Can we use shore power and inverter together?

[MariannRobin]

Hi. We are plugged into shore power but it is only 15 amp. My DH wants to know if there is a way to run the inverter to supplement the power while remaining plugged in to the 15 amp shore power. Can anyone help with this question?

[KIX]

It seems like you could disco the inverter 120v input to achieve your goal. Bear in mid..
........I'm guessing, I've never tried it.

[Dutch Star Don]

The answer would generally be no. When you're connected to shore power, the power comes into your coach and passes through your inverter, telling it you have shore power. Your Energy Management System is going to look at the 15 amps and disperse it as necessary.

I'm guessing that your husband is thinking that he can take the 15 amps of shore power and add it to the inverter power and come up with more amps. You could if you brought the 15 amps in on an extension cord and plugged it into things like your microwave when needed and run everything off of the inverter. But...at some point you would have to reconnect the shore power to charge your batteries.

You could disconnect the shore power and run the microwave and a hair dryer at 25-30 amps, but your batteries would be dead very quickly. So you could increase your amperage, but would have to connect the shore power every hour to recharge the batteries.

You could run your generator during peak power times, turn your refer to gas and turn off the electric water heater if you have one. You can also turn off the battery charger on some coaches and then turn it back on at bedtime. It's just an energy management problem.

[Luv2go]

It depends on your inverter brand and model. My relatively ancient Trace SW2512 will supplement line up to it's capacity of 25A (amps). My understanding is that some Magnum inverters will do this also. Other brands may also, so check your inverter manual.

Note it only uses the batteries when the coach is drawing more than the 15A shore line capability, when under that the inverter uses the excess current to recharge the battery if necessary. The max line current is a setting on my inverter, if yours has this capability you'd have a similar setting, I don't remember the exact name, something like "max input amps" or "shore input amps".

Dutch Star Don is correct in that your EMS will restrict the power the coach uses when not connected to 50A. My EMS has a button for 20/30A but Newmar changed brands after 2008 so yours could be different). To use 30A with a 15A plug you'd set the EMS to 30A and set your Inverter so it would draw no more than 15A from the line.

I have wired a switch into my EMS wired so I can fool it into thinking I'm running the generator (45A on my gas coach) so I can use more of the inverter's power for peak loads, like when DW wants to dry her hair while we are running the dishwasher and microwave at the same time.

[njs42]

Well I wish I had the MH here close so I could go look and read the manual again to be sure.

However our Xantrex inverter has a "Power
Share" feature. By hitting a button you move the light to the number of amps you are taking into the coach 15 to 50. Supposedly it makes up for amps if you are using less than fifty. However, I do not use this thing because we are almost always plugged into fifty amps or if we are using less it is because we are home and just maintaining.
Maybe someone with a Power Share feature can explain it better.

[MariannRobin]

Thanks I will show the replies to my DH. The coach is a 2004 KS and the refer is on gas. I don't know any info on the inverter but he probably does or will find out.

[PDR John]

Those years will not. Our does, but I don't know what year they started using that model inverter.

[kalynzoo]

When we visit friends and tap into their 15amp garage we just ration our use. The frig is on gas, except at night when we can switch it to electric while we sleep. You choose between micro-wave and anything else. Our panel shows usage, so I can switch off something when I want to plug in the coffee pot, etc. It has worked well for us, but we usually stay only 2 or 3 days.

[njs42]

Inverter Charger | Freedom 458 Inverter/Charger | Xantrex

This is the one I have and you can read the explanation for Power Share. Of course it is meaningless unless yours has the same feature.

[MariannRobin]

Thanks for all the replies. My DH has read them and will be checking ours to see what it is, and if we need to/ should upgrade.

[wa8yxm]

Yes and no.. The inverter eats battery power. So if you have enough battery and the inverter feeds the kitchen (microwave) then you can simply turn OFF the breaker that feeds an in-line inverter, forcing it into inverter mode, and till you run out of battery power you can cook. Alas, this can be a problem if you use too much cooking gear you will kill batteries (or overload inverter) very quickly. And DO NOT forget to restore power to the inverter so it can recharge.

I have both an in-line inverter AND an independent converter in this rig and often do it that way. on 20 amps I pull the plug on the converter and plug it in direct, (Leaving no 120vac in teh MH save from the inverter) works fairly well so long as the battereies are up to the job.

["007"]

Most of your heavy current draw items do not work off the inverter outlets, Micro, AC's, washer-dryer, hot water heater etc,etc.
In QT's # 3 there is info for all inverter/converters used by Newmar.

[docj]

The Magnum Energy Hybrid series inverter/chargers are designed to combine shore power or generator power with battery power to increase the load that can be supported; just what you are asking about. You can read about them here: MSH-M Series Inverter/Charger | Magnum Energy, Inc.

[RV4Me4Life]

This thread has been very informative. I know some Newmar RV owners that I'm going to refer to them to read it. Thank all of you for your comments. I have learned a lot.