Inverter, on or off

[jayird468]

WF-5100 Pure Sine Inverter, 1000W - 55-6400
The above mentioned inverter would not come on. Called a shop and they said bring it in. Went to storage to get TT and pulled and checked the fuse which was good. Put fuse back in, (as far as I know it has never been out except to look at it yesterday. I did not know until then it is a 15amp ceramic fuse), pushed the on button and it powered up...Well, I thought fixed...70 miles from where I keep the trailer is the shop, so I opted not to bring it in. However I did stop and talked to the service manager telling him why I did not bring it with me. He asked if I leave the inverter on all the time or did I turn it off before hooking up to 220vac and asked if I left the inverter on all the time. I told him I usually turn it off when hooked to 220vac but sometimes leave it on. He said I was going to burn up the inverter and could wipe it out. My dealer told me It didn’t matter leaving it on or off. Said some do and some don’t. I do not have a manual for it so I looked up the PDF on line and it does not address the issue of turning it off when hooked to 220vac. He also suggested that I have my 2 batteries checked as they are 3 years old now. What do y’all do with your inverter? On or off?

Thanks in advance,
Jay Odom
Forest River Heritage Glen 272RL

Have a great day, all day...

[TheWolfPaq82]

By saying 220V, do you mean a 50amp service ??

[babock]

From the photo, looks like its working. How is the inverter wired up? Transfer switch? Hardwired to a few outlets?

[jayird468]

Yes, 50 amp service.

[Skip12]

I leave mine off when connected to shore power. Mostly because the fan is loud. Did you ask for more details of why he said it would burn out I'd you turn it OFF when connected to shore power? That's counterintuitive.

It does sound like the issues you describe is what you'd expect when batteries are low.

[jimmoore13]

Leaping thru lots of assumptions. Here goes.

Your inverter powers the house circuits...all of them or a significant portion of them. In other words, the inverter feeds (let's say) the main panel, which in turn, feeds a significant number of the 120 volt outlets in the coach when the inverter is on.

If so, it MUST have a transfer switch to protect not only the inverter but the coach circuitry and appliances from what amounts to out of phase power coming from two sources in parallel. (the power grid must be very carefully managed to keep all power in the alternating current IN PHASE."

Remember that shore power and inverter power are both alternating current. If they are out of phase, this can be very destructive if both are on at once.

And your inverter will attempt, very feebly, to back feed the power grid.

This is no different than a situation when one runs a backup generator thru one's main circuit panel without a transfer switch. One can back feed the grid with the generator and kill a power line worker who expects the lines to be dead.

Now the possibility is that your inverter has a built in transfer switch. When it senses shore power, it isolates itself and does not feed power to the coach's circuit panel. Some do and some don't. At the 1000 watt level, "it depends" is the key phrase. Check.

ALTERNATIVELY:
A smaller inverter such as yours may only run a couple of dedicated circuits that are NEVER powered by shore power. I have a small inverter in my PUP that is a truly stand-alone power system that has NOTHING to do with the shore power setup. I must move the appliance plugs to the inverter output to use that as a power source. If you are setup this way, then you have nothing to worry about.

More than likely, however, you are in the first scenario.
In that case, you MUST have a transfer switch, or your setup is an accident waiting to happen. You can get an inverter with a transfer switch built in for dirt. That's an illustration, not a recommendation.

If this is a factory-installed inverter, most likely it has a built in transfer switch. If it's an aftermarket, dealer installed inverter, your guess is as good as mine. The specifications with your owner's manual packet should include a pamphlet for the inverter. You also know the brand and model, so Google is your friend.

But the fundamentals of why you need a transfer switch IF YOUR INVERTER FEEDS EVEN A PORTION OF THE COACH'S MAIN POWER PANEL are important to know. When you're plugged into shore power, that power source is fighting with the inverter unless the transfer switch segregates one from the other.

[turbocc]

Many larger inverters have two inputs. 120 vac and 12v dc. Internal transfer switch will give preference to 120 vac if present. It will pass through to main panel. If 120 vac not present, then (If the inverter is so switched) 12v dc will be inverted and sent to main panel. Simple.

[BandJCarm]

My inverter powers ONLY the residential refrigerator, nothing else. Looks just like the one in the picture, btw. I turn it off when connected to shore power. However, I wouldn't have to. It is automatic; it will only come on if needed, and it will turn off if not needed. Many folks leave theirs on for the simple reason that should power be lost while asleep or gone, the inverter will kick on and keep the refrigerator going. I probably should leave it on, but I just don't....without a good reason.

[pmsherman]

Late last year I replaced my MSW inverter with a Xantrex Freedom 1kw PSW unit. This inverter has both 120V and 12V inputs and an internal transfer switch. All of the non-GFCI outlets in my 2011 Georgetown are wired in parallel to a single 15A circuit breaker which made it a relatively simple rewiring job to use the inverter to power all of those outlets. The only additional wiring needed was a line from the circuit breakers to the inverter.



This finally allowed me to start using an EMS device. I couldn't use one before installing the PSW inverter because I need uninterruptable 120VAC to run medical equipment (not a CPAP) at night. This equipment doesn't like power failures and once I'm connected to it, disconnecting to move the power cord from a power post to the generator is considered an "unnecessary infection risk".


Phil