and I think the friend I gave that one to still uses it to run a PC in his camper van.

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice 👍Thanks for talking the time to comment. I would have preferred to use solder in sockets or such myself but the owner was only visiting for the weekend so I had to use what I had available at the time 👍🙂

[@tristankordek]

THX for the material, it's nice that only the fuses blew, but thumbs down for the cables and deterioration of cooling

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, it's not ideal. I was going to solder the fuses back in as original, I would have preferred to use sockets in the board, but the owner was only visiting for the weekend hence I had to use what I had available. I have no idea why KZbin has been pushing this video so much when I have repaired much more interesting and complicated stuff 🤷‍♂️

[@tristankordek]

Aha, so you were planning to install fuse sockets on the PCB, that changes things :) 👍 Even YT employees don't understand their own scripts, don't worry about it and do your thing :D Which of your materials would you recommend the most?@@BuyitFixit

[@BuyitFixit]

@tristankordek depends what you like. If it's electronics try the RGB laser or thermal camera or if it's software reverse engineering try the medical ultrasound scanner or the solar inverter I repaired and needed the service password and the company wouldn't give me it and said bin it.

[@MikeBanks2003]

I solder wires to the places, then crimp a spade socket on to the wires, then plug in the fuses. That makes the fuses replaceable. D'OH!! Should have waited for the rest of the video!!

[@BuyitFixit]

😂😂😂👍

[@richardsandwell2285]

It is a shame the manufacturer did not make the fuses removable. soldering them in like that almost makes them pointless.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yeah👍. I suppose they did do their job though as there wasn't any more damage luckily.

[@MBANZUKE]

Connected mine inadvertently the wrong way round and it blew the 3x25amp fuses - I thought it was a goner - so I replaced the fuses and it was still OK..! Always check the polarity and if the unit is US check the fuses before giving up.!

[@BuyitFixit]

I've just got another smaller inverter to look at, hopefully this one is a bit more than just the fuses 🙂

[@chox2001]

I think the fuses were soldered in because sometimes the fuse holders don’t get great connections and melt. I’m guessing the manufacturer had issues similar so they soldered righ to the board as a quick fix.

[@BuyitFixit]

Could well be, I think a few people had the same thought.

[@jose83771]

Good work like always, they should had installed those fuses on the exterior like car amplifier, which this is almost the same thing

[@BuyitFixit]

Yeah I would have thought something like that would have made a lot more sense.

[@andreasu.3546]

Thing of beauty!

[@Popeyes66]

Nice one Mick. I thought you were gonna open a whole can of worms there,but just fuses. Jobs like that are great but dont happen often enough.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yea, to be honest I was expecting to replace a load of mosfets and possibly some driver IC's so I was a bit surprised too!

[@Equiluxe1]

I had the same problem blown fuses, I got some female spade connectors for PCB mount and put them in.

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice. I would have preferred to do that,but unfortunately didn't have time to order any as the owner was only visiting for the weekend.

[@ovalwingnut]

Soldered-in fuses? 8 no less! Oh my j:Oo So the fuse(s) blowing pretty much makes this a "throw away" for most folks. That's a shame. But a GR8T FIX. A labor of ♥You RoCk. Cheers from So.CA.USA 3rd House on the Right. p .s. I looked up that company on the Interwebs and NOVOPAL stands for "No Voltage, PAL!". See, now it all makes sense :)

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 😂😂😂😂😂@ NoVoltPal

[@mikkolempinen2717]

Soldering them in makes more reliable connection. Leads add resistance and inductance.

[@BuyitFixit]

Good point 👍

[@emmettk2898]

Surprised to see they soldered automotive fuse directly on the board, all the inverters I've opened up had the bare spade connectors soldered to the board. Nice repair job :-)

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks I would have used proper sockets ideally but the owner was only visiting for the weekend so I had to use what I had lying around.

[@user-tn1hk6zm2freedom]

First time I have ever seen an inverter built so the fuses saved it. Lol. Good design. Every one I have ever repaired the fuses were fine but had a lot fets blown and bad SPWM boards.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks AJ WD, I was expecting pretty much the same, blown fets and possibly driver chips, but it seems that the fuses saved it!

[@dantronics1682]

you might find they are all design that way, even the cheap 60w one that you plug into the cigarette lighter socket

[@user-tn1hk6zm2freedom]

@@dantronics1682 No there not. I have repaired a bunch and have found only a couple with blown fuses. It is most always fets and controller board problems. The 24 volt inverters get hit the hardest. I had one with blown fets, burned transformer and bad controller board fuses were still good. Lol. Real poor design.

[@dantronics1682]

@@user-tn1hk6zm2freedom I think we are talking about 2 different things, I was talking about reverse polarity protection, I cant see so much people wiring them up thinking that red means -ve but I agree that the boost voltage stage gets hit the hardest

[@user-tn1hk6zm2freedom]

@@dantronics1682 Ok. One thing that should be added to the design on power inverters id a big diode on the input so that if it is hooked up wrong no current will flow. An easy fix to people hooking them up backwards. An easy mod.

[@inverterfactory]

This Inverter factory design the fuses on board directly, it's not easy to replace fuses.

[@BuyitFixit]

I just repaired another inverter and that one seemed to be much better built and had fuse holders 🙂

[@tobiassommer2821]

Probably wired it in reverse. I once did the same accidentally and the DC-wires started glowing😂 Because of the transistors/diodes it pulls a very hight current when wired in reverse, maybe so the fuses will pop to stop or minder the damage

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, that's exactly what happened, although I'm not sure if they had the glowing wires 🙂

[@andythomas7931]

Nice one mate and well done making the fuses better.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@t0nito]

First time I've seen an inverter with popped fuses and good mosfets, it's usually the other way around, blown mosfets and intact fuses...

[@BuyitFixit]

I too was expecting a load of blown mosfets.

[@christopherleubner6633]

One thing you can do with these is use it to excite an isolation transformer and use that to get grid tie type inverters to give extra juice from a whole house type solar panel system if the grid goes down. Need an isolation switch and a simple battery charger to keep the inverters battery source charged. So long as your draw is about 70% of panel capacity this works fine.❤

[@tactileslut]

I tried that once without adequate isolation. The inverter tied DC- to HVDC- and AC-ground which led it to overload itself when the house shorted neutral to ground. It put a notable voltage between the body of the car and the floor. At the end of the day the charger was dead too. Whoops. More stuff to fix.

[@vargasmongo3435]

as a hobbies PCB designer they should have the FET's part separate by wire so the only thing you do is disconnect the connections and replace a small board of FET's

[@BuyitFixit]

Great idea, but it would probably increase the cost of the unit. I'm sure these are made as cheaply as possible...

[@petejones1957]

Well done you!! super job. Looks like a really well put together inverter, and a super display, but what a terrible design with those fuses, wonder why they didn't use fuse holders. Can you imagine what a car would be like if they built one! haha

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍Yes, cost savings perhaps? Or unless it's designed to be a throw away unit like most things these days 🙁

[@DeutschlandLife]

This looks like my EDECOA Inverter. I had one with "3000W"! I think it could do the power theoretically. I wanted to power a big amp with a big toroidal transformer... it worked one and a second time, but on the third time it went booooom. Smoking the Sh*t out of the IGBT and the IGBT Driver. I replaced everything and it worked again. So I tried it a second time. The same, after 3 cycles it went boom again. After loosing enough money because of these cheap inverters I bought a Victron MultiPlus, because I don't want to burn my camper down, and now all is fine. It uses a big toroidal transformer for step up and step down, and I think it has a few advantages for driving heavy loads.

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice. I've recently upgraded my solar system to a Victron 5kw with a nice big battery bank. They seem decent kit.

[@Dennis-mq6or]

Don't ever buy an inverter where the fuses cannot be easily replaced! They should always be socketed, and hopefully in a place where they can be replaced without taking the unit apart....

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes totally!

[@BQQTS]

I know you probably went with what you had, but you can get a car blade fuse PCB holder it would have looked so much better

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, totally agree 👍

[@TinShackVideos]

I can't believe they soldered automotive fuses straight to the board!

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes 😂😂😂😂

[@alexandergreenfield91]

It'd have been a nice touch to have added some mini fuse holders for him as an upgrade

[@alexandergreenfield91]

Ah I see you kinda did 👍🏼

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, I'd would have preferred to use proper holders but he was only visiting for the weekend so I just used what I had to hand.

[@simont1108]

Those fuses will solder but only with using flux and a high temp. iron. The designers are helping the accountants more than the consumers.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@mattsan70]

these normally have a big diode wired in reverse across the 12V in and basically make the fuses go when wired wrong as in this case saving all the transistors etc - sometimes the diode shorts too - but looks like you got lucky here

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks morenormal👍

[@christopherleubner6633]

Yup. I've noticed they have skipped that reverse polarity protection on newer devices unfortunately. 😢

[@putraadriansyah8082]

I've have a egs002 based pure sine wave spwm inverter that I made 2 years ago. But I really wanted to build something like these "dc->hv dc->ac" switching inverters because they're more efficient and compact. My current build is using a salvaged UPS transformer and it's works great for most of the time but its big and consumes almost 16w at idle (because of the big iron core transformer)

[@BuyitFixit]

Interesting.

[@robertsmith2956]

have you thought about using both? switching till a break point, then lf for large loads with the transformer. They are efficient when being used.

[@KM-bb2iq]

top video, thank you. I have the same inverter only with 24v and 3000W. The display no longer lights up, 6 months after the warranty expired. Is it easy to replace the lamp? Or do you have to replace the whole display? or does the display on/off switch no longer work?

[@thewatcher2332]

I agree fuses should be replaced easier the same way we do in cars

[@graeme8755]

Very good repair, also that is where the fuses should have been. Not n the board.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍yes or easy to get at.

[@davida1hiwaaynet]

Nice that the fuses did their job! But a shame they were soldered. Not that soldering is hard, but that ATO style fuse is almost always made of aluminium.

[@BuyitFixit]

The fuses I used to pull from cars I'm sure were tinned copper. I just thought it was probably just this cheap set purchased from Ebay 🤷‍♂️

[@davida1hiwaaynet]

@@BuyitFixit It's sad that AL is replacing copper in many places where it shouldn't. Corrosion and other failures are the result. I do remember the days when almost all the ATO fuses were tinned copper but it seems that those days may have sadly faded away. However, I think certain types of fuses may still be tinned copper, such as the smaller ATM style. I had a car which leaked rainwater into the interior unbeknownst to me. It sat with moisture in the interior for weeks and every fuse corroded terribly due to aluminum fuse tabs reacting to the copper fuse holder terminals. Was a terrible repair.

[@BuyitFixit]

@@davida1hiwaaynet I can imagine, yes the metals seem to react with each other making a right mess.

[@JACK-wh6jl]

Just grind on the alum fuse & a higher heat solder gun & they work fine !!!. Freeze mist the plastic as needed !👍🏻

[@BuyitFixit]

I've tried that before, and never had much luck with soldering aluminium. I've bought some aluminium flux from Aliexpress, so I'll see if that works when it arrives.

[@eddieMurphy11111]

very lucky if that was my it would be all melted, thanks for the video

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍Btw Eddie Murphy is one of my favourite actors 🙂

[@emylrmm]

Just a quick note that fuses are there to protect the wires (fire hazard protection), not to protect the electronics. That type of fuse is not intended to be soldered into place, so that process likely partially melted the fuses leading to infant mortality failure.

[@BuyitFixit]

I also think a likely contributing factor was the previous owner connecting the red wire to the black terminal and vice versa 😂😂

[@daShare]

I've seen soldered-in blade fuses in plenty of UPS boards. Littlefuse appear to have tin plated blade fuses in their range.

[@ThorWithHammer68]

Nice := ) should be a protective diode by the power in but ..classic fix.. this one had a lot of fuses

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@DigitalIP]

Youd think something like that would have reverse polarity protection that doesnt rely solely on fuses.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, exactly. Someone suggested a relay and a diode so when the power the correct way the relay would click in powering the rest of it, but it would add extra cost I guess.

[@cbsolo5628]

I've had my share of Chinese inverters on my bench. Never the fuse, always the MOSFETs

[@BuyitFixit]

I was expecting MOSFETs to be fair. I was quite surprised when they tested OK.

[@earthenergyhex]

That is slick!! Nice work

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks! Although I've done much better repairs than this one. This was a friends that visited for the weekend. Ideally I would have like to have used some PCB fuse holders, but I had to use what I had available at the time. Please check out some of my other work 🙂👍

[@ooltimu]

That was a good circuit design if the only fix needed was to change the fuses

[@wherami]

Love the improvement!

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks j s. Yes I wasn't really happy soldering the fuses back in. Fuses should be there to be easily changed, not having to remove boards etc etc etc...

[@sp523]

Another great fix!

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks SP 👍

[@mikecass8306]

Fuses doing what they are there for, good adaption though. 😀

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Mike 👍

[@qno-oj3py]

There are pcb fuse holders for ATO fuses but usually rated to 20A. These fuses go thru a lot of temperature cycles that will wear down the contracts. This is a cause of problems in cars. Better to solder them in. Temperature is important. Don't be surprised when a 30A fuse is only 20A at 40°C.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks for that 👍

[@NicksStuff]

7% load out of 2000W for a can opener running in dry air sounds a bit much, doesn't it?

[@BuyitFixit]

Very true! Perhaps it uses Chinese Watts for measurement 😂😂😂

[@TYGAMatt]

My mate was recently quoted about 100 quid to fix an inverter. He gave it to me to take a look and it was just a blown fuse and a shorted mosfet. Three quid later and it was good to go again.

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice, well done👍. I've actually just bought a 600w inverter to have a look at. Hopefully it's more than just fuses this time 🙂

[@TYGAMatt]

@@BuyitFixit more than just fuses is great for us blokes watching lol. I like it when it's just a fuse ;-) But then again, it's super satisfying to find all the issues and get stuff working again. Keep up the good work. Cheers Matt

[@BuyitFixit]

@TYGAMatt Thanks Matt 👍

[@richardtaylor7199]

Great job.

[@BuyitFixit]

Cheers 👍

[@jacquesb5248]

i have 3kva devel hybred inverter. it blew some/all it's mosfets on the one rail. havent tried replacing them yet. when it was working the thing uses about 5A just being powered up!

[@davidhollfelder9940]

Hmm. Do we need to make a dim bulb tester for 12V, using incandescent brake lamps?

[@BuyitFixit]

Good idea, although brake lamps are usually 21W so I think it would take quite a few

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

Someone else mentioned it, but ALWAYS discharge the caps before poking fingies so no nasty surprises.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, good advice. I usually check to see if there is any voltage in them, but probably forgot and it had been sitting in a box for quite a while it seems.

[@m0gga]

Great video, I just love to watch professional tradespersons exercising their craft. Nice one and thanks for sharing. 👏👏👏

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks, I wouldn't call myself a professional, and this repair isn't my best work. I've fixed much more interesting stuff. Thanks for your kind words, and hopefully you'll like some of my other videos too!👍

[@m0gga]

@@BuyitFixit I am sure that I will like your other content.

[@captango]

Excellent job. Could you not have attached a new multi fuse holder for all the fuses on the outer. case

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes that would also have been a good idea. This was a little bit of a rush job as the owner was only up for the weekend so I just used what I had lying around.

[@johnshaw359]

Soldered fuses that require a 120w soldering iron to change them after dismantling, not recommended for camping etc.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, or emergency use 😂😂

[@martinwhitaker5096]

You like to live dangerously... Leaving the meter leads in the amps position ;-)

[@BuyitFixit]

I guess I'm just like Austin Powers "Danger is my middle name" 😂😂😂😂

[@cajuncoinhunter]

I was wondering why you were using a iron to take fuses out ...... I guess they want to do all the work themselves ....... That's not covered under warranty , so that means they can charge for the repair ...... Are the fuse holders available ??

[@BuyitFixit]

I'm not sure, I would guess they are, unfortunately I didn't have time to look and order any because the owner was only visiting for the weekend.

[@tedvictor4918]

time stamp 9:30 overlooking the outher 2 diods ( 4 blocks of inverters = 2 mosfets + 1 diod + 2 fuses each ) . PCB mount ATC blade fuse holders pose a hot spot and have caused fires in inverters before by igniting the pcpb and peling te solier on the pcb and forming a arc flame.

[@Totogita]

Thank you for posting these videos. I have a 600 watts with the fault light on that I have to fix, any clue ?

[@BuyitFixit]

Probably blown mosfets. I've got a faulty 600w inverter too that I'll be looking at soon. Stay tuned 👍

[@Totogita]

I swapped the p19nb20 with a irf640 it is working but only 100 volts out 😢😊

[@nexxterra]

reverse polarity??? Consider that blindfolded, you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right, yet the person did this while actually looking at what they were doing...

[@BuyitFixit]

😂😂😂👍

[@1998eclipse1998]

You can solder aluminum but you need lead free solder and somethings a flux compatible with aluminum

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@geekay2024]

I would have solderd in some fuse holders easyer to replace after they blow

[@BuyitFixit]

Agree, I would have done so but didn't have any at the time to order any. The guy who owned it was visiting us and was only here for the weekend so I had to use what I had available.

[@JoBo-ug6tf]

The second you said he reversed the polarity I thought: fuses or diodes. Guess you wouldn't want the voltage drop from diodes. Question for you: why are some of the traces not covered in solder mask? I noticed it in the Milwaukee battery charger, too. Does it have to do with higher current? Great that you got it working again, seems like a beefy unit.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks, yes I think the solder mask isn't on those traces so solder builds up on them, making them thicker and allowing them to pass more current than the plain copper would allow.

[@jvandervyver]

I've soldered significantly more heat hungry power planes than those with a T245 C245939 tip (6mm cartridge knife). It is a beast and once you have one you'll start using it a lot. At 290℃ I'm able to do most of my component soldering and serious desoldering jobs like these at around 340-350. Whereas if I use the kind of small tip you used there it takes significantly longer.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks for the "tip" 😂👍

[@misterbonzoid5623]

Why didn't it have reverse polarity protection? Page 1.

[@BuyitFixit]

It kind of did.. in the way of fuses 😂😂😂

[@cerulyse]

That's a serious amount of current to get 2kw I would have tried to mount "TTW' if there's wires come off and short on case it will be magic smoke+++

[@BuyitFixit]

Originally I was just going to solder the fuses back in, although I would have preferred to fit proper sockets. The owner was only visiting for the weekend so I had to use what I had available.

[@OH2023-cj9if]

Is it a decent sinewave as some inverter circuits give a modified square and some things will not run correctly.

[@BuyitFixit]

One thing I didn't check was the output waveform with the scope. I did on a couple of other inverters I looked at like the sterling one and that one was pretty much a modified square wave.

[@VLC8792]

The reverse polarity/soldered in fuses is a penny pinching exercise.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, I think so too!

[@Tom-jd1rm]

Never understood why the fuses are not easy to get to and replace 😕

[@BuyitFixit]

Might be a better business model if you just bin it and buy a new one 🤷‍♂️