I have a Su-Kam shiny 850 model inverter which powers my home appliances when there's a power outage or if I switch off the mains that supplies power to the inverter. However whenever I unplug the cord of the inverter from the mains, the inverter still shows are "Backup" mode while no appliance work which basically means it stops working. Is it necessary to keep the plug attached to the mains even if there is no power through it?
1 Answer
Current flows in loops. That is basic "electrical 101". All current 'comes out' the hot wire, and 'flows back' via the neutral wire.
A switch only interrupts the hot wire. That is enough to break the loop and make the load shut off.
A plug interrupts hot and neutral and safety earthing, because, obviously, it's a plug.
So if you think about it, unplugging interrupts neutral. Switching does not. It's all about the neutral.
And more specifically, it's all about illegal and dangerous mess that was made when this was hooked up initially.
- On the inverter, only the hot wire was connected through back to the panel. The neutral was never connected or switched, and so neutral is forced to go backwards through the system via the plug. This is bad: the hot and neutral wires need to stay together for a variety of reasons.
- My guess is this was done so the panel could be "back-fed" so the whole house could be powered (on 650VA inverter that can barely provide 3 amps, lol). I will guess that this wasn't done with a proper interlock.
I suspect this was done because 1-pole switches (which do not switch neutral) are cheaper than 2-pole switches (which do).
answered May 21, 2021 at 1:21
Harper - Reinstate MonicaHarper - Reinstate Monica
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That makes a lot of sense since only one wire as phase goes into the inverter backup plug. Thanks for the clarification. Commented May 21, 2021 at 16:00