True Induction Stove Top will not turn on

[DanielBoondock]

12 hours ago, jd1923 said:

It's rated at 1800W which is listed on the Amazon title and on the product label underneath. Wattage spec should also be listed in product literature and user manuals.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KSNTSVR/?th=1

Great minds think alike - I have this one for cooking outside

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G9YKPQC

Stainless is nice but most is I like that its fine if it rains, don’t ask me how I know. Also it’s got .5 increments so is finer grained control than the interior stove 

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I do not get this statement either, "the stove itself." How can an appliance possibly know what it's wired to, or know whether you're on inverter or shore power?

We run our induction cooktop often at the full #10 setting, for example to boil water for pasta. Everything always on our Victron Multiplus II, no problem. 😎

 

Hm? Not sure what you mean either … I’m just saying that the cooktops have a specified input power they can spend however they want. For the home Bosch the electrician used the wire gauge and breaker size required for installation and obviously same here. So the induction is sized to that, but they can use that power however it wants. The Bosch has a boost mode which is super crazy fast for boiling water, less than a minute for a full pot. I forget how much it is, 6-9kW I think? Anyhow that can only be used with the other burners at a much lower power, so it basically hogs the input. 

The Oliver induction is much the same. I can use the main burner on 10, and the secondary on 1 or 2 IIRC. Or I can use the secondary on 8 (max), and the main on 3. So clearly, 11 is the maximum level (the engineer must have seen Spinal Tap), and the onboard PLC lets you spread that across two burners in this way. Now the burner could be sized bigger, say 2.5 kW, and (without doing the math) say that allows both burners on full. OK fine, but now that would only sell to RV’s with 3k inverters which isn’t as common as 2k. Even on shore power we only have a 30A input which still limits. 

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Everything always on our Victron Multiplus II, no problem.

Don’t know what this means, everybody is limited to 30A on shore, and on battery are limited by the inverter and battery. With my stock dual Lithionics 9kWh batteries and the Xantrex 3k I always have to be mindful of power while cooking. On battery I can do two things at once usually, but no AC. On shore I can do AC and cook, one or two things but still have to be careful. 

From the factory they incorrectly set the low voltage cutoff of the Xantrex at 11.3 IIRC. By accident I found that out, it’s supposed to be 12.1. At the previous value I could easily run two things at once on battery. At the correct 12.1 I have to be much more careful and run more like 1.5 appliances simultaneously. 

Making it more interesting I’ve got 10 kW off my truck if you can believe that. 7kW off the bed power sockets, and I have a ~3kW dongle which goes off the charge port in a ‘reverse power’ configuration. I think it’s using the onboard Level II AC inverter backwards for that. Anyhow this dongle has a TT-30 socket - they must have done it for the campers, so I can plug the trailer into mobile ‘shore power’. But it’s limited to 25A not 30A, so have to be a bit more careful. Buuuuuuut, if it really mattered, I could also go off the bed power (using an adapter for 240V), or just run the outdoor induction off one of the 120V, or whatever. tl/dr …

 

Edited 5 hours ago by DanielBoondock

[Ollie-Haus]

Interesting thread indeed, and it will definitely be interesting to know how Oliver resolves the issue with @Lamar’s cooktop/inverter. It definitely appears that unique design considerations were required with the LE and its more limited power capabilities compared to the LE2 and it’s larger inverter and battery capacity. Depending on the outcome, this experience may initiate design changes for future LE  builds.

Regarding comments by @jd1923 and @DanielBoondock about induction appliances in their Oliver travels, after more than two seasons in our LE2 we definitely prefer induction for all cooking needs. Whether cooking outside or inside, the quickest, cleanest, simplest and in my opinion safest cooking option in an LE2 with large lithium system and 3k inverter is induction. And for us that includes both with utility connections and boondocking disconnected. 
 

Like any electrical system it requires a mind for managing capacity and demand. We actually have two of the induction cooktops @jd1923 mentioned above, and use them simultaneously when needed. The beauty of two separate units is they can be positioned side by side and used like a two burner and not be limited by the settings on the opposite unit. We even have a nice non-stick griddle we place on the dual burner arrangement, with separate controls for each half just like you can on a double burner single unit.

For outside cooking, if we have utilities at the site, one gets plugged into the curbside outlet and the other run off the pedestal via a short 12ga extension cord. My eventual plans are to run a separate circuit from an added breaker in the 120v panel to a plug above the galley to facilitate using both induction units simultaneously without overloading a single circuit, keeping in mind the inverter capacity. Simultaneous use of one hot plate and the hot induction kettle would also become an option. 
 

As mentioned by @DanielBoondock we always must take into consideration any other appliances such as AC, microwave, induction kettle, and the notorious hairdryer!😉 But once you understand the capabilities of the LE2 and its electrical capacities, induction appliances really open up a lot of options. We love the propane system for unlimited and instant hot water and it’s excellent heating capabilities with the furnace, but for us, the convenience of instant and precise cooking with induction is something we’ve learned to love at home, and now very happy to have while traveling.