MDKMDK wrote:
Yes, the coach's AC outlet distribution feed is what I would like to feed (when the shore power cord is unplugged from everything) from the PSW inverter, when camping off grid. I thought that was located somewhere in the converter charger area, perhaps?
Although I don't have the manuals on the inverter yet, because the unit is still being built, I thought most newer PSW inverters had circuitry in the output AC end to prevent AC current from another source flowing back into the inverter? Like diodes in a battery separator? One directional current flow from the inverter AC out? Is this not true? I also thought some of them have the equivalent of an automatic transfer switch built into the AC output circuitry for just that purpose? To sense when they aren't the only source of AC current and shut themselves off.
I believe I can manually shut off the inverter prior to plugging the 30A power cable into shore or the generator.
The AC electric panel--which is generally similar to the one in a house (or, more precisely, to a subpanel in a house)--is often located in the same physical chassis as the converter.
I don't know how inverters react to being back-fed with power, but I would not bet on most surviving such treatment. Some are designed with transfer switches built-in, but there the power input and power output would be separate connections.
You cannot safely feed the panel with the inverter with the shore power cord active but disconnected. It's not legal according to code. If you forget to disconnect when turning on the inverter, the two sources would fight against each other (the mains power from the shore would win, of course). If you forgot to disconnect it from a traditional, non-inverter generator, and turned on the inverter, the generator head would act as a motor and (try to) turn the engine of the generator. If you didn't have it plugged into anything but touched the prongs, you'd get a shock or worse; and if it happened to flop against something conductive, you'd have arcing and could well start a fire.
You must have some sort of a transfer switching arrangement between two separate sources feeding the same AC circuits. It's that simple. Directly wiring them together, even through an electric panel, doesn't allow for that. Please don't cut corners and try to do so.
