ECN Electrical Forum
Discussion Forums for Electricians, Inspectors and Related Professionals

added my new DC-AC inverter to the tractor system, now have outlets on my reactor for 12VDC and 120VAC, and switches for hood lights
These are mostly up for doug and rollie

left outlet is the 120, and the right is the 12V
switches control the 12V lights on the hood


bigger view


where the inverter goes when its in use....


here's the most recent video of the tractor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_kCvMwaHYc

OK I'm scared, is that your point?
What is the 5-15 plug for?
Didn't you have any KO seals.

OK I know. I am not supposed to look at electrical installations on vehicles. Sorry, nevermnd

Looks great

lol, not gonna bother with knock out seals, i plan adding something there later on...

and what is a 5-15plug?

Isn't the switch on the right marked "for use on AC only"?


A NEMA 5-15 plug is a 15Amp 125 Volt plug

both switches are marked for ac only, but they work fine on DC

and the 15 amp plug on the left goes to the yellow plug by the seat for the inverter, and the 2 wire outlet is for my 12 V accessories like fan, flashing light on a tripod, and other things

a rolling electric chair

you have no idea... if i take the plow off, it does wheelies...

Joe, those switches will work fine on DC until you try to open a circuit with 10 or 15 amps of inductive load. Then it will weld shut because there is no zero crossing to put out the fire.
You can mitigate that with a diode across it.

I hope you don't mean the yellow plug is the output of the inverter.
I am still concerned with mixing 12 volt and 120 volt receptacles using the same type of plug. I would use "lighter plugs" for all of my 12 volt stuff. They do make good ones and you can get a lighter socket in a 3/4" KO as I recall.

I think I have some older switches lying around that are made for DC as well, I might go check my boxes of junk to find them.
as for the plugs, I do have a few lighter ones, but all of my 12V accessories are wired with 2 wire cords and plugs, but since I am the only one using them, I put a small padlock on the prongs where the holes are so no one else can plug it in.
when I get home later, I will put the inverter on to show you how it is set up, the invertet plugs into the lighter port by the battery, and the yellow cord cap plugs into the inverter (there is no suicide cord)

That setup worries me a lot too - it's ok saying you "padlock" the plugs, but some unknowing person can still break/saw of the lock or even change the plug thinking the appliance is 120volt. I use a 12volt system here too, but I use the old BS546 (round pin plugs rated 5Amp) as virtually no one has these in homes any more. I keep all 230volt appliances on BS1363 as it should be.

i dont worry about it, I hold the only set of keys for the tractor and locks, and I am the ONLY one that uses it/touches it.
here is how it looks with the inverter on it

Do you want me to send you some hard service cord for that 120v plug? Maybe some "caterpillar grommet" material for the metal edges it runs over?
That is the computer service planning guy talking, not even the inspector.

if you want to pay to send it to me, i was just gonna attach some flex under there... but i would like some quality cord

What's your address? I will send you a few feet of SJOW

What do you need the AC for? Watching DVDs while mowing the lawn?

I echo the comment of noderaser, WHY?
I can understand people having these sorts of things in a car or in a truck, but on a ride-on lawn-mower?!!

Unreal.

One thing that a lot of people seem to forget about inverters, is that the output will kill you just as dead as the mains that come into your house.
I'm not sure wether it is the fact that they run off of a battery, but some people don't seem to be able to see that 120V no matter what it is derived from, is just as lethal as any house supply.

A big thing in Aussie when I was there was the Inverter power supply, we are just starting to have every guy and thier dog installing these things over here off of Solar panels feeding a bank of batteries and into the inverter.
One guy thought he would run a "secondary" power system in his house using lamp cord.

5 lamp cords out of one plug-top and up into the cieling they went.

One last thing, if you buy a cheap inverter and load it anywhere near it's capacity (true for the cheaper square-wave inverters) you can actually knock out your whole neighbourhoods AM, FM and to a degree TV signals as well, with a steady stream of harmonics from the inverter unit.

If this had been posted by Harry Homeowner, it would have been deleted or locked, now wouldn't it? Joe, the experienced electricians here have been really too polite. You're young, but you're not immortal I assure you. C'mon, take their advice and safe this thing up before you get yourself [or someone you love] hurt.

Good point Alan,
Personally, I'd move to lock this thread, I don't think that it in itself, is becoming of a Forum such as this to have threads like this here.
We have enough problems with the pictures from so called "electricians", in the Violations Area.
On the face of this, I am going to lock this thread, if you have a problem with this, PM me and we'll discuss it.