I have 2 100 amp batteries connected and 1 2000 watt
inverter but I can't boil a small kettle for a cup of tea. The
inverter just starts Beeping after about a minute and the kettle is just tepid. Testing both batteries show 12.8 v Help
Just a few comments ref your setup (other ones already made on the thread, but worth recapping)
200Ah of Batteries - can you use with an
inverter? Yes, for a short period. With a
Battery Bank that size, you should be able to use a kettle without a problem. If you got say a 800W Travel Kettle, you would be drawing around 80A from the
battery while running. Kettle that size with 2 mugs worth of water will take upto 6 minutes to boil, taking out around 8Ah from the
battery - well within the usable capacity of the
battery.
Whether that is a good use of
battery power rather than using a gas hob is a decision only you can make, not others (FWIW, I use
battery power to boil a kettle and run a microwave, as well as heating my shower water, so I am certainly not saying it is automatically a bad idea).
So why are you not able to do it? two possibilities....
1) Batteries have had it. That would explain it. You would also see a drop in the voltage in general use. How long do the batteries last generally in day to day non-
inverter use?
2) Cabling from
Battery to
Inverter inadequate. If the cable is too light, you will get a large voltage drop and the
inverter will complain as you see.
What size cables have you and how long are they. Check the voltage at the
battery terminals before you put the kettle and and keep monitoring as the kettle switches on and the
inverter starts to beep - what is the voltage just before the beeping starts?
An interesting read is this book from
Victron -
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Book-Energy-Unlimited-EN.pdf
It is useful to read generally, and section 6.6 covers a real life analysis of power use when cooking an entire meal via
Battery Power.
