inverter and shore power???

[discovery4us]

So we got the new to us 2005 American tradition out for its first trip with us and first thing we notice is an inverter and shore power question.
Driving down the road we turn the inverter on to power the fridge and it appears to power all outlets, the convection oven, the tvs and all lights. Not sure if this is correct or not but doesn't seem to hurt anything. Problem comes when we hook to shore power nothing will run without the inverter on and the inverter is limited to 30 amps and 2500 watt continuous and 5000 watts peak.
Needless to say we instantly trip the 30 amp on the inverter. Small electric heater and convection oven running and as soon as the fridge compressor cycles inverter breaker tripped. I feel like I am missing a switch or something. When I hook to shore power it seems to defeat the purpose of having a 50 amp supply to be limited to the inverter. None of the house breakers trip just the inverter. Maybe an inverter problem but wanted to see if there was a transfer switch or something that I'm missing before I start down that road.

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by discovery4us

So we got the new to us 2005 American tradition out for its first trip with us and first thing we notice is an inverter and shore power question.

Driving down the road we turn the inverter on to power the fridge and it appears to power all outlets, the convection oven, the tvs and all lights. Not sure if this is correct or not but doesn't seem to hurt anything. Problem comes when we hook to shore power nothing will run without the inverter on and the inverter is limited to 30 amps and 2500 watt continuous and 5000 watts peak.

Needless to say we instantly trip the 30 amp on the inverter. Small electric heater and convection oven running and as soon as the fridge compressor cycles inverter breaker tripped. I feel like I am missing a switch or something. When I hook to shore power it seems to defeat the purpose of having a 50 amp supply to be limited to the inverter. None of the house breakers trip just the inverter. Maybe an inverter problem but wanted to see if there was a transfer switch or something that I'm missing before I start down that road.

You should not need inverter on for 120 power while plugged in.
What happens while genny is running?
Yes you have a transfer switch that goes between genny and shore power.
If you don’t have power on shore double check all breakers.
How many amps does your panel show while plugged in?

[shootist]

Your batteries won’t last long. Turn the inverter off and the charger on at your inverter control panel and report back

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by discovery4us

So we got the new to us 2005 American tradition out for its first trip with us and first thing we notice is an inverter and shore power question.

Driving down the road we turn the inverter on to power the fridge and it appears to power all outlets, the convection oven, the tvs and all lights. Not sure if this is correct or not but doesn't seem to hurt anything. Problem comes when we hook to shore power nothing will run without the inverter on and the inverter is limited to 30 amps and 2500 watt continuous and 5000 watts peak.

Needless to say we instantly trip the 30 amp on the inverter. Small electric heater and convection oven running and as soon as the fridge compressor cycles inverter breaker tripped. I feel like I am missing a switch or something. When I hook to shore power it seems to defeat the purpose of having a 50 amp supply to be limited to the inverter. None of the house breakers trip just the inverter. Maybe an inverter problem but wanted to see if there was a transfer switch or something that I'm missing before I start down that road.

Sorry had another thought your running a electric heater off of inverter? That could kill some batteries.

[RVFunlovers]

I don’t know anything about an American Tradition.

On my coach I leave the inverter on all the time.
Some things like my HVAC units and dryer do not run from the inverter.

AC Outlets, fridge, microwave, etc…. Are on the inverter. They work from shore power if available and from battery converted to AC by the inverter When shore power is not available.

[boiledowl]

Originally Posted by RVFunlovers

I don’t know anything about an American Tradition.

On my coach I leave the inverter on all the time.
Some things like my HVAC units and dryer do not run from the inverter.

AC Outlets, fridge, microwave, etc…. Are on the inverter. They work from shore power if available and from battery converted to AC by the inverter When shore power is not available.

So it is ok to leave the inverter on while connected to shore power?

[mrboyer]

Yes, but I didn't while in storage. The only item I had on besides parasite loads was the battery charger. If shore power was lost, I didn't want the batteries to be discharged. But keep in mind different RVs have different configurations.

[Cat320]

There is no need to run your inverter anytime unless you are going to use it. I turn mine on while traveling to run the refer and anything else needed while driving, other wise it is off. When it is on, even if not 'running' anything, it is using a small amount of power and subject to unnecessary wear and tear.

[BillJinOR]

My 03 beaver had to have the inverter/ charger “ on” all the time or it wouldn’t pass through the power. It had an auto bypass function to the separate inverter controlled power panel. I know there are a few out there that are the same.

[discovery4us]

As soon as I plug in the panel shows power to the ac's, the water heater etc.. I didn't notice the amps but did set the shore power to 50 amp supply as it was on 30 amp setting.
I had to turn on the charging mode and it immediately went to bulk charging and when finished stayed on float charging the rest of the time.
While hooked to power I turned off the inverter but in doing so I loose power to the fridge, the convection oven, and all plugs. Turn the inverter on and power returns to all.
Only had one night of boondocking so not much use of the genny. When we did use it everything had power. The bad was once we shut the genny off I had to go to the inverter and reset it for it to come back on. Once reset it was fine and power was back on to the fridge and plugs.
We never tripped any of the house breakers. Just the 30 amp resettable breaker on the inverter.
The wife is a little disappointed as she was not able to use her little heater next to the shower or her air fryer for dinners. Our former 30 amp rig would handle all of these so I'm sure this 50 amp rig will just not sure why the inverter is necessary on shore power or what step I'm missing when hooked to shore power.

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by boiledowl

So it is ok to leave the inverter on while connected to shore power?

Sure but don’t need it.

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by discovery4us

As soon as I plug in the panel shows power to the ac's, the water heater etc.. I didn't notice the amps but did set the shore power to 50 amp supply as it was on 30 amp setting.
I had to turn on the charging mode and it immediately went to bulk charging and when finished stayed on float charging the rest of the time.
While hooked to power I turned off the inverter but in doing so I loose power to the fridge, the convection oven, and all plugs. Turn the inverter on and power returns to all.
Only had one night of boondocking so not much use of the genny. When we did use it everything had power. The bad was once we shut the genny off I had to go to the inverter and reset it for it to come back on. Once reset it was fine and power was back on to the fridge and plugs.
We never tripped any of the house breakers. Just the 30 amp resettable breaker on the inverter.
The wife is a little disappointed as she was not able to use her little heater next to the shower or her air fryer for dinners. Our former 30 amp rig would handle all of these so I'm sure this 50 amp rig will just not sure why the inverter is necessary on shore power or what step I'm missing when hooked to shore power.

MH should work same on genny as shore power. Sounds like bad transfer switch.

[Gary RVRoamer]

MH should work same on genny as shore power. Sounds like bad transfer switch.

My conclusion as well. And I had a 2004 American Coach and know how they work. If the transfer switch is changing to shore power as it should, it matters not whether the Magnum inverter is On or Off. The coach should automatically choose sore power over inverter.

[Dutch Star Don]

Originally Posted by Cat320

There is no need to run your inverter anytime unless you are going to use it. I turn mine on while traveling to run the refer and anything else needed while driving, other wise it is off. When it is on, even if not 'running' anything, it is using a small amount of power and subject to unnecessary wear and tear.

The above is a personal choice and not necessarily an accurate statement. Modern all electric coaches are really designed to be run with the inverter on. One of the benefits, if there is a loss of power, everything switches over seamlessly without losing things like clocks, entertainment systems etc. If you're at a park with hookups and the power goes out while you're away, the coach will switch over automatically without the generator having to run. If the batteries get too low, the Auto Gen Start can kick in.

We've owned three DP's since 2005. We've never turned off the inverter in any of them. No excessive wear and no unusual issues.