Hi all
Recently I installed the following on my campervan:
- 2x 150W 12v solar panels (https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/catalog/full/90-150W-12V-solar-panel-with-5m-cable-for-camper--caravan--boat-made-of-high-quality-German-solar-cells.html)
- Charge Control 20A MPPT (https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/catalog/full/299-High-efficiency-20A-MPPT-solar-charge-controller-for-solar-panels-up-to-260W-12V--520W-24V-up-to-100V.html)
- 80ah leisure battery
- 1500W pure sine wave DC 12v to AC 240v inverter (https://www.amazon.co.uk/EDECOA-Power-Inverter-Multifunction-Remote/dp/B01M7U05U4/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1497708427&sr=1-2&keywords=1500w+pure+sine+wave+inverter)
Everything is working fine and I am able to charge all my devices - phone, iPad, razor, speaker etc
The problem is with my MacBook Air (mid 2013 11inch screen MagSafe 2 plug), the main reason I bought all of the above!! Sometimes I plug it in to the inverter and it charges fine, for hours at a time. Other times I'll plug it into the inverter and nothing happens. So far it works about 50% of the time. When it doesn't work, I am still able to charge all other devices fine. I have not noticed any patterns for when it does or does not work (time of day, level of leisure battery charge etc).
The MacBook Air was purchased in Taiwan and I am now based in UK. It charges fine on every other plug I have tried in multiple countries including UK (at home, coffee shop etc). The charger is 45W 110-240v.
Any advice on how to solve this would be much appreciated.
Jim
Odds are your house battery doesn't have enough juice to charge it. An 80 amp house battery isn't much to run a 1500 watt inverter.
It probably is an inverter issue, running a low wattage device on a high output inverter might not be triggering the inverter into action.
Rather than try fix big bug I suggest buying a macbook air car charger (£4.99) and a cigarette lighter socket (free from a scrapyard or a couple of pounds elsewhere. and connecting direct to the leisure battery ?
I totally agree with car chargers, you should only use inverters if no other options are available because they are so inefficient.
Also try fully charging your house battery by means other than solar. One thing I learned after wasting thousands of dollars on solar setups is they all lie. Solar will NEVER provide as good a charge as a battery charger or charging while driving. Now I mainly charge while driving, and that totally solved my power problems. Now my house battery will last me a week+ with no driving. When I was relying on solar if my power lasted all night I felt lucky. Same battery, same usage.