Off-grid

[norseman]

I been off grid 13 years in the UK.
Re combi boiler not igniting on a pure sign wave generator. I had the same problem at the start but solved it simply.
My pure sine wave inverter generator has two 13amp 3 pin normal, UK domestic plugs outputs (it's a 1.8kw suitcase module) plug the house in as normal. The other outlet I wired a plug with just an earth and a neutral NO LIVE!!!!
Then I stuck two earth rods in the ground 6 inches apart and connected the earth to one and the neutral to the other.
Dont ask me how or why this works but it does. My brother suggested it, he is an electronic engineer.
He said on grid live and neutral come together or wrap around each other in the power station and off grid this does not happen.
The first inverter I purchased 12 years ago setting always showed and earth fault and no tripping!! As soon as neutral was grounded all was resolved.

Now I have upgraded my system my knew Victron inverter takes care of this an so the neutral is no longer in the ground It will also trip a big diesel generator to charge the batteries when required. When this happens I can't run the boiler and so if I want hot water or central heating during this time, I will completely unplug the house from Victron and batteries and diesel generator and switch to the pure sine wave inverter geni 1.8kw with the earth and neutral in the ground.

So I have the house in no way connected to the national grid but have two armoured cables under ground into the house and one big plug from my so consumer unit so I can run the house from Either system.
Hope that all makes some sort of sense

Thanks for that, I will file your explanation for reference should we ever move to having connection of the geni to the home. As things stand at the moment this is, sadly, unlikely for the foreseeable future.
We've had the geni for over a year & it's never been used from new .. I have added engine oil & spin it over on the starter every couple of months followed by a battery charge, so it only needs fuel to be ready for use.

 

[Raylekkyguy]

Hi Again, I found the solution, I came to the conclusion that the pcb needs a stable mains voltage, inverter voltage varies depending on load, my solution was to connect the boiler to mains to only power the tonics Pcb, I then connected the 240 volt pump output to a relay, so when the central heating pump was called for the relay energised and powered the pump from the inverter power supply, the boiler pcb uses next to nothing, this suggestion is of no use to an off grid scenario, it pained me using 100 watts from the grid to power the pump, I hope this helps someone, regards Ray