Charging and maintaining charge on house batts

[Papa_Boogie]

I have damaged my inverter to the point that it needs to be replaced. My question is this. With an automotive 8amp charger and house batteries at a full charge will the charger maintain the batteries while I'm using the lights? Note, the generator will not charge due to the inverter being broken and will only power the outlets. Generator will not power the lights.
Second question. I've thought about getting some low wattag bulbs and putting them in some desk lamps I have and using them for lighting. What say you all on that as well and just not using the house batteries at all?

[donfrump]

AllegroD wrote:

Papa_Boogie wrote:
Can you send me a link or web site for a smart converter. I'm most likely just going to have it replaced with the original inverter but I'd like to look and see what a smart converter is.

Article
Interesting reading.

Now an inverter/charger does more. It can be simple or complicated. Inverter provides 12v (batts) to 120v and to 1 outlet to whole house, as well as 120v to 12v conversion/charging. An inverter can have pass thru as well as smart tech that augments weak 120v wit batteries during surge draws. Many already have the smart charging capability.

Replacing an inverter/charger with a converter may not give you everything you had or want.

Agreed, don't be fooling around just repair or replace your existing Inverter/converter unit maybe even go up 500 watts or so

[AllegroD]

Papa_Boogie wrote:
Can you send me a link or web site for a smart converter. I'm most likely just going to have it replaced with the original inverter but I'd like to look and see what a smart converter is.

Article
Interesting reading.

Now an inverter/charger does more. It can be simple or complicated. Inverter provides 12v (batts) to 120v and to 1 outlet to whole house, as well as 120v to 12v conversion/charging. An inverter can have pass thru as well as smart tech that augments weak 120v wit batteries during surge draws. Many already have the smart charging capability.

Replacing an inverter/charger with a converter may not give you everything you had or want.

[donfrump]

Papa_Boogie wrote:
My average consumption is more then 8 amps typically but now I'm being a complete nazi with light use so I'm sure it's way lower. This is my first trip so I can't give an accurate average amp usage.
Can you send me a link or web site for a smart converter. I'm most likely just going to have it replaced with the original inverter but I'd like to look and see what a smart converter is.
So since I already said this was my first RV trip I'll go ahead and say this is my first RV. That being said I'm definitely A cherry. That being said I made the biggest cherry mistake. That's right ladies and gents, this guy tried the dryer outlet and it was an epic 2500 dollar failure. Inverter, microwave, and Xbox one, no good. Yes, you're all welcome to laugh. It's going to be the last time for sure, I won't make the same mistake twice for sure, LOL.

dryer or stove 4 prong outlet wont hurt u? it must have been a 3 prong welder(no neutral)

[rgatijnet1]

Have you gotten a second opinion? The reason I ask is because the MS2000 inverter does have some internal protection for high voltage, and other things that could damage the output.
Have you checked your microwave with an extension cord to see if it works off of shore power? The same goes for the other items.
Basically you may have a few internal "fuses" in the inverter charger that need to be replaced, rather than the entire unit.

[Papa_Boogie]

I have an 08 Fleetwood providence and it does have an MS2000 inverter/charger. I'm looking into refurbished which would cut the cost and also looking into a potential insurance claim. As for the other damaged things I'm still on vacation so I will trouble shoot them whe I get home. The Xboxes typically convert to 240 automatically (deployments taught me that) but who knows when it come to dryer outlets and any other surges.
This is my first coach and my son is pretty bummed about the Xbox. Actually caught more flack from him then my wife, LOL. Call of duty is a no go for him at this time and he's not happy. Thanks for all your help and any other info would be much appreciated.
For now I'm sticking with a few desk lamps, with low wattage bulbs and maintaining light discipline as if I were back on patrol.

[JR45]

It would be good to know what year and make of coach you have to give you a better answer to your problem.
JR

[Kayteg1]

Ouch. Dryer plugs are famous RV mistake, but $2500 in damages sounds expensive.
Call somebody knowledgeable to retest as lot of those appliance do have internal fuses, or internal fuseable links that can be cheaply fixed.
From you description I believe you had inverter/charger not just inverter.
There are lot of choices and technology those days change on weekly bases so once you make sure your old is really toasted - check the forum for new recommendations.

[Papa_Boogie]

My average consumption is more then 8 amps typically but now I'm being a complete nazi with light use so I'm sure it's way lower. This is my first trip so I can't give an accurate average amp usage.
Can you send me a link or web site for a smart converter. I'm most likely just going to have it replaced with the original inverter but I'd like to look and see what a smart converter is.
So since I already said this was my first RV trip I'll go ahead and say this is my first RV. That being said I'm definitely A cherry. That being said I made the biggest cherry mistake. That's right ladies and gents, this guy tried the dryer outlet and it was an epic 2500 dollar failure. Inverter, microwave, and Xbox one, no good. Yes, you're all welcome to laugh. It's going to be the last time for sure, I won't make the same mistake twice for sure, LOL.

[wolfe10]

You will have to tell us if your average consumption is less than 8 amps.

And, also that the 8 amp charger is a smart one and will not burn up the batteries by overcharging them.

Even if you are OK per both above, they are short term solutions IMO. Either get the inverter/charger fixed or replaced or go with a smart converter (much less $$) if you don't need the inverter function.

BTW, how did you damage the inverter to the point that it needs to be replaced?