autoformers for dummies (me)
Hi all, I've heard folks saying autoformers "steal" power from the campground and hence from other campers. Here is my understanding of what happens. The total wattage remains the same less abou...
Forum Discussion
Hi,
No one has suggested an autoformer is an over parity device. Simply put the autoformer swaps amps for volts with a small overhead of 4%.
My comfort zone is 108 volts, my cut out voltage is 107, far above the SG at 102 and quite a bit above the PI at 104. I can understand why they chose such low voltages--because otherwise campers would be spending a lot of time with no power.
Without shore power I can run my roof air for 1.7 hours if the battery bank is full. With low voltage shore power I can "force" the Magnum inverter charger to do voltage support. However, I can not "automate" that feature. The autoformer does what I want automatically.
The Sola Basic cost $177 USD, so it is cheaper than the top of the line PI or SG units. I do not compare the devices. They do different things, but if I had a choice of one, or the other, I'd pick an autoformer every time.
No one has suggested an autoformer is an over parity device. Simply put the autoformer swaps amps for volts with a small overhead of 4%.
My comfort zone is 108 volts, my cut out voltage is 107, far above the SG at 102 and quite a bit above the PI at 104. I can understand why they chose such low voltages--because otherwise campers would be spending a lot of time with no power.
Without shore power I can run my roof air for 1.7 hours if the battery bank is full. With low voltage shore power I can "force" the Magnum inverter charger to do voltage support. However, I can not "automate" that feature. The autoformer does what I want automatically.
The Sola Basic cost $177 USD, so it is cheaper than the top of the line PI or SG units. I do not compare the devices. They do different things, but if I had a choice of one, or the other, I'd pick an autoformer every time.
SoundGuy wrote:
While the theory behind an autoformer sounds good the reality is one doesn't get something for nothing, that voltage restoration has to come from somewhere. Yes, I can see the attraction for those camping seasonally in a park with persistently low voltage but for others like myself who transient camp in a variety of parks I'd just as soon have my Progressive EMS constantly monitor the situation and anytime incoming power doesn't meet spec simply disconnect the trailer from that source until such time as it does. Without shore power I can't run my A/C and although it may be somewhat inconvenient, so what? ... we'll survive just fine regardless. :) This is exactly why instead of an expensive autoformer I installed an inverter for those few times each season shore power fails, for whatever reason. I can still run a couple of fans and other 120 vac devices such as a toaster, coffee maker, etc ... a simple solution that works just fine for how I and many others use our campers. :B
