Using the Leaf for power in a Blackout: MY "Leaf to Home"

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Has anyone used a more 'square wave' inverter with a Leaf? Northern Tool had a surprisingly well-reviewed 2000/4000 watt inverter on sale this week, and I grabbed one. The idea is to use it to run just a sump pump and lights, or a couple of electric radiators and lights. I hope to find used #2 or #0 AWG jumper cables for a truck and use them to connect as needed. (I know about not using the negative terminal.)This inverter tends to stall unless the input side has super-large wires, but I only plan on using 1000-1200 watts of its capacity anyway.
 
Has anyone used a more 'square wave' inverter with a Leaf?

I went into this wanting to output the cleanest AC I could.
Square wave units are not that much less $$.

So many things now have sensitive microprocessor control circuitry, and are really easily fried by square waves.

I think my toaster has a processor, and I know my oil heater has a solid state timer in it.

I suppose a sump pump, or a filament type light bulb will eat what you feed it, but I didn't want to limit myself in case I wanted to power up something to entertain the Kids that says SONY on the side of it :D
 
If I had found a 1000 watt PSW unit for $150 shipped (the price of the 2kw unit) I would have gotten it, believe me. We're used to dealing with a square wave gas generator; the Leaf seems like a much quieter, cleaner alternative.
 
Okay, I now have all the parts needed (inverter, breaker, and short distance connecting wires (4 AWG - as called for in the inverter manual) and grounding wire.)

However, reading the inverter instruction book and viewing some youtubes, it would appear that I'm supposed to connect the red cables to the red battery terminal and the black cable to the black battery terminal. The ground wire then goes from the inverter to the ground on the vehicle.

But looking at your pictures, it looks like you are connecting the black cable from the inverter to ground, not the battery and citing Phil's law about not connecting ground to the battery. Did I miss the statement or picture showing a connection of the black cable to the battery? Or is this something that is problematic despite the diagrams in the inverter owners manual.

I'm an accountant, not an engineer and would prefer to make sure I've got this right before making the connections.
 
NEVER NEVER connect anything to the negative 12V terminal on a Leaf.
Never EVER!

Connect your add-on 120VAC Inverter's negative to the nicest chassis ground you can find, and in a 2011 / 2012's case, that's the pretty one right next to where Nissan tied their ground, as you can see in some of the pictures.

The short "accountant" reason is that the Negative battery terminal on the Leaf is "smart", and is tied into the regulator system.
Not good to mess with.

You want a big ol'e stupid ground.

Good luck, and tell us how it works out.
 
KillaWhat said:
NEVER NEVER connect anything to the negative 12V terminal on a Leaf.
Never EVER!
Understand not connecting a load to -12, but how about a battery minder/tender? That shouldn't be a problem, should it?

Of course, if jump starting the LEAF, then chassis ground is proper; same as an ICE.
 
ebill3 said:
KillaWhat said:
NEVER NEVER connect anything to the negative 12V terminal on a Leaf.
Never EVER!
Understand not connecting a load to -12, but how about a battery minder/tender? That shouldn't be a problem, should it?

Of course, if jump starting the LEAF, then chassis ground is proper; same as an ICE.

I would not ever connect anything to the Negative terminal on a Leaf.
No reason to.
Why risk it.

I use my Anderson connector output as my battery tender input.
As a rule, I never connect to the battery negative on ANY car.
If I jump my ICE, I connect to the chassis.
 
Ah. Thanks!

And while I will assemble the parts and have them ready to go, I don't plan to make the connections to the Leaf until it is necessary. It really is contingency planning in the event of an extended power outage. My rooftop solar has an isolated outlet so I can charge the Leaf during the day even when the grid is down. Then I could tap the battery at night if needed.
 
So for us Leaf owners, a guide like the one below is dangerous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e2yWM62NM0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I did a search on Youtube for the same concept for a Leaf or ev and didn't find any. Had I not read this blog and noted the inconsistency with the other info I found, I guess I would have really messed up.

Perhaps it would be a good idea for one of the guys here who has a successful implementation to do a youtube version. (I'm not qualified - kind of like the blind leading the blind.) It might save an ev (or an ev owner) from an early demise.
 
I was thinking that for those of us who want a location-specific setup, it might make sense to use a separate, larger deep-cycle battery as a buffer. It would be connected to the car's battery, but would have more capacity and would handle the inverter load directly, with the Leaf keeping it charged. What do you folks think?
 
I can see your thinking with this, but I don't think it's a good idea.
The Leaf is looking at a balanced 12 VDC system.

It's looking at the load on it's 12V Battery, and responding to that.
Adding an additional parallel battery load, with then another additional parallel load.... just another potential problem.
And It's not needed.

The existing battery is sufficient to act as a capacitive buffer.

It's not a bad idea in concept though. I understand.
Maybe better to replace and increase the CCA of the Leafs 12V battery if you still want more raw amps.

I can tell you there is a bit of room for a size increase.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by additional parallel loads - the extra battery would be a serial load, IMO. Still, I was wondering if it would provide more stress rather than less on the car. Going with a bigger accessory battery would be a good idea, but whichever battery is in there, *it* will be seeing more stress from the inverter draw...
 
By parallel load I mean that all the Positives will be hooked together, and essentially, all the Negative will be hooked together.

Inverter to OEM battery positive, to Accessory battery Positive, to Inverter positive.
One problem with the "accessory" battery, since we cannot hook it's negative directly to the OEM battery's negative, it will not have the benefit of whatever regulation is taking place at the OEM battery Negative.

Without adding the "Accessory" battery, we have a fairly predictable MAX load when we hook up our Inverter.

By adding the additional Accessory battery load (assuming it sits, and will not always fully charged) we initially significantly increase the potential load on the Leaf.
 
LeftieBiker said:
What size breaker is that in the setup that started this topic? I just got a 150A version of it from Ebay. Also some 1/0 cable and ring terminals.

I had to go and look, it's been a while.
It's a 150 Amp unit.
Wired like this:

leaf5.jpg
 
Thanks. I almost got a higher rated breaker, but then realized I needed to use it as a limiter to keep the inverter from exceeding the DC/DC converter's capacity.

Now, two more questions: how exactly did you connect to the positive battery terminal, and where did you get the line connector/plug assembly?
 
LeftieBiker said:
Thanks. I almost got a higher rated breaker, but then realized I needed to use it as a limiter to keep the inverter from exceeding the DC/DC converter's capacity.

Now, two more questions: how exactly did you connect to the positive battery terminal, and where did you get the line connector/plug assembly?

1) These are the housings, the boots, covers, and even the handle, etc.
I did not find this place until AFTER I did mine.

http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/housings-contacts/sb175-loose-piece-colored-housing.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This place is one-stop shopping.
Please note that the correct color for 12VDC is YELLOW.

2) Here are the loose contacts.
You will need 4, and they are sized by wire gauge.

http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/housings-contacts/sb175-pp180-loose-piece-contact.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I used a big hydraulic crimper on them.
I have seen others use impact crimpers, and I guess you could "solder" them if you had to.

If you are planning on making an "Extension Cable" to get the unit out of/Away from the vehicle, then order the extras that you will need.

Here is a picture of the Hot connection.
With the breaker tripped, I only have the approx. 3" of hot sticking out.

I dremelled (sp?) a slot in the cover until it closed again.


InverterHot.jpg
 
Thanks for the link. For some reason I hate the idea of having to assemble a connector (I'm used to working with XT60 connectors), but I'll have to overcome that. For the battery terminal connection, did you just use an existing bolt to connect a ring terminal, or did you have to do something like make another hole...? I want to keep modifications of my leased car to the absolute minimum.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Thanks for the link. For some reason I hate the idea of having to assemble a connector (I'm used to working with XT60 connectors), but I'll have to overcome that. For the battery terminal connection, did you just use an existing bolt to connect a ring terminal, or did you have to do something like make another hole...? I want to keep modifications of my leased car to the absolute minimum.

Loosened the existing bolt, Put the ring under it, and tightened it back up.
Easy Peasy.
 
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