Forum Discussion

supercub's avatar
supercub
Explorer
Jun 22, 2014

Switching from inverter to genertor

Do you turn everything off when switching from the generor to invertor and vice versa? or is it ok to leave everything on? Also, what happens if you're running on the inverter and turn the generator on without turning the inverter off? or running the gen and turn the inverter on? I don't have an auto start gen.
Thanks
Brian
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    There is a solution there too boots... In my RV the inverter (Posine 2.0) is an after market item.. I also have upgraded my storage a bit (from 220 to over 550 amp hours).

    But since the inverter is an after market I have a converter somewhere else, In this case a Progressive Dynamics 9180 with charge wizard.

    I shut the 30 amp breaker to the inverter off (I painted the handle white to make it stand out in the box) and as long as I'm not cooking with electric, this poor man's power line conditioner works wonders.

    What's a power line conditioner???? A very expensive electronic accessory here is the block diagram

    Wall plug-----Converter--Battery----Inverter---Conditioned outlet

    Come to think of it, Considering the cost of the inverter, batteries and converter... Not really a "poor man" Version.... (About the same price)

    Makes one heck of a UPS too.

    The only time I have issues is if I'm doing cooking... The electric oven draws enough power so that given an hour plus cook time it can draw the batteries down enough to kick the PDI 9180 into boost mode, at this point

    1: The inverter shuts down (Same point)
    2: The 30 amp park breaker that feeds the 9180 and the rear A/C shuts down (Tripps)

    Microwave can also take it down Bit faster.

    Propane oven.. Works well but too much work to move the electric one off so I can use the gas oven.
  • I don't worry about it. In fact I have to run my inverter when running the AC's on a not too hot day. The problem is the AC's will not turn on for a long time and the generator will idol down, all electronics working ok. When one of the AC's turns on the voltage drops while the engine in the generator speeds up to carry the load. This voltage drop causes the electronics (DVR, TV, Satellite receiver...) to mess up. With the inverter on it switches on and picked up the load until the generator catches up with the load.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    The transfer switch in my inverter is the one that is affected here, not the 50 amp job in the cabinet elsewhere but a 30 amp transfer switch.

    I have had the park's 30 amp breaker trip several times when I was pulling well over 15 amps through the inverter, it handled the job without complaint, More times than I can count.... The big switch (Shore/Generator) I treat much kinder.

    Site I'm on now it works best to let the inverter power the kitchen and let the other converter charge the batteries... I'm on a 30/30 site.
  • Brian, I turn off as much as I can when turning on the generator or when turning off the generator. I like for the generator to have an 'idle' moment at 'turn-on' and at 'turn-off'. We leave our inverter on 24/7 unless it's in for service.

    We have an electric fridge so I don't want power interruped to it.

    Mark
  • A lot of this depends on how your transfer switch (xs) is wired. Generally, you don't want heavy loads running when XS switches.