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Old 05-08-2018, 06:08 PM   #1
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Inverted circuits on Force 37TSHD

We picked up our new Force last weekend and got it home.
Our first trip is this Friday for a weekend in Cape May, NJ.

I disconnected the shore power this afternoon to check what outlets and entertainment items work on the inverter and found nothing is powered besides the RV fridge and the two outlets on either side of the bed.

I checked all the outlets and all TVs, and no power to anything else.

Can someone tell me what should have power without generator or shore power.

Boondocking is a large part of our camping.
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Old 05-08-2018, 06:15 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by djmedel View Post
We picked up our new Force last weekend and got it home.
Our first trip is this Friday for a weekend in Cape May, NJ.

I disconnected the shore power this afternoon to check what outlets and entertainment items work on the inverter and found nothing is powered besides the RV fridge and the two outlets on either side of the bed.

I checked all the outlets and all TVs, and no power to anything else.

Can someone tell me what should have power without generator or shore power.

Boondocking is a large part of our camping.
That's all you get. Any more and you would need a bigger inverter. A bigger inverter means more batteries. More batteries means more generator run time.
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Old 05-08-2018, 06:30 PM   #3
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When ordering we were told that the TVs were inverted as well as outlets in the bedroom and kitchen.
We got the optional RV refrigerator because it can also run on propane to reduce the inverter load.
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Old 05-08-2018, 06:31 PM   #4
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If the Force has a 2000 watt inverter running a residential reefer, you can add an additional transfer switch and bring on the other outlet circuit as well. This will not add power...but convenience. Televisions, computers, phone chargers, etc will all work and share the inverter and since you have a propane reefer, there should be plenty of power available.
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Old 05-08-2018, 09:00 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by djmedel View Post
We picked up our new Force last weekend and got it home.
Our first trip is this Friday for a weekend in Cape May, NJ.

I disconnected the shore power this afternoon to check what outlets and entertainment items work on the inverter and found nothing is powered besides the RV fridge and the two outlets on either side of the bed.

I checked all the outlets and all TVs, and no power to anything else.

Can someone tell me what should have power without generator or shore power.

Boondocking is a large part of our camping.
I have a 37TS DX3, should be wired the same. In addition to the fridge all of my TV's, SAT, etc all work without shore/gen power. Did you check the breaker panel in the bedroom to make sure everything is on?
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Old 05-08-2018, 09:06 PM   #6
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I don’t have the same model ( I have Isata 5) but can run lights, refrigerator, microwave, tv on inverter.
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Old 05-09-2018, 06:19 AM   #7
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Thanks.
I have a call in to Brian Meeks and hopefully he can help me out.
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Old 05-09-2018, 06:54 AM   #8
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Thanks.
I have a call in to Brian Meeks and hopefully he can help me out.
What size is your inverter?
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Old 05-09-2018, 07:02 AM   #9
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It is the Magnum Dimensions CSW2012 2000 watt inverter.
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Old 05-09-2018, 07:12 AM   #10
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It is the Magnum Dimensions CSW2012 2000 watt inverter.
With that, you should have more circuits available.
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Old 05-09-2018, 07:23 AM   #11
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It is the Magnum Dimensions CSW2012 2000 watt inverter.
The problem is not the inverter wattage, you could supply an unlimited number of outlets...if they were on the same circuit (the 2000 watt limit would only be reached if you loaded a bunch of them with significant loads.) Your inverter uses an external transfer switch and the panel circuit they chose was the reefer and the two plugs by the bed (probably for CPAP users.) You opted for the LP reefer but I bet they wired for the residential unit anyway. You can either find another breaker that you prefer and move the input and output of the existing transfer switch to that feed, or add another transfer switch and feed two circuits. The Kisae 15 amp transfer switch is about $50.

You cannot simply put both together on the existing transfer switch since that would also put them together when fed by AC from the panel or generator. In effect you would have paralleled two 15 amp breakers which is a no-no under NEC.

I know...pain in the xxxx, but you have a production unit and the electrician does it the same every time...he doesn't look at the options.
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Old 05-09-2018, 07:26 AM   #12
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an easy way to tell which circuits/outlets are powered thru the Inverter is to look at your main breaker box - one side will have 'Air Conditioner'(s), 'elec water heater', etc, and the other 'side' will be circuits run thru your Inverter, such as 'Fridge', 'GFCI', 'Living Room', 'Bedroom', etc.

if all your circuit breakers are 'up'(not tripped), check each outlet with a simple plug-in device, fan, etc to quickly determine if the Inverter(which should be ON!), is powering them.

also, check your bathroom's GFCI outlet, as it may have 'tripped' and need to be reset... many outlets are connected thru this receptacle, such as the kitchen, and sometimes even other outlets for the TVs and other things.
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Old 05-09-2018, 07:29 AM   #13
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Maybe on a Thor...but a 2000 watt inverter can't feed one side of a 50 amp panel. Probably not he case in his coach.
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Old 05-09-2018, 07:34 AM   #14
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my 2000w ME2012 supplies one side of my 50amp coach - ALL outlets work on the inverter... so, yes, it can certainly be done regardless of who 'builds' it.
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Old 05-09-2018, 07:42 AM   #15
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my 2000w ME2012 supplies one side of my 50amp coach - ALL outlets work on the inverter... so, yes, it can certainly be done regardless of who 'builds' it.
...ahh, but your ME2012, even though it is a 2000 watt inverter, has a 60 amp transfer switch built in. The OPs transfer switch is external...my bet is that it is only 15 or 20 amp unit so it can't feed a 50 amp buss.

I was complimenting Thor, not denigrating...

That is a neat way to wire and use a split panel as a subpanel as well. However, I would worry about imbalanced loads (from a perfectionist standpoint.) All of the heavy loads on your panel are on one side...
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Old 05-09-2018, 07:46 AM   #16
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it's a 33amp switch, perfectly capable of handling all outlets on a 50a 'side' of a coach... the switch is not 'switching' 50amps, it is only handling the load of the circuits that are run thru it. A main side 50amp breaker is handling the 50amps, for it's 'side', from shore power only.

mine is also the same... and if you look at your 6,000w generator, it has a double-pole 30amp breaker(s), not 50a... so very similar in that it may not 'power' everything that your 50amp double-pole shore breaker is capable of.


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Old 05-09-2018, 07:57 AM   #17
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You are right, too bad the 60 amp switch is an option. However, it ain't the breakers on the generator, its the poles on the transfer switch that matter. When you connect to shore power you are then running a 50 amp split through a 33 amp transfer switch, which is more than technically a code violation! They should have put in the 60 amp version on your coach...if they were going to wire it powering one side of the panel, which I assume, since it is split, is 50 amps.

Think about it, that is exactly why they offer a 60 amp option on a 2000 watt inverter!!! The transfer switch is switching 50 amps when on shore power.
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Old 05-09-2018, 08:18 AM   #18
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There might be some confusion about the Inverter's 'internal' transfer switch, which they all have, and the coach's ATS(automatic transfer switch), which is only for the outside sources of 120v power, either generator or shore power.

generally, the factory provides a correctly sized 'Inverter' breaker, with the breaker box, which is correct for the Inverter's internal transfer switch(such as 30amps). The inverter is only 'switching' from passing thru 120v power when on outside sources to 'Inverting' up to 30amps from the batteries. This is why you don't hear a 'clunk' or sound from the coach's ATS when you 'unplug' from shore power, or turn your generator off. The coach's ATS is then 'silent' and will not do anything different until one of those outside sources start again, which is when you'll then hear a 'clunk' or sound as the power is restored, even if the inverter is working. The inverter then becomes a 'pass thru' source for 120v power again.


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Old 05-09-2018, 08:30 AM   #19
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It is kosher if the main panel breaker on the inverter fed side is 30 amps and not 50 amps. Like one of these https://www.progressivedyn.com/rv/ac...0-amp-240-vac/

In the OPs case it is an external transfer switch...and I don't know of any above 20 amps...

Guess Thor knows the PD catalog pretty well. Personally I would have gone for the 60 amp transfer switch in the Magnum, but the panel way is probably cheaper...
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Old 05-09-2018, 09:01 AM   #20
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The DX3 and Force are wired differently.

DX3 and 5 Series have the inverter/charger. 2800 watts and was designed to invert everything.

The Force has not undergone that treatment yet, but it is in the works. So it has a 2000 watt inverter that is spec'd to be wired to...
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