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I bought this Lyabe 8000 watt split phase inverter and when it didn't put out more than 750 watts without shutting down, I suspected that there were settings wrong in the inverter. I opened it up and to my surprise all the guts were Power Jack. It has an asf-7 transformer, a 4 cap main board and it looks as if it should be more powerful than the pitiful 750 watts that is its limit. I noticed that there are DIP switches on the main board and I wonder what the appropriate settings for them should be? Other than the low power the inverter works flawlessly.
I bought this Lyabe 8000 watt split phase inverter and when it didn't put out more than 750 watts without shutting down
IF brought from Amazon then ask for money back .
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I opened it up and to my surprise all the guts were Power Jack.
PJ does make inverters for other brands, including U-Power. First time we've heard of Lyabe...but it's obviously the same!
I noticed that there are DIP switches on the main board and I wonder what the appropriate settings for them should be?
The more of them turned on, the more power it will do before shutting down; note that this limit will only be on the L1-N (and L1-L2) circuit. L2-N does not have any current sense. FWIW there is no "right" setting...and remember, it's a PJ, so consider yourself fortunate if you get 2kw continuous out of it.
It has an asf-7 transformer
Never heard of an ASF-7; care to share a picture?
Yup, and I read the number wrong, it is a LF-ASL4 transformer.
I realize that PJ is quite "generous" with their specs. in their favor, but I intend to use this to power a refrigerator and small stuff in outages. The rub was it wouldn't power a refrigerator. I held on to this for too long to get a return. Besides, I have had horrible luck with getting satisfaction from returns from any supplier. So I will keep this and make a light duty backup if nothing else. Thanks for the info on the switches, the 2 in the front and the 2 in the back were all that were on.
Try popping a few of said switches on...see if it'll run your basic loads.
...or put your 'fridge on the L2-N circuit, you'll bypass the current sensor altogether 😉.
I suspect that I should have the fire extinguisher "at the ready" lol. What is amazing is that there is so much substance in that box, it seems a shame that they can't seem to get it right. Ahh yes the current sensor, that is another issue altogether. Power factor reads .911 with 45 watts on the circuit.... I think that I will hold off on the load test until I am not hooked to the computer, wifi and area fan. Thanks for your help and concern. It is a rare thing these days.
Well the inverter survived the test though it didn't power the load (old microwave about 1100W). It just cycled on and off without actually starting the microwave. It appears I have a very heavy 800W inverter. Strange though, it didn't throw any alarms of shut the inverter down?
Can you try it on the L2-N circuit?
Have to say...these reports I've been hearing about the latest PJ boards are rather mystifying to me...
Yeah... that's some kind of regulator problem. I have the same issue with my U-Power. It doesn't like sudden heavy loads when near idle load.
Make the load a persistent load that will keep retrying to start when the power comes back up. I bet the inverter will keep power cycling until an "output unstable" alarm occurs.
On the other hand, put a ~500W resistive load on it, then try the microwave. I suspect it might get that microwave going, even though you've increased the total load by 500W.
It looks like an PJ older model. It's not an AMG design, has a display, has 4 caps and the ASL4 transformer.
Very different from my PJ manufactured in December of 2021. The date on this Lyabe branded transformer is also 12/21.
On the other hand, put a ~500W resistive load on it, then try the microwave. I suspect it might get that microwave going, even though you've increased the total load by 500W.
My 4 ton heat pump will start and run IF I run a 3/4 hp waterpump for 5 minutes first , This is with the ASL9.0 PJ transformer just to test . I do not know why it works doing this . My 3 years old 8kw PJ with ASL4.0 transformer has a different mainboard and original rev 10.3 control board . I have a rev 11.3 control board and IT will not work as the connector is wired different . I am sure the FETs will blow up if I try . PJ manufactured inverter now is mess up and almost impossible to fix .
Yes, I've learned this trick with my PJ. I've been running it quite a bit.
18 hours ago, workaholic53 said:Well the inverter survived the test though it didn't power the load (old microwave about 1100W). It just cycled on and off without actually starting the microwave. It appears I have a very heavy 800W inverter. Strange though, it didn't throw any alarms of shut the inverter down?
I am wondering if the problem is actually something else...
Do you have a 'scope?
If not, try putting a DMM (digital multimeter) in AC Volts, and measuring the voltage on the heatsinks where the transformer connects (at no load). If it's 18vAC+, that's almost certainly the issue.
What I'm thinking: the if PJ is back to using a high transformer primary voltage, the inverter will be well into square waves (especially with lower battery voltages & high output voltages). If you put a heavy load on the inverter, the total voltage loss (battery voltage sag, transformer resistance, etc.) will result in the inverter throttling up significantly farther--but as a result of the transformer ratio, the inverter's "throttle" will actually "roll over" and back to zero again! It'll throttle it all the way back up, trying to reach the desired output voltage...and "fall off the cliff" again, back to zero. Over and over.
This would cause a "pulsing" output ~2x sec (IIRC), and yes, it would not cause a shutdown.
The easiest solution to that would be to actually remove 2-3 turns of wire from the primary winding of the transformer (which is the outside winding, making it not too difficult), ideally reducing the primary voltage closer to 16vAC. This would give you more headroom for higher loads--and of course, also make it easier to blow the inverter up. YMMV 🤪🤯🤣