Inverter/converter

[bachler]

I have 4000 watt inverter in our coach; My wife uses it a lot, And likes it. Thats Good;; after some research I found that when the inverter is at capicity 4000 watts it is drawing 333.amps on the 12 volt side on the batteries, That is an extream load on the 12 volt batteries, And if not charged Imeditaley They begain to sulfate; Am I wrong or am i miss calculating something.. Help;;

[bsimonds]

Probably even more amps than that when you consider that the inverter is not 100% efficient.

[jimbo16720]

Don't forget that's if you use it at 4000watts for and hour straight. If you only use it a couple minutes at a time it's less. And if you run something that only takes a 1000watts it's less. You go by what you are using not the size of the inverter.

[David Kanoy]

bachler,

I bought and installed one of these amp meters, 300 amp shunt with 3 1/2 digit display. It reads plus & minus amps so I know how much I'm taking out of the coach batteries and also can monitor how much the converter or engine alternator is putting back in.

If it works, the link is here: 3½ DC +/- 300A Blue LCD Digital AMP Panel Meter + Shunt - eBay (item 250599217531 end time Mar-12-11 23:58:08 PST)

David Kanoy

[Theberrys]

Thanks for the link David. I'll buy the current meter with the backlight switch to reduce the parasitic load.

Dick

[wa8yxm]

You are both wrong and right.

IF the inverter is running at max load.. (Microwave, an air conditioner or two) then you are right.

However if it's just feeding the TV and the sat-receiver,, then it is drawing far, far, lower current, Lke perhaps 10 to 15 amps at 12 volts.

[jimbo16720]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm You are both wrong and right. IF the inverter is running at max load.. (Microwave, an air conditioner or two) then you are right. However if it's just feeding the TV and the sat-receiver,, then it is drawing far, far, lower current, Lke perhaps 10 to 15 amps at 12 volts.

That's what I said.