Inverter By-Pass

[JIM KELLER]

Jon,

Unlike my Marathon, I had to check this out and I gotta give an atta boy to CC, nothing runs through the inverters as long as shore/gen power is available.

Tom, I think our refrigerators run only through the Inverters.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

In the past there have been posts regarding inverters and how they are installed on various coaches, and what happens when an inverter is shut off, or if the charging circuit is shut off. I'm not sure what is correct for one coach, is correct for the next coach.

I have two Freedom 2500 inverters, and in the installation guide there are NINE (9) options for installation. That alone should suggest that before a problem occurs it might be best if each of us attempts to find out exactly what will happen if an inverter fails.

The project to install a by-pass switch is moving at glacial speed because I am digging far deeper into this than just installing a switch to join the input and output circuits on my coach. I will have a very clear picture of how my particular coach is set up, and what I will have when I am done with the by-pass project. It is not as clear cut and simple as originally thought, but now that I am in the middle of it I can see the logic of the system.

Every converter probably had their way of doing things and with so many choices available for how the inverters are installed it will be worthwhile for everybody to turn some switches on and off until you know what you have and how it works. You do not want to find yourself trying to deal with a failure of the refrigerator circuit at the beginning of a long day of driving through the southwest in August.

[merle&louise]

Jon,

Just thinking out loud here: if the inverter fails when I am in a CG I would connect my spare battery charger to the batteries. If I were out on the road the engine alternator would charge them and the generator would provide electricity to the accessories. I fail to see the problem here.
Under these circumstances I would start the generator to use the microwave.
I can run the refrigerator, TV, & lights for about 24 hours before starting the generator to re-charge the batteries.


Refrigerator: 110V X 6.5A = 715 watts
TV & SurSound: 110V X 4.0A = 440 watts
Total: 1155 watts
Inverter output: 2500 watts

Am I calculating correctly or am I missing something?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Tuga,

You are correct, but a hair dryer and a coffee maker added to that are too much. You just have to be careful like we all do.

[blacklab]

Just slightly off the subject here-but in the same family: I have two Heart Inverters and one "converter charger". What does this unit do??

[merle&louise]

As I understand it, a converter charger charges your batteries.

[blacklab]

Thanks for the info. BTW, would you mind me contacting you regarding your Newell??

[merle&louise]

Not at all, my email address is tugagaidry@bellsouth.net or call me at 985 381 6613.

[Ray Davis]

As I understand it, a converter charger charges your batteries

To expand upon this.

Inverters take a DC voltage (batteries), and turn it into an AC voltage for things like appliances etc.

Converters do the opposite, take an AC voltage and turn it into DC. The converter charger runs on 110 AC, and then charges your batteries from that. Why they call it a converter/charger rather than just a battery charger is unknown to me. Maybe for clarity.

Ray

[Ray Davis]

Hmm, wikipedia disagrees with me. They call the process of DC to DC == conversion. AC to DC they call rectification. But regardless, the RV industry calls devices that take AC and turn it into DC for charging batteries, a "converter/charger".

Ray