Inverter - what will it run?

[BudtheDiplomat]

It struck me that I have never given my inverter a chance to actually do anything.

Most often we are either plugged into shore power or dry camping with no one else around and run the genset whenever we want.

I suppose I could do the trial and error thing. What does the inverter actually run? Will it run the TVs? ACs or heat pumps? The manual doesn't actually give me very much of a clue, saying "some outlets."

Bud

[Tallyrver]

Mine will run just about everything except the ac ,just not all at the same time . my cuban coffee maker uses about 1500 watts,

[Mike Canter]

My inverter book says not to use the microwve with the inverter so I do not run the AC units or the microwave but I run all else including my residential Whirlpool fridge. Never had a problem.

[OLYLEN]

Mine is set to run TV's and entertainment system, micro, coffee pot toast and the like not all at the sametime. No AC or heatpumps but most all small appliances.

LEN

[Diesel Guy]

Hello I have a 3000 watt inverter I also have 4- 6Volt deep cycle batteries plus 2-135 watt solar panels,plus 4800 watt gen. I run just about everything thats 110 volts in my trailer but my A/C. I don;t of course run everything at the same time. You need Battery power thats supplys the power for your inverter 12volts = 110volts the more you use your inverter the more battery power you remove from your batteries so of course you need a source to recharge your batteries, generator, solar panels , shore power.Hope that helps

[Diplomat Don]

Bud......We use ours all the time when boondocking and on travel days where we overnight somewhere.

We can watch TV with the sat or home theater system on for over 8 hours. My manual never said not to run the microwace with the inverter, but I think that is a good practice. I used it once on inverter and it sounded different. I don't think the Sharp microwaves like inverters that are not pure sine wave. Even when I'm watching TV, I have a toggle switch in the cabinet above the microwave that allows me to easly turn the power off to it. I don't even like it running the clock on the micro.

I also have the Winegard Travler Sat dish and I run the generator when I first turn it on and it's searching. The inverter also powers your icemaker when you don't have shore power or the generator running.

[pipedream2]

Thats kind of hard to answer accurately....Kind of a generic question.All inverters are rated for output watts.usually 2000 to 3000....when using more watts than the rating the inverter will overload and shut down..or depleat the battery bank in short time and voltage will drop significantly and shut down...... some have to be re-set .....some will reset after load is decreased to work at all again

[BudtheDiplomat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pipedream2 Thats kind of hard to answer accurately....Kind of a generic question.All inverters are rated for output watts.usually 2000 to 3000....when using more watts than the rating the inverter will overload and shut down..or depleat the battery bank in short time and voltage will drop significantly and shut down...... some have to be re-set .....some will reset after load is decreased to work at all again

I didn't intend for the question to be ambiguous - at least no more confusing than the owners manual!

Sometimes I wonder if all coaches, even those of the same make and model of the same year are different - different wiring, etc, and that makes my question unanswerable.

For example, my inverter is 2000 watt. It isn't pure sine wave. The owners manual goes into great depth about how the batteries are recharged, drawing little buckets with water half full. What it DOESN'T say is, "the inverter will run all of the outlets [or "these" outlets], the TV, the [fill in the blank here.] The manual does have many inaccuracies. It says that shore power charges the chassis battery. It says that a Bi-Directional Relay Device for house and battery charging is STANDARD equipment in my coach. Neither of these are true. But, I've talked with some people who have the same year and type coach or the HR Endeavor, and THEY have the BIRD.

When I'm heading out, the first engine I start is the generator. I check to see if the batteries are charging, then I turn on whatever I want; lights, AC, heat pump, etc. Next comes the drive engine.

It is very rare that I even turn on a light without being plugged to shore power or have the genset running. Truly, it has been one or another.

Then, the other night, I realized that I have a resource at my disposal that I not only didn't use, but didn't really know what it would or wouldn't run. Moreover, I'm pretty sure I'm not even using it correctly!

I was looking for experiences of others.

Hopefully that more fully explains my original question.

[BudtheDiplomat]

I might add...

Here in Houston, it is either VERY hot or darn cold. There doesn't seem to be a distinct "Spring" or "Fall." So we're pretty much always using the AC or heat pump.

That might better explain why I don't have much experience with the inverter. Who knows. Maybe it has been working correctly for me all along and I just haven't know it!

[Diesel Guy]

Hello simply put then if your coach or trailer or what ever is not full of batteries then you can't use your inverter to run your A/C , or heat pump period . that answer your question.

[WindsorDave]

This is kind of like asking "how fast can I go with an 8.3L engine?"

Here's a table of loads from my 1500 Watt Trace Legend Inverter. It gives a very rough guestimate of how long some devices can be operated.

[az bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BudtheDiplomat It struck me that I have never given my inverter a chance to actually do anything. Most often we are either plugged into shore power or dry camping with no one else around and run the genset whenever we want. I suppose I could do the trial and error thing. What does the inverter actually run? Will it run the TVs? ACs or heat pumps? The manual doesn't actually give me very much of a clue, saying "some outlets." Bud

A good place to start in understanding inverters is The 12
volt side of life. It is a two part article and very informative. Part two deals with inverters.
www.marxrv.com

[deandec]

Well, your 2000 watt inverter is fairly standard for your size coach. It will run certain AC outlets depending on how your coach is wired.

To identify those, grab a 120v appliance and insert it into various outlets to see which ones are powered. Of course only do this when not on shore power or generator power and with Inverter powered on.

Try your microwave and the audio/video equipment also. They should be powered from the inverter.

Once you know this info, then the next thing is to determine how many amp hours of 12v storage you have in your house batteries. Once your batteries are depleted, the inverter can no longer work......

It is likely that your icemaker, air conditioner, refrigerator, and washer dryer will not be run from the inverter.

[johnsonjm209]

2003 Vacationer V-10. Inverter charges the house batteries when plugged in, but not the Chassis Battery, it gets charged when driving. Just noticed that my 8 yr. old Chassis battery was only showing low 12a and then 11+ the next day. I took it out and put it on a charger for almost 2 days (2 amp charge). Went to 12.7 and then dropped to 12.43 in 3 days. It's new Battery time.