Leaving inverter on while plugged in?

cannesdo wrote:
It is ok to leave the inverter on during a thunderstorm in case the power goes out (it does often here) so that I don't have to deal with getting the dish to find the signal all over again? Is that harmful in any way?

Not only do we leave our 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter on 24/7, we also bought an UPS (uninterrupted power supply) to plug the Directv receiver into. If you have concerns about leaving the inverter turned on all the time, you could add an UPS. If the power goes off, the UPS will begin to beep, and give you approximately 5 minutes to either have the power come back on or to turn on your inverter.

I have a 'BASICs' setup using my 600WATT PSW Power Inverter in my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer. This is always on whether we are at a shore power site or back in the woods somewhere.

My normal pull from this Inverter is usually around 250WATTs and my battery bank will run this easy for 5-6 hours before dropping back to around the 50% charge state....

I was at a shore power site last season where the camp gound power went off line for about an hour. Heard alot of moaning going on around the camp ground haha...

We was sitting under the awning watching HDTV at the time the power went down - never missed a beat. It wasn't long we had folks watching our tv from the camp ground access road...

Had a couple ask how we did this and my usual first response is Magic Beans...

I guess there was actually several units running Power Inverters as well... Some of the bigger trailers were still fired up... They may have switched to generator power perhaps...

Roy ken

whether or not an inverter is undersized, depends on what is on the inverter circuit

you would not want a 1000w for the whole house, A/C MW heater etc

neither do you need a 4000w to run TV and coffee maker

The inverters/chargers are design to take over power supply when main source fails.
That is what they originally have been build for in communication stations.
Obviously when in RV you have undersized inveter, that might not always work the best.

Yes it would be fine to leave on.
Some post that the transfer switch is too slow and it still resets.
Could run that circuit full time on inverter.

I damaged mine when the shore power went off. Too big of a load on the inverter and it failed to trip off. Cost me several hundred dollars.

I now leave mine off when connected to shore power. The little inconvenience it may cause is cheaper than repairs or replacement.

Everyone else said their power blipped for a second but stayed on. Mine went out. Switches were tripped at the post. If I unplugged I'd forget to replug and the inventer would run out of battery power sooo...same problem. ;) I don't run the A/C during storms.

It's fine. I assume you mean you're on batteries/inverter at the time.

During thunderstorms I unplug shore.

I leave mine all the time. If power goes out it switches so fast the microwave doesn't even blink.