Inverter ENERGY 12v 3000va réglage courant de pointe au demarrage petit moteur de compresseur

Anyone else had their inverter throw a wobbly the moment a compressor kicks in?

My little 12V setup on the shepherd's hut nearly gave me a heart attack last summer — Victron Phoenix 12/1200 going into protection mode every time the 12V compressor fridge tried to start. Turns out the inrush current spike on startup is absolutely savage compared to the steady running draw, which was a perfectly reasonable ~400W.

A few things that actually helped me:

• Soft-start — some compressors have this built in, worth checking yours
• Transfer switch timing — fiddling with Victron's settings via VE.Configure made a noticeable difference
• Capacitor trick — a decent-sized capacitor across the load can buffer that spike, though results vary

The real question is whether your inverter's peak/surge rating is genuinely what it says on the tin. Compressors can demand 3–6x their running wattage on startup for a fraction of a second, and some budget units (looking at you, certain Renogy models) don't handle that honestly.

On the boat I went up to a proper 3000VA unit partly for this exact reason — overkill for the actual running loads, but the headroom means it doesn't flinch.

Has anyone successfully adjusted peak current limiting thresholds on their inverter firmware or settings menu? I know some units allow it but the documentation is usually about as clear as the loch in January.

Would be curious what others have found — especially if you're running compressor-based kit (fridges, tyre inflators, small AC units) off a 12V system. What's your inverter and how does it cope?

@LochLover oh this is very familiar — had exactly the same drama with my shepherd's hut setup last year. Compressor fridges are the worst offenders for inrush current; that startup spike can be 3-5x the running draw, even on a small unit.

A few things that helped me:

• Soft-start — some compressor fridges (Dometic, Indel B) have it built in; worth checking yours
• Battery internal resistance matters massively — I swapped to Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 and the inverter stopped tripping almost immediately. AGM just can't dump current fast enough
• Check your cable gauge and connections — voltage drop under load can push the inverter over the edge

The Victron Phoenix is generally solid but it does get a bit precious about peak loads. What battery chemistry are you running?

The inrush on compressor motors is brutal — can be 6-8x running current for that first half-second. Your Phoenix 12/1200 has a 2400W peak but depending on the compressor it might still be marginal.

A few things worth checking:

• Battery internal resistance matters massively here — if your cells are tired or connections are loose, voltage sags under inrush and the inverter faults on low voltage rather than overcurrent
• Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 handles those spikes far better than AGM in my experience on the boat
• Some compressor fridges have a soft-start relay you can retrofit — makes a significant difference

What's your battery bank? That's usually where the real culprit hides when the inverter appears to be the problem. The Phoenix itself is generally solid — Victron's protection logic is quite aggressive on the low-voltage cutoff.

Bit late to this thread but it's relevant to my static caravan setup so jumping in.

@RKE_Builds that 6-8x figure is eye-opening — I'd always assumed my occasional trips on startup were a battery connection issue rather than inrush. Got a Victron MultiPlus 12/3000 which should handle it, but I'm still seeing hesitation when the fridge compressor kicks in on a cold morning.

Quick question for the group — does battery chemistry make a meaningful difference here? I'm running Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 and wondering whether the BMS is momentarily throttling discharge during that inrush spike before the inverter can react. Anyone tested this with a decent clamp meter to see what's actually happening at the battery terminals versus the inverter input?

Trying to work out whether I need to look at soft-start options or whether it's a battery/BMS configuration problem first.

@RKE_Builds is spot on with the inrush figures, and I can add a bit of colour from my own shepherd's hut build.

What actually saved me wasn't swapping the inverter — it was fitting a soft-start capacitor kit on the compressor itself. About £40 from a US supplier, fitted in twenty minutes. Knocked the startup spike down dramatically.

The other thing worth checking: your battery connection cable gauge. I was running 16mm² when I should've been on 25mm²minimum. Voltage was sagging just enough under that inrush spike to trigger the low-voltage cutoff on my Victron before the motor even got going properly.

Two small fixes, problem completely gone. Compressor now starts without so much as a flicker on the [Victron] GX display.