External Inverter Cooling Fan?

[RobertM]

My Power Jack inverter is outside in a shed, and  is struggling with this California summer heat. Would it help to install an external fan that blows air through the case at the side vents? I am thinking about buying a 120mm 74 cfm 24V dc brushless fan and powering it from the charge controller load terminals.

Edited July 15, 2022 by RobertM

[dickson]

My Power Jack inverter is outside in a shed, and  is struggling with this California summer heat

I  use one 12v AGM battery  or  external  12vdc  power supply  .  The fan is 12vdc  and  252  CFM  and  one blow at the side of transformer  and one blow parallel  to heat sink at the FETs .     Noise is 66 dB  .      

[RobertM]

So you mounted the extra fans inside the case? Did you cut into the case?  Your fans have 3X the air movement as the one I was considering.

Edited July 15, 2022 by RobertM

[Sid Genetry Solar]

I have to say, the extra airflow does help a little.  Not as much as I expected, admittedly.

I put 2 200CFM Delta fans on my "9k" PJ that I bought...remounted the transformer upright so one fan was blowing directly into the center of the transformer, and the other was blowing directly out of the chassis.

...didn't help the overheating much at all.  It would still reach overheat redline at 3kw.

The solution ended up being to get a completely different rewound transformer...that made a HUGE difference in the generated heat!

[dickson]

So you mounted the extra fans inside the case?

I  forget  which  PJ inverter you have .    My  old PJ  fan inside  the case  was removed and replace with the new 12v fan and wired  to be on all the time  with a  external switch  and fuse .    I  think you can  fit the new fan inside  with the holes  in the case  which is 120 mm  .     My  15kw PJ load is  3000 watts at  110 degree F  and  will  shut off at  115 degree .    The transformer temperature is 165 degree F .   

[RobertM]

I have last year's "8000" AMG model. We're getting 100°+ days, now. 

[RobertM]

1 hour ago, Sid Genetry Solar said:

I have to say, the extra airflow does help a little.  Not as much as I expected, admittedly.

I put 2 200CFM Delta fans on my "9k" PJ that I bought...remounted the transformer upright so one fan was blowing directly into the center of the transformer, and the other was blowing directly out of the chassis.

...didn't help the overheating much at all.  It would still reach overheat redline at 3kw.

The solution ended up being to get a completely different rewound transformer...that made a HUGE difference in the generated heat!

I'll try my external fan idea, with a 180 cfm fan.  I do have an old 115V evaporative cooler, and could cool the shed, but that would take watts.

Edited July 15, 2022 by RobertM

[dickson]

I have last year's "8000" AMG model. We're getting 100°+ days, now.               'll try my external fan idea, with a 180 cfm fan.     

That inverter can not  add any fans  .   My  8000 watts can only  run at 100 degree F  for less than an hour .   A big  house  fan may help  it run a  little longer .   Evaporative  cooler  can  drop the shed under  85 degree  and will work with less loading  .   

[dochubert]

It's hard to deal with 100 degree ambient.  An extra fan couldn't hurt but probably won't make too much difference.  Might be better to replace one of the stock fans with your 180cfm fan.  (For future reference, upgrading all the stock fans will improve your cooling and make it easier to handle higher loads and hot days)

For the immediate problem, putting a 22" box fan in the doorway of the shed blowing at the inverter is probably your best bet for the least amount of watts.  If your evap cooler doesn't use too much power, use it in the doorway blowing at the inverter.  Unless the air in the shed gets exchanged with outside air, inside the shed will be much warmer than ambient outside the shed regardless of what else you do.

Good luck!