Inverter question

[MikeD1]

We have a residential fridge and the four batteries. Is it okay to leave the inverter on even when plugged in to shore power or genny running? Reason I ask is that it seems to run hot for awhile with the fan on the inverter running hard when I leave it on and plug into the pedestal. It does cool down fairly quickly and no blown breaker or such.

[Kiawah]

It is a dual unit, a converter and inverter.

When no shorepower/genny, the inverter takes battery 12v dc and makes 120vac, to run for instance your refrigerator.

When on shorepower/genny, the converter takes 120vac and makes 12vdc to charge house batteries back up.

You normally leave both turned on, and it will automatically do what is necessary. However if you are storing coach without power, then you would empty refrig and turn inverter off, so it doesn't drain your batteries.


It is also a transfer switch, but not necessary to muddy the water with that right now.

[BillJinOR]

Yes you can leave it on it "bypasses " the inverter and send the power from the outside or generator to the wall plugs. I think the reason your inverter gets hot is because it's also the converter ? When you switch , it goes into "charge "mode at a high level to charge the depleted batteries of course that's assuming it's a inverter / converter-charger

[MisterT]

in nearly three years we've NEVER turned off the inverter, no reason to

it's your backup if you lose shore power

[GaryKD]

Hi MikeD1,
From one Newmar owner to another, leave the inverter on. Turn it off only when:
1. no shore/generator power for an extended period of time.
2. messing with the batteries, like replacing or cleaning terminals

[Rvlegaleagle]

I will have to find out how Newmar does it wiring eventually anyway so I might as well share what I think I know

1. Shore power or gen does NOT use battery power to run 120 volt things.

2. Shore power or gen with a CONVERTER will run and CHARGE all 12v things including batteries.

3. NEVER heard of a CONVERTER/INVERTER

4. HAVE heard of an INVERTER/CHARGER which means you DO NOT NEED A CONVERTER (throw it out) if setup properly.

5. INVERTER will run 120 Volt stuff off of the BATTERIES (don't need shore or gen power and depends on what 120 Volt stuff you have connected to the inverter)

6. The CHARGER part of the single unit INVERTER/CHARGER will charge your batteries properly (lead acid, AGM or lithium) from either SHORE POWER, GEN OR SOLAR if you have it. There is an automatic transfer switch typically build into the inverter/charger so that if it detects either shore power or gen the inverter shuts off....see number 1 above.

Hope that explains it

[BillJinOR]

Sorry about the terminology for a "converter" tried to keep it simple .....a charger has to "convert"to work [emoji848]if the batteries are fully charged it converts 120 to 12 volt ( actually about 13 ) to the batteries and thus the 12 volt system without depleting the batteries
Btw The inverter / charger has nothing to do with solar .. it can't use solar to charge .. ...only 120 /volts ....that would be the solar charge controllers job a separate device but that isn't even in the picture.
But I guess the op gets idea by now

[Lug_Nut]

Originally Posted by Rvlegaleagle

I will have to find out how Newmar does it wiring eventually anyway so I might as well share what I think I know

1. Shore power or gen does NOT use battery power to run 120 volt things.

2. Shore power or gen with a CONVERTER will run and CHARGE all 12v things including batteries.

3. NEVER heard of a CONVERTER/INVERTER

4. HAVE heard of an INVERTER/CHARGER which means you DO NOT NEED A CONVERTER (throw it out) if setup properly.

5. INVERTER will run 120 Volt stuff off of the BATTERIES (don't need shore or gen power and depends on what 120 Volt stuff you have connected to the inverter)

6. The CHARGER part of the single unit INVERTER/CHARGER will charge your batteries properly (lead acid, AGM or lithium) from either SHORE POWER, GEN OR SOLAR if you have it. There is an automatic transfer switch typically build into the inverter/charger so that if it detects either shore power or gen the inverter shuts off....see number 1 above.

Hope that explains it

Great breakdown. The charger is fully capable of charging all rechargeable products and operate all 120 volt items providing it is a True Syn Wave type charger. If it is a modified syn wave charger it will recharge and operate most items, but not necessarily all.

Peter

[We_B_Tripn]

I don't think it would change the opinion of whether you would leave the inverter on all the time, but it looks like the OP has a Bay Star and they have a separate converter and optional inverters, not a combined unit like on the more expensive pushers.

Bill

[nothermark]

And the terms charger and converter are synonyms for this kind of discussion. I prefer Inverter/Converter for all in one units because it is slightly more accurate than Inverter/Charger. The 12 VDC output side both charges the batteries and supplies nominal 12 VDC to the RV. Nominal because it will be whatever charging voltage the system deems proper. RV systems are designed to run on a fairly wide range of nominal 12 VDC because they can easily see as low as 10 and as high as ~15 plus noise spikes.

[Rvlegaleagle]

The OP's initial question was, if I got it right, should the inverter be on when he is using either shore or gen? The simple answer to that is NO in a properly wired setup. And the simple reason is that when you already have 120 volts there is not any need to "invert" 120 volts from the 12 volt batteries.

As to the comment " I prefer Inverter/Converter" there is no such thing. In fact a converter is the exact OPPOSITE of an inverter.

Yes I am talking about the Bay Star and specifically 2018. Whatever the higher more expensive units come with do not concern me On the 2018 Bay Star, one way or the other, the converter is coming out and the inverter/charger is going in. The inverter will be connected to EVERYTHING 120 Volts. (we will leave the issue of the two 13.5 BTU air conditioners and soft start alone for now). There will also be a solar charger that is directly connected to the battery bank and yes also to the inverter/charger.

I thought legalize was annoying but it appears with all the converters, inverters and charger language used for different things/functions it seems that RV language is a close second (lol).

[Rotten-Red]

Originally Posted by MikeD1

We have a residential fridge and the four batteries. Is it okay to leave the inverter on even when plugged in to shore power or genny running? Reason I ask is that it seems to run hot for awhile with the fan on the inverter running hard when I leave it on and plug into the pedestal. It does cool down fairly quickly and no blown breaker or such.

Short simple answer is yes. It's operating as designed.

Originally Posted by Rvlegaleagle

The OP's initial question was, if I got it right, should the inverter be on when he is using either shore or gen? The simple answer to that is NO in a properly wired setup. And the simple reason is that when you already have 120 volts there is not any need to "invert" 120 volts from the 12 volt batteries.

As to the comment " I prefer Inverter/Converter" there is no such thing. In fact a converter is the exact OPPOSITE of an inverter.

Yes I am talking about the Bay Star and specifically 2018. Whatever the higher more expensive units come with do not concern me On the 2018 Bay Star, one way or the other, the converter is coming out and the inverter/charger is going in. The inverter will be connected to EVERYTHING 120 Volts. (we will leave the issue of the two 13.5 BTU air conditioners and soft start alone for now). There will also be a solar charger that is directly connected to the battery bank and yes also to the inverter/charger.

I thought legalize was annoying but it appears with all the converters, inverters and charger language used for different things/functions it seems that RV language is a close second (lol).

This is the OP's question: Is it okay to leave the inverter on even when plugged in to shore power or genny running?
There is no reason to turn the inverter off when plugged into shore power or running the generator. The internal transfer switch build into the inverter/charger takes care of the change over.

[MikeD1]

Thanks very much everyone. Will leave it unless unless putting in storage or working on electrical system, batteries etc.

[Rvlegaleagle]

"Short simple answer is yes. It's operating as designed."....

What you really mean is "as wired". An inverter is not "designed" to operate when there is shore or gen power period.

Now whether that has any impact on the inverter or batteries is beyond me.