Fishinghat wrote:
mccsix wrote:
Not necessary but here's a tip before you unplug from shore power always shut off all elec appliance ie A/Cs. That will save your transfer switch from an early death.
Almost correct. The transfer switch governs power from the generator and shore power, not from the alternator on your engine. So, running the engine while connected to shore power won't effect your transfer switch.
On the other hand, your inverter/converter may be wired (most aren't) to maintain your chassis batteries, so when you run your engine the voltage from the alternator tells the inverter/converter to stop providing power. After your engine's alternator charges the engine batteries (chassis batteries), it then charges the house batteries and the inverter/converter then also stops charging those batteries. However, that shouldn't be a problem since it is wired to do just that. Neither of these battery banks are governed by the transfer switch.
mccsix is saying that when you unplug the shore power, it is easier on your transfer switch to default back to generator without a load and thus not arc. Has nothing to do with alternator.
