© 2017 Sensata Technologies
30
Operation
3.0 Operation
3.1 Operating
Modes
The MMS Series inverter/charger has two normal operating routines.
Inverter mode, which powers the loads using the batteries, and
Standby mode, which transfers the incoming AC power (i.e.,
shorepower or a generator) to power the loads and to recharge the
batteries. This inverter also includes an extensive protection circuitry
that shuts down the inverter under certain fault conditions.
3.1.1 Inverter Mode
When the inverter is
fi
rst powered up, it defaults to the OFF mode.
The momentary ON/OFF power switch (
Figure 3, Item 2) m
ust be
lightly pressed to turn the inverter ON. Subsequently pressing this
switch alternately turns the inverter off and on.
•
Inverter OFF
–
When the inverter is OFF,
no power is used
from the batteries to power the AC loads and
the status
LED will
be OFF. If AC power from an external source (shorepower or
generator) is connected and quali
fi
ed on the inverter’s AC input,
this AC input power will pass through the inverter to power the
AC loads. However, if this AC power is lost, the AC loads will no
longer be powered because the inverter is OFF.
When the inverter is turned ON, it operates either by “Searching”
or “Inverting”, depending on the connected AC loads.
•
Searching
– When the inverter is
fi
rst turned ON, the automatic
Search feature is enabled. This feature is provided to conserve
battery power when AC power is not required. In this mode, the
inverter pulses the AC output looking for an AC load (i.e., electrical
appliance). Whenever an AC load (greater than 5 watts) is turned
on, the inverter recognizes the need for power and automatically
starts inverting. When there is no load (or less than 5 watts)
detected, the inverter automatically goes back into Search mode
to minimize energy consumption from the battery bank. When
the inverter is “Searching”, the inverter’s green LED
fl
ashes.
Info:
The factory default value for the Search feature is 5
watts. It can be turned off or adjusted from 5 to 50 watts
using the ME-RC50 remote display.
•
Inverting
–
When a load greater than 5 watts is connected to
the inverter output, the MMS Series “inverts” the DC power from
the battery and supplies 120 VAC power to your sub-panel. The
inverter’s green LED
fl
ashes once every 2 seconds to indicate it is
inverting. The
amount of time the inverter can be inverting and
providing power is directly related to the amount of AC loads that
are connected and the capacity of the battery bank.