Leaving Inverter on or off???

[anav8or]

On our 2015 Seneca, the inverter powers the microwave and the TV above the cab. The purpose, I believe, is to be able to use the TV and/or micro while underway without having to start the genny (note that using the TV requires "bypassing" the solenoid on the outlet that cuts power when the ignition is on), or running them on battery while camping without hookups.

[rgolding]

Thank you all again for discussing this.

The Logans said -" We also use it to power the crock-pot (which sits in the sink while underway), so that dinner is cooking while we're moving, and when we pull in to a rest stop we use it to brew a couple pods of coffee. It's great to have 115v power without having to run the generator."

Now that's a great reason!!! Thank you, I'll pass that on to Jan.

[RoyBraddy]

I have two locations in my setup for two multi-head 120VAC receptacles fed by my 600WATT PSW POWER INVERTER which is ON all the time. My Inverter does not draw much current when not loaded down with things...

My main reason is to power up our home entertainment items, a couple of fans, cell phone and computer chargers, WX Radio, etc... These are the daily use small wattage items... Started out with just the HDTV and found out how neat it was to be on backup power so kept adding low wattage daily use items. Ended up getting a 600WATT PSW model Power Inverter ($260 AMAZON) to be left on all the time. I usually use around 250-300WATTS for daily use low wattage items. Being pure sine wave you don't ever have to worry about what folks plug into it...

I use the other low wattage power inverters I played with on the trailer tongue to power up outside lights etc.. The 300WATT inverter I tried for awhile is in the truck under the rear seat. Kinda neat having backup 120VAC power there as well...

The high wattage items like the Air Conditioner and Microwave etc are not included..

It would take a hugh power Inverter and many batteries to power it up to run the whole trailer. This is why just having two emergency power stations locations worked so well for us... Kept it simple...

Roy Ken

[wducat]

On my Seneca, the TV's & microwave will all run off the inverter which is rather useful as when dry camping, you could microwave some leftovers without needing to fire up the generator. This probably works ok since there are 4 12v coach batteries powering the rig. You will probably need to contact the mfg to determine if there is any down side to having the inverter turned on when on shore power. Nothing jumps to mind, and it appears to work just fine that way, but I have had the same question. I do love it as a solution to not loosing TV/microwave programming . I recall many years ago watching one of them there luxury campers fire up his generator in order to make toast, and had the proper level of indignation as a tent camper at the time. Now, I like my microwave to be accurate too

[rgolding]

Thanks again to those participating in this discussion.

Since this started, we have adjusted and learned a lot about our unit. We have made a trip to Florida and back for the Thanksgiving Holiday and an unscheduled trip to Oklahoma for an Uncle's funeral.

Driving to Oklahoma, we fired up the generator to cool the back of the Seneca because of the 80 some degree temps driving south and used the furnace coming back north after a cold front came through. Took a few minutes to think about the furnace running off the 12volt system and no need to use inverter or fire up the generator for the furnace to run.

All just part of this learning curve.

[Dace]

The inverter allows you to power the tv & or additional small wattage items without running the generator. A question I have is can the tv & dvd player be made to work while driving? My 2016 Greyhawk requires the parking brake to be on which defeats other people to be able to watch a dvd while traveling.

[hoppers4]

The outlet fed by the inverter has a relay attached to it (you have to remove the outlet cover and outlet to see it) that removes the 115VAC from the outlet when the ignition is turned on. The coil of this relay is operated by 12VDC via the red wire going into the relay. If you clip this red wire, this safety feature (and the relay) will be deactivated. If you're comfortable around electrical circuits this is an easy fix.

[LI-Camper]

If you have a Greyhawk with only one house battery, you are better off installing a fused 12v outlet in your bedroom (direct to battery) for your C-PAP. Get a 12v cord for your C-PAP. It runs on 12v, the "brick" the power cord attaches to just converts 110v to 12v anyway. It uses too much power (with one house battery) to use the inverter to change 12v to 110v and then back to 12v to run your C-PAP. In my last Greyhawk (2004) I installed a TV that ran on both 110v and 12v. It came with two cords that each plugged into the same port on the back. It even had a built-in DVD player. If you have the luxury of several house batteries the inverter is very useful. With one house battery it is of very limited use.

[The Logans]

The inverter on our Redhawk is 1,000 watts, which would kill the single battery very quickly.

That being said, we use it A LOT while traveling... we've never used it with the engine off. If we stop at a rest stop, we leave the engine running and make POD coffee from the inverter. While we're traveling, the inverter powers the crock-pot, so dinner is done when we get there. Also while we're traveling, the inverter powers and charges the laptop, tablet, phones, etc. They all charge MUCH faster from the 115v provided by the inverter, then they would plugged into the dash outlets.

[nhfire152]

I have a NP 375BHFS that has the residential fridge and inverter.

Question for the group members that have this set up. While underway, how long will the ONE coach battery provide enough power for the fridge to operate? Obviously when connected to the truck it is recharging the battery, but is it at a fast enough rate to accommodate the inverted and fridge?

We picked up our new fiver back in August 2015 and managed 4 trips before putting her to bed for the winter. Unfortunately none of those trips were longer than an hour from home.

Thanks!

[metromike]

I am picking up my Northpoint 351 RSTS with the same setup as nhfire152 I would love to here from those who have that setup.