Inverter on, Converter on--Neutral or Hard on Battery ?

WFCO or other very low end converter, maybe cause for concern. Higher end, like ProgDyn, etc, shouldn't be a problem.

5 amp standby (60 watts) sounds kind of high for an inverter, is it an older model? If it's truly drawing 60 watts to do "nothing" it would be quite warm (like a 60 watt light bulb)

Re how a UPS works:

There are stand-by, interactive and online.

Standby the inverter is shutdown until needed... slowest to respond to a problem.

interactive, the inverter is on but only supplies power to boost brown outs, or switch over from surges. faster than a standby, still needs a transfer switch (and delay)

online is the premium, loads run from the inverter all the time, and a separate charger keeps the batteries full. there's no transfer switch, so not even the slightest interruption makes it through, for very sensitive equipment

GordonThree wrote:
WFCO or other very low end converter, maybe cause for concern. Higher end, like ProgDyn, etc, shouldn't be a problem.

5 amp standby (60 watts) sounds kind of high for an inverter, is it an older model? If it's truly drawing 60 watts to do "nothing" it would be quite warm (like a 60 watt light bulb)

One scenario would be to leave the 3.2 cuft electric fridge in the TC on inverter, while the converter is on shore power. If the power goes off for a while, the fridge stays on without having to plug it into the inverter (if you are away at the time or in the middle of the night)

Rest of time at home it would be with fridge off so could just float on the converter as usual, but it might be handy to leave the wiring set- up alone out of sight out of mind no matter what.

As long as voltage is 13.2+ on the battery there is no effect of idling various components.

Any time you are drawing current from the battery you are shortening it's life, however small that aging is. If the converter is supplying the power for the inverter, no foul.

Do you leave food in the fridge when parked at home?

And, yes, 5amp standby current sounds like a lot. My 1000W Xantrex is rated at 500ma (.5 amp) for standby current.

westend wrote:
Any time you are drawing current from the battery you are shortening it's life, however small that aging is. If the converter is supplying the power for the inverter, no foul.

Do you leave food in the fridge when parked at home?

And, yes, 5amp standby current sounds like a lot. My 1000W Xantrex is rated at 500ma (.5 amp) for standby current.

It is not stand-by current, it with the fridge on. That would be while away but on shore power. At home the fridge would be off.

I would have to shift the shore power from inverter to "pedestal" and back, OR I could leave the inverter always on with the rig whole house except to converter, which would be the thing on shore power.

It is a matter of how accessible I need to make everything while I am redoing the set-up in the TC.

My Xantrex-built (rebranded) 3000w MSW inverter in the 5er also draws 0.5 amps when on with no load as seen on the Trimetric. Don't know how much the 2000w Vector MSW in the DC draws no load.

I run my AIMS 600WATT PSW Power Inverter all the time even when at shore power hookups... Its standy power (with no load) is less than 1AMP (0.6AMPS as I recall)... I call the 600WATT PSW Power Inverter my duty Power Inverter...

Battery bank is always connected...

Find it very useful to have my home entertainment electronics items and other always on items we have always hooked up to it. Have never really run into any running down my battery problems surprises... when shore power or generator power goes away I am still running things from the batteries.

I do monitor the batteries all the time however especially when camping off grid. When they reach the 50% charge state I shut down using them until they get charged back up to the 90% charge state.


Roy Ken