Switching to inverter power during power outage

[whiteysax]

I apologize if this issue has been addressed in an earlier thread.

The RV park I'm staying at experienced a loss of power tonight. When I purchased my fifth wheel, I was told when shore side power goes out, my inverter will use the charged batteries to generate electricity. I still have lights, fridge, heater and my radio/dvd/aux system working, but nothing that plugs into an outlet. I tried to reset the gfci and the rest button will not stay in. I was reading something that suggested not all circuits are wired into the converter batteries. Is it possible that NONE of my outlets are backed up by the 4 batteries connected to my inverter?

[christopherglen]

I would say to turn everything on, and switch the inverter off.
Then unplug, and whatever is still on is running on the batteries.
Turn whatever is still on, off (leave the fridge alone, just note if it indicates it is running on propane / gas).
turn the inverter on. What has changed? If the fridge indicating differently? A light, outlet, anything?

[mena661]

Typically you only find whole house inverters in "all electric" rigs. Before the electric rigs even the large "whole house" type inverters were only wired into specific circuits unless that owner wanted a different configuration.

[wa8yxm]

Your batteries contain limited power, Thus the inverter (Which is likely a fairly small one) can not power EVERYTHING, Many factory inverters run only the "Electronics" (Radio/TV and associated stuff) Soem also power the Microwave, Mine is an after market and powers the above PLUS the GFCI chain.

Very very few Motor homes have "whole house" inverters, (This would need to be in the range of 3000 to 5000 watts or more and need at least one pair of GC-2 batteries or one 8-D 12 volt per kilowatt of power).

So, what you saw is normal operation.

[pugslyyy]

Hi whiteysax - I understand how it can be overwhelming. If you are used to living in a house (where you flip switches and stuff just comes on, and the power company sends you a bill every month) then the complexity of an RV power system can be a bit daunting.

From what you've posted, I don't believe you have much electrical experience. My advice would be to learn the fundamentals (difference between AC, DC) and what the different parts (inverter, charger, generator, etc) do.

There are some pretty decent intro to RV courses - or just strike up a conversation with someone in a campground with a similar vehicle and get them to walk you through it. Most of us are glad to show off how much we know! Before long, you'll be the one teaching other people. Good luck!

[pianotuna]

Hi whiteysax,

The lights are most often powered by 12 volts DC.

The furnace is usually powered by 12 volts DC.

The fridge, if set to automatic would most often fail over to propane if the power went off. The controls are powered by 12 volt DC, unless it is a "residential" fridge.

[whiteysax]

Well the power came back on and I was able to reset the gfi without a problem.

I have tested the gfi outlet on the inverter and it works with a lamp plugged in. I'll have to trace the wires from the inverter to the breaker box, but it would appear only 1 circuit is wired to the inverter... the one which powers the sound system, fridge, lights and furnace. I'd that's the case, I'm going there's a way to move at least the tv onto that circuit.
Thanks for all the help guys. so much to learn for a new full timer!

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Since the entertainment system still works I suspect the inverter powers only that one circuit.

Unless there is an auto start for the generator, you may wish to conserve power a bit until the campground electricity is restored.

Do you know how many amp-hours of battery are dedicated to running the "house" part of the RV?

[westend]

You would have to know if the inverter is wired to any of the branch circuits in your RV. I would connect a known good 120v device (lamp, drill, etc) into the inverter's receptacle to see that it is functioning, first. If there are no wires connected to the inverter besides the 12v supply cables, your inverter is not wired to anything else. If there are wires from the inverter, in addition to the 12v cables, normally, they would go to a transfer switch and then to your load center. If your inverter has an internal transfer switch, the wiring from the inverter will route directly to the load center. If you can trace any wires from the inverter to the circuit breakers on the load center, you will find which branch circuits are powered by the inverter. Your GFCI's in the cabin will not test or reset without being powered.

[MrWizard]

that was charge mode when shore power was on

now you are on battery power, those numbers will go down

fridge should be on LP either manual or automatic

the GFIC that won't reset probably has something plugged into it that leaks power to ground, that is why it won't reset, unless its gone bad

make sure the water heater is off 'not on electric' you may have to unplug a few things to find out why the GFI will not reset

the 120v circuit breakers in the house distribution panel should be labeled
one should be connected to the xantrex inverter
the inverter will pass thru that circuit when on shore power,
and then use battery power to make 120v for that circuit ONLY, when shore power is off/disconnected

[whiteysax]

The inverter was always reading between 12-13

[time2roll]

That battery indicator is poor at best for judging battery charge.
Voltmeter is better. Try not to go much below 12.2, or 12.0 minimum.
Lights and furnace are battery hogs.

[whiteysax]

The inverter is mounted at the front just before the front cap overhang. It's connected to four batteries just underneath the shelf the inverter is mounted on. The gfi reset on the actual unit worked fine. I didn't see a transfer switch unless that's what the knob marked "House" was.

[whiteysax]

Furthermore, the battery reading on my control panel next to my tank readings says 2/3 full.
There's just too much to learn to control and maintain... a half hour crash course walk through isn't nearly enough. These past two weeks have been nothing but trial and error for me!

[time2roll]

Do you know where it is mounted? Check that it is on and check the GFI.
It has a 15a transfer switch so probably powers a single circuit. Check the tv outlet first.

[whiteysax]

Golden_HVAC wrote:
Hi,

You probably only have one circuit that is powered by the inverter. Try the receptacles closest to the TV plug in. Also the inverter sucks the battery dry fairly quickly, so normally it is left off until you need to run it, so you will have to manually turn on the inverter someplace. You might have a remote control, or might need to get into one of the storage compartments to turn it on there. The inverter when left on, and you are not using any power will use about 1 amp hour per hour. Even when powering a 20 watt laptop, the inverter is not 100% efficient, and likely will use the same 12 watts as when not powering anything and an additional 24 watts to provide the 20 watts to the computer. So effectively, you will be using 3 amps per hour from your battery to power a 20 watt load, via the inverter. Your battery should hande the load OK, because it is only a 3 amp load for about 3-4 hours, or less than 15 amp hours. Your battery total is probably 200 AH for a pair of batteries, and 400 amp hours if you have 4 batteries.

The lights will consume another 1.1 amps per hour they are on, while the furnace will be around 6-8 amp per hour.

When the power is restored, the converter will recharge the batteries in a couple of hours. If not then driving will top them off in about 5-7 hours.

So remember that most of your RV receptacles are not inverter powered, only a couple of them. Best to mark them now. Use a radio or small wattage portable lamp to quickly find the working lights.

Fred.

Thanks, Fred. I checked each outlet while the power was out and none worked. I'm not sure what my entertainment center is plugged into, but it remained on while my TV, microwave and anything plugged in went off. The fridge stayed on though. The guy that gave me the orientation walk through mentioned flipping a switch to keep the fridge running when I unplug from the campsite, but I see only one switch that turns power to the inverter off completely marked "House" with a picture of a battery on it.