Converter Amps
At the risk of getting feedback that I am posting to the wrong forum, I have a question about the Amp rating of a converter. I just bought a new fiver and it came with a 65 amp converter. My previou...
Forum Discussion
OP: Yes, you are mixing apples and oranges. (120 volts vs. 12 volts) Your shore power, really 2 circuits at 50 amps each (or 100 amps total) in your case is at 120 volts and runs straight into the to the main converter bus. The rating on your converter, 65 Amp, means that drawing off the main bus, it can convert up to 780 Watts of available power to 12 Volt DC in your case.
Watts = Volts x Amps or 780 Watts = 12 Volts x 65 Amps
7800 Watts = 120 Volts x 65 Amps
Watts = Power
65 Amps at 12 Volts is not the same power as 65 Amps at 120 Volts, power wise. As you can see, the former is 10x less.
The rest of the available 120 Volt power, watts really, (minus the converters 12 Volt conversion losses, internal cooling fans, resistors, etc.) is available to power the 120 Volt consumers in your RV up to the circuit breaker limits which should be 2-50 Amp circuits or 100 Amps total. In theory, the converter is only using about 6.5 Amps @ 120 Volts out of your available 100 amps to generate the 65 Amps you have available at 12 Volts. Make sense now?
work = power
Think of Volts as water pressure.
Think of Amps as water flow.
Think of Watts as the amount of work (power = flow x pressure) they do.
Chum lee
Watts = Volts x Amps or 780 Watts = 12 Volts x 65 Amps
7800 Watts = 120 Volts x 65 Amps
Watts = Power
65 Amps at 12 Volts is not the same power as 65 Amps at 120 Volts, power wise. As you can see, the former is 10x less.
The rest of the available 120 Volt power, watts really, (minus the converters 12 Volt conversion losses, internal cooling fans, resistors, etc.) is available to power the 120 Volt consumers in your RV up to the circuit breaker limits which should be 2-50 Amp circuits or 100 Amps total. In theory, the converter is only using about 6.5 Amps @ 120 Volts out of your available 100 amps to generate the 65 Amps you have available at 12 Volts. Make sense now?
work = power
Think of Volts as water pressure.
Think of Amps as water flow.
Think of Watts as the amount of work (power = flow x pressure) they do.
Chum lee
