convertor--Invertor

[Bugzme]

What is the difference? Do they need to be on when generator is running? As you can tell I'm a really new owner.

[RickO]

A common question and one that I had myself about 6 months ago. I would think that your coach came equipped with an Inverter/Charger which both takes 12v from your house batteries to convert to 120v power for some of the outlets in your coach..... and keeps your coach batteries charged when you're connected to shore power. It's probably a 3 stage charger which is really the best way to charge your batteries.

A converter I believe is a device which does just the opposite conversion of power. It takes 120v from your shore power and converts it to 12v. From what I understand, these used to be more common as stand alone units but are now often times just built into the charger part of your inverter.

I don't think there's any reason the Inverter has to be on when the generator is running... but I never turn mine off.

rick

[Bugzme]

Thank you so much for a quick answer. I have been stressing about it for a couple of days

[Dutch Star Don]

Jeff.....It's a whole system....Here's how it works....If I made this too simple I apologize....often it's best to start with the basics.

Shore Power.....You receive 110 volts AC from shore power which enters your coach and goes to a transfer switch. The transfer switch sends the power on to your circuit breakers and Inverter/Charger (as said above, now housed in one unit). When on shore power the inverter charger is really only doing one thing, monitoring the levels of your batteries and charging them. People will often ask.... when a battery goes bad, can I eliminate the battery since I'm always hooked up to shore power. The basic answer is no. A lot of items in your coach run off of 12 volts like your lighting, dash stereo, water pump etc. They need to have 12 volts to operate. Your batteries act as a big buffer to operate them. The lights, water pump and other items draw power from the battery, not the inverter/charger, and then the charger recharges the battery. This gives you a nice even electrical flow, unlike what you see when on batteries only and the lights dim because you're running the water pump at the same time.

The generator does the same thing as shore power. It provides 110 volts to your transfer switch and then the power goes out to the rest of the coach in the same manner as above. A couple of things to know. The transfer switch is there so that you don't have to go and unplug a cord from the generator to plug a cord in from shore power. This was how it was done in the old days. The transfer switch now does for you automatically. If you turn on the generator and plug in the shore power at the same time (not really a good idea) the transfer switch will usually default to the shore power because it's a better choice for power.

Inverter....The inverter uses your 12 volt battery power and converts it to 110 volts of AC power. A lot of power is lost in the conversion and it's not an efficient way to provide power, but it will work well for short periods of time and is quiet energy. Running large power eating items like the microwave will drain your batteries very quickly. AC units are never wired to inverters because they draw too much power. A typical bank of four 6 volt batteries in good shape will generally let you watch TV, including powering the satelite receiver or home entertainment system, for about 6-8 hours before draining the batteries. A lot of your new all electric coaches will run (8) 6 volt batteries and often two inverters. One is powering the refrigerator and the other for TV's and the like.

There are two types of inverters used in RV's. Most come with a less expensive unit that makes moderately "clean" power, but won't work well with some small electrical devices. More expensive coaches come with a pure sine wave inverter which produces the clean quality power that you receive at home.

Some of the newer coaches are coming with an Onan integrated system that monitors the shore power, generator power and battery power. It automatically switches from one to another to power the coach.

I hope this wasn't too basic.

[wa8yxm]

Converter converts 120vac to 12vdc to charge batteries and run 12vdc things in the house.. (lights, Water pump, Furnace, and control systems) IT NEEDS TO BE ON

Inverter does the inverse: It "inverts" 12vdc to 120vac for Televisions, radios, microwaves and the like, Depending on the make and model, it can be ON or OFF when generator is in operation.. Here is how to tell the difference.

My coach has both a converter, several inverters (in storage) of different sizes and one inverter/converter combo (Prosine 2.0)

This is one that is left on.. It has a 120vac INPUT as well as a 120vac OUT.. Thus I leave it "on" all the time.. IF there is shore or generator power present, and if that power is "Up to spec" it puts itself into a "Standby" mode. And then when shore/generator power it lost, Like a UPS, it kicks in and keeps things working as normal.

The others I have are "Stand alone" They have only a 12 volt in and a 120 volt out.. Those I'd turn off.

Exception: I have been in a park where power was iffy... I turned off input to the Prosine (Turned it's supply side breaker off) parallelled it's batteries with the main house system (They are separated normally) and let it run the microwave....

This is not a normal installation however.

[Bugzme]

So am I right to assume I can run anything when the generator is running? It's a 7k onan? Also if there is no load on the converter will it consume power?

[RickO]

Yes, I believe you're safe in assuming that.

Rick

[Dutch Star Don]

Jeff.....Your Onan should be able to run everything in the coach. The inverter does draw some energy when it's on and not being used, but it will go into sleep mode after a short period of time if nothing using 110 volts is turned on.

Note: As discussed earlier, these inverters do not put out clean 110 power. For that reason, I don't run my microwave on the inverter. You can hear a different sound when the microwave is running on 110 and when it's running on the inverter. The microwave also requires 110 power to keep it's clock running. To help extend the life of my microwave, I added a toggle type switch (Walmart) that lets me plug the power cord into the switch and then the switch into the wall. I can turn my microwave off by just flipping the toggle. So when I'm using the inverter or have the coach parked at home and plugged in, I turn off the microwave.

[FLgatorgirl]

Diplomat Don--
I did not start the thread, but want to thank you for the simple explanation. I am new also and your response was helpful and easy to understand.

[Bugzme]

This site is awesome! Thanks for all the great replys!