Inverters

[garyde]

One of my inverters for the Coach Batteries keeps charging. The Coach hasn't been used since POG ll and the Batteries are new. I am plugged in and nothing is on except the Refer. When I turn everything off, the inverter is still charging.
I checked it after work each night this week . The other inverter is not charging.
The Coach is new to me so I am still figuring out what is normal and what's not. (for the Coach)

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Gary,

Ditto. I used to worry about this because of several reasons, but I now assume this is normal.

I came to this conclusion for the following reasons. First, our inverters are supposed to "load share", a term that was used to describe that both chargers would work together. So far I have seen one or the other carry the bulk of the charging load. When you are on shore power your 120V loads such as the refrigerator will be handled by the shore power, but the bus still has some 24V loads, such as the head hunter system.

Unless you can sneak into the coach without turning on lights you will see the house batteries being charged because the charger is providing power to the batteries to replace the load from the lights.

The key that put my mind at ease was I checked the voltage at the batteries and as it turned out my voltages were always OK, and that is the key to whether the charging system is doing its job

[truk4u]

Gary,
I have Trace Inverters and occasionally one will get stuck on (bulk) charge and I have to reset the inverter at the remote to get it to float.

Since we're on inverters, no thread creeping here, there is an excellant article on the other site about adjusting the bulk charge time. I have been doing this since I bought the bus and it works great. When on generator for dry camping, I use 2 hrs for bulk charging and then change the settings to 20 minutes when plugging in, since the batteries are full after driving. If I have to plug into 30 amp, I cancel the bulk charge all together in order to have enough amps to power the necessities.

[garyde]

I waited an hour and snuck back in without turning on anything and discovered the Inverters were not charging. So, they fire up the minute you turn on the lights even though I am on Shore power, because those loads feed thru the inverter/battery system. I am still learning. Gary

[Joe Cannarozzi]

I always wondered why we all dont have "converters"[ A/C to D/C] to go along with everything else. It would tax the batteries way less and we would also have FULL voltage to all the DC stuff when on shore/generator AND the chargers would run less also?

[truk4u]

Gary,
What kind of inverter to you have? The Trace has a "search" function that basically puts the inverter to sleep until is senses a predetermined amp usage then comes alive. This function is selectable and not automatic, maybe yours is in this mode. The A/C flows through mine, but I can turn off the inverters, select charge, and they are completley off line. 12v consumption is handled by the chargers and all A/C is available.

Joe - Our inverters are converters, Bulk, Absortion, Float charge, A/C to D/C.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Where could I view one of these units that inverts DC to AC AND converts AC to DC both?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Gary,

Our first coach had converters (three: 2 house and one for the bus batteries). It also had an inverter (not inverter charger). The simple answer is that the way our coaches are now set up is much more user friendly.

There were advantages to the early Liberty system we had but ease of use was not one of them.

[truk4u]

Joe,
Go here: http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/8/learn.asp;)

[garyde]

Gary,
What kind of inverter to you have? The Trace has a "search" function that basically puts the inverter to sleep until is senses a predetermined amp usage then comes alive. This function is selectable and not automatic, maybe yours is in this mode. The A/C flows through mine, but I can turn off the inverters, select charge, and they are completley off line. 12v consumption is handled by the chargers and all A/C is available.

Joe - Our inverters are converters, Bulk, Absortion, Float charge, A/C to D/C.

Xantrex, Heart Interface Model 25 ,Freedom (Qty of two) I do not see any program capability. It looks like strait transfer/charge/Inverter.