Inverter ground?

agilityvision

I have a Tab 400 with the Boondock package, and I was looking at the wiring and noticed that the Ground on the Aims 1200 watt inverter is not hooked up to anything. Does anyone know if it really should be? I assume the manufacture put it on for a reason. Reason I ask is I always get a nice big spark when I plug in to shore power. Related question is the rest of the system grounded to the chassis at some point?

falcon1970

Always turn the breaker OFF at the pedestal before connecting to shore power!  That will prevent that spark.  And keep your Alde system, the HVAC system (CoolCat or Air-8), the refrigerator, and other electrical devices OFF until you have fully connected to shore power.  I turn my battery breaker switch OFF also until I have good power from the pedestal.
Also, I would strongly suggest you use an Energy Management System (EMS) such as the Progressive Industries PT-30X.  There are a couple of others on the market but they all guard your trailer from surges, brownouts, reverse polarity, hot skin and other grounding issues.  None of them are cheap but compared to fricasseeing your TAB they are a good investment.
All the above aside, the TAB itself is not grounded to anything.   There is a ground to the chassis at the junction box under the tongue.
I do not see a grounding wire on my inverter.  Just the positive and negative lines from the battery and a line to the remote on/off switch at the foot of the bed.

agilityvision

All good advice, I hadn't thought about turning off the battery disconnect and the breaker. Thanks.

Denny16

@agilityvision, which year TaB400 do you have?

The inverter on a TaB400 2018/2019 model is wired hot and neutral only, ground is afloating ground, unless less it has an automatic cut off switch (2020/2021 models) when trailer is connected to AC/Main shore power, the Inverter automatically switches to shore power, from battery operation. 

With a DC only connection, the Inverter ground is not used (floats) as the TaB is not grounded when Boondocking (TaB is grounded via its Shore power connection only).  Since the trailer is ungrounded (unless connected to shore power), the inverter AC connection does not present a shock hazard as such (unless you touch both hot and neutral connections at the same time). 

The same model Inverter is also used in marine applications, which requires a bonded ground system, and the ground connection is then used (boat in water is a direct ground shock hazard).

rhyno

My AIMS inverter has 12 volt hot and ground both connected to their respective bus bars, with a 150amp fuse inline on the hot side. The AC/shore power side has auto switching so hot, neutral and ground are wired in and out of the inverter. 

Denny16

Thanks rhyno, Yes, you have the newer setup in your 2020 TaB 400, which is also used on the current 2021 models.  Not sure which model year agilityvision has…
cheers