Setec Vehicle-to-Load 6 kW Discharge Inverter

[V2X]

Hey gang,

I'm parting with my Setec CHAdeMO 6 kW discharge inverter.
We have had a good discussion about this product here:
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=32620

For those interested, the eBay listing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/154896111007

[LeftieBiker]

I'm interested. I've skimmed the topic, and will read more later. Any quirks or bugs I should know about, aside from the internal battery issue?

[V2X]

Sure, here are a few little quirks:

1. Setec provides no user manual for these V2L products. But I've found customer support to be quite responsive, and will provide contact information to whoever buys this.

2. Setec's 6 kW version normally ships with a couple of Schuko sockets for the 220V Europe market. For the US market it should have shipped with a three-prong NEMA 6-50R for single-phase 220V. Instead, it has a NEMA 14-50R four-prong socket. My workaround was to use a 4-Prong 220-Volt Plug to 120-Volt adapter cord to run into the Lite-Fuze step down transformer. This adapter cord is included, and can be seen in the video & photos on my eBay listing.

3. I've never tested to see what overload protection the unit provides. It is marked "CE" so I should imagine it has this, but the most I have loaded it up is 4.2 kW as per the video on eBay. Recommend 4 kW be the maxium surge load, with steady-state at 3 kW or so.

4. As per the other thread on this forum, I've observed a fair but of efficiency loss in this setup, suspecting that much of it comes from the Lite-Fuze step down process.

[LeftieBiker]

Thanks. So is it putting out 220 volts or 240? I assume 220 from the listing, but want to double check.

[V2X]

It's putting out 220 V. There is a potentiometer to adjust this (photo & description on the other discussion thread), and I did raise it up close to 240 V. What I found is if you do this the output power can get kind of wonky as this is the ragged edge of the unit's output. I also tried to bring it down to 120 V, but again the output became unstable. It really is designed for 220.

[LeftieBiker]

I'm looking for something to plug into a 240 volt generator port. Does anyone know how happy 240volt appliances are with 220?

[goldbrick]

I'd guess it would be fine. Lots of detailed information here: https://forums.mikeholt.com/threads/vol ... 0.2563412/

[Marktm]

I'm looking for something to plug into a 240 volt generator port. Does anyone know how happy 240volt appliances are with 220?

As you probably know, it's likely that the single phase 220/240 VAC power can only be used if there are no 120 VAC control systems in the appliance as many are set up to take L1 or L2 to neutral rather than to ground.

[Marktm]

Having a NEMA 14-50R in this single phase unit seems to actually be a safety hazard for use in the US. Likely, Setec has combined the neutral and ground in the receptacle wiring. If anyone were to try using this directly with a US household wiring system (e.g. using the Setec as a backup generator to replace a traditional split phase US generator), it would be quite dangerous as 120 VAC users could be exposed to 240 VAC. Not positive about this, but could be the case.

[LeftieBiker]

I'm looking for something to plug into a 240 volt generator port. Does anyone know how happy 240volt appliances are with 220?

As you probably know, it's likely that the single phase 220/240 VAC power can only be used if there are no 120 VAC control systems in the appliance as many are set up to take L1 or L2 to neutral rather than to ground.

I didn't know, but it was going to be my next question. It looks like the device isn't well suited for my application - connecting to a main panel via an interlock, and powering both 120 and 240 volt appliances - so I'm going to have to pass. Hopefully someone here is looking for something to run a more dedicated, specialized circuit or device when the power fails.