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[GMCnet] IOTA 50A Transfer Switches [message #324819] Wed, 11 October 2017 11:17 Go to next message
glwgmc is currently offline  glwgmc   United States
Messages: 1014
Registered: June 2004
Karma: 10
Senior Member
I had an eye opener a while back with a new microwave that simply would not run from my high quality inverter and large battery bank. Using an extension cord I found that it would not operate using the battery bank and inverter in either coach but the older microwave in the other coach would run off of the inverter and battery bank in either coach.

Best explanation had to do with the electronics in the newer microwave was fighting with the sine wave inverter electronics in the inverters (different brands) in both coaches.

From that experience I learned one just has to try the combination of appliance and inverter. More recently I found something similar trying to power an induction hot plate off the inverters in the Prevost. The battery bank is huge at 1850 amp hours but the induction hot plate would not run from the Heart 2500 inverters. Those inverters are modified square wave but run everything else in the coach without complaint. The induction unit
Looks like it is working, the display lights up, the timer runs but the unit does not produce heat. Plug it into a land line or run the generator and it works just fine.

Jerry Work
Kerby, OR
......
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2017 07:56:21 -0600
From: Johnny Bridges
To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] IOTA 50A Transfer Switches
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

The wire to the Xantrex at 1/0 ought to be big enough. The 110v side isn't likely to be a problem. However, start surge of the appliances may well
be greater than the inverter can supply... and battery life isn't going to be great in any case. I tried a simple Haier 900 Watt microwave - no grill
or 'convection' in the ads - and it will run, but the battery drain is large. Get......
......
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Jerry & Sharon Work
78 Royale
Kerby, OR
Re: [GMCnet] IOTA 50A Transfer Switches [message #324822 is a reply to message #324819] Wed, 11 October 2017 11:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
James Hupy is currently offline  James Hupy   United States
Messages: 6806
Registered: May 2010
Karma: -62
Senior Member
I guess to each, his own. Our 78 Royale had, from the Coachman works, a 4
burner propane Magic Chef cooktop, and a magic chef 120 volt microwave
oven. It has an Atwood propane hot water heater and a 3 way Dometic fridge.
Also has a 120 volt blender. And the real power hog, a deLonghi expresso
machine. I added up the watts needed to run that stuff on an inverter, and
gave that idea up quickly. The battery bank would weigh more than the ONAN.
Cost more, too. So, I yanked out the cook top and microwave, replaced it
with a combination 3 burner cooktop/propane oven. Now, with my
cooktop/oven, hot water heater, and 30,000 btu Suburban propane furnace, I
fill up my propane tank about once a year. Most of the time we are at RV
parks with hookups, so I don't run my generator very often. We can boondock
several days without the generator and make coffee on the cooktop. It works
for us, but might not for others. Use you coach and see what your needs
are. Then, outfit you coach accordingly. I just finished working on a coach
for a customer that uses all kinds of electronic stuff. Every square inch
of surplus space is jammed with batteries, inverters, solar controllers,
stereo amplifiers, great big shunts and relays, and huge battery cables.
He can boondocks for a couple of days and then he is depleted. Lots of
generator time for him. He always has to have some kind of electronic
noisemakers running. But that is his world, not mine. We don't even have a
TV on board.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or

On Oct 11, 2017 9:18 AM, "Gerald Work" wrote:

> I had an eye opener a while back with a new microwave that simply would
> not run from my high quality inverter and large battery bank. Using an
> extension cord I found that it would not operate using the battery bank and
> inverter in either coach but the older microwave in the other coach would
> run off of the inverter and battery bank in either coach.
>
> Best explanation had to do with the electronics in the newer microwave was
> fighting with the sine wave inverter electronics in the inverters
> (different brands) in both coaches.
>
> From that experience I learned one just has to try the combination of
> appliance and inverter. More recently I found something similar trying to
> power an induction hot plate off the inverters in the Prevost. The battery
> bank is huge at 1850 amp hours but the induction hot plate would not run
> from the Heart 2500 inverters. Those inverters are modified square wave but
> run everything else in the coach without complaint. The induction unit
> Looks like it is working, the display lights up, the timer runs but the
> unit does not produce heat. Plug it into a land line or run the generator
> and it works just fine.
>
> Jerry Work
> Kerby, OR
> ......
> Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2017 07:56:21 -0600
> From: Johnny Bridges
> To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] IOTA 50A Transfer Switches
> Message-ID:
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> The wire to the Xantrex at 1/0 ought to be big enough. The 110v side
> isn't likely to be a problem. However, start surge of the appliances may
> well
> be greater than the inverter can supply... and battery life isn't going to
> be great in any case. I tried a simple Haier 900 Watt microwave - no grill
> or 'convection' in the ads - and it will run, but the battery drain is
> large. Get......
> ......
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
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Re: [GMCnet] IOTA 50A Transfer Switches [message #324827 is a reply to message #324822] Wed, 11 October 2017 15:15 Go to previous message
Richard Denney is currently offline  Richard Denney   United States
Messages: 920
Registered: April 2010
Karma: 9
Senior Member
It's the same for me.

We don't have a TV on board, though in a pinch I can put TV on a laptop.

I second the motion of doing some camping before deciding how to optimize
these systems. The only inverter I need runs my CPAP machine, which is
compact with a built-in power supply. I have finally bought a quality
inverter (pure sine wave) for doing that, and I might once in a while
charge a laptop battery with it. It's small enough to run from the
cigarette lighter.

I need AC power for water heating and the roof air conditioner, but when I
replace the water heater, I will probably get one that is propane-powered.
My activities include camping at ham-radio events, where running a
generator that sprays as much RF as my Generac does earns me the enmity of
my ham colleagues. I often have a Honda suitcase generator for those events
to run the radio station (they are RF-quiet), and I just don't run the AC.
Hot water would be nice, though.

And at Bean Station this year it was cold and I needed my roof air heat
strip to make warmth (my furnace is not working at the moment--not usually
a problem for me). Bean Station's power capability is minimal. Several of
us finally gave up on long tradition and ran our generators to take the
edge off and to make hot water.

I doubt I will ever need an inverter bigger than what my CPAP machine needs.

Rick "optimized where possible for direct 12 volts" Denney

On Wed, Oct 11, 2017 at 12:55 PM, James Hupy wrote:

> I guess to each, his own. Our 78 Royale had, from the Coachman works, a 4
> burner propane Magic Chef cooktop, and a magic chef120 volt microwave
> oven. It has an Atwood propane hot water heater and a 3 way Dometic fridge.
> Also has a 120 volt blender. And the real power hog, a deLonghi expresso
> machine. I added up the watts needed to run that stuff on an inverter, and
> gave that idea up quickly. The battery bank would weigh more than the ONAN.
> Cost more, too. So, I yanked out the cook top and microwave, replaced it
> with a combination 3 burner cooktop/propane oven. Now, with my
> cooktop/oven, hot water heater, and 30,000 btu Suburban propane furnace, I
> fill up my propane tank about once a year. Most of the time we are at RV
> parks with hookups, so I don't run my generator very often. We can boondock
> several days without the generator and make coffee on the cooktop. It works
> for us, but might not for others. Use you coach and see what your needs
> are. Then, outfit you coach accordingly. I just finished working on a coach
> for a customer that uses all kinds of electronic stuff. Every square inch
> of surplus space is jammed with batteries, inverters, solar controllers,
> stereo amplifiers, great big shunts and relays, and huge battery cables.
> He can boondocks for a couple of days and then he is depleted. Lots of
> generator time for him. He always has to have some kind of electronic
> noisemakers running. But that is his world, not mine. We don't even have a
> TV on board.
> Jim Hupy
> Salem, Or
>
>
>


--
'73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com
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