Re: Is there a 2-way 'manual' switch to go between inverter and shore power for the TV ?

On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:35:56 -0800, "Jepp_23" <Jepp_23@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Lone,

This sounds like a great solution. Where did you find the inverter? What
model is it?

Jepp

Trace Engineering was bought out by Xantrex quite a few years ago.

Xantrex offers pretty much the same line of RV inverters under the Freedom brand
name.

http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/8/inter.asp

Understand that we're talking apples and oranges. This type of inverter/charger is
very nice but very expensive. Nearly a thousand bux for 1500 watts.

http://www.oasismontana.com/Trace-DR.html (first google hit, not necessarily
recommending)

If you already have a good smart charger/converter in your rig then it makes little
sense to spend that kind of money. 2000 watts of modified sine wave power can be had
for (sometimes far) under $150. For example

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95596

I use this one

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=179459

In fact, I use a bunch of 'em. I have one in my RV, another in my cube van, another
in my car and finally, one in my house as part of my whole-house UPS (vital here
where day-long power outages are routine affairs.)

Sam's sold it for $49 for a long time. Then they raised the price to $79. In the
Chattanooga store they finally remaindered the last few for $59 and quit carrying it.
I cleaned off the remainder table :-)

This is a sweet inverter. Maybe the most important feature is its auto reset
feature. If it trips off because of a momentary under- or over-voltage on the 12
volt side or an overload, when the voltage returns to normal, it automatically resets
and comes back on line. Many inverters stay tripped until manually reset. If you
run a refrigerator on the inverter like I do, the result is spoiled food if you don't
catch the trip in time.

Let me chat a little more about auto vs manual transfer. Auto transfer is nice under
ordinary conditions. You pull shore power and the inverter kicks in automatically.
No muss, no fuss. However, that doesn't allow you to address some other situations.

Consider, for example, you're sitting in an RV park when you detect an abnormal power
situation approaching. Say, big dark clouds blowing up and thunder in the distance.
Or the heat of the afternoon has set in and the park's inadequate wiring is letting
the voltage sag too much. Or whatever. You're watching da big game and don't want
to miss the end. You're in the RV park so you probably shouldn't fire off the
generator. Inverter to the rescue.

With auto transfer, in most cases, you're going to have to make a trip outside to
either unplug from shore power or flip the pedestal breaker. With manual transfer,
you simply reach over and flip on the inverter.

If you unplug or flip the breaker to make the auto transfer work then you have no
idea when the power is OK again. With the manual transfer and a voltmeter to monitor
the shore power connection, you simply occasionally glance at the meter and when the
voltage is normal, manually transfer back to shore power.

Another example. In rural/mountaineous areas such as where I live and camp a lot,
the power lines are long and frequently have poorly cleared right-of-ways. The
result is that tree limbs across the lines is a frequent event. Many times the
linemen will try to blow away the fault by manually restoring power. If the limb
doesn't blow clear, this generates many very heavy surges. Even if the limb does
blow clear, at least one big surge will occur.

I've learned through the painful experience of many blown light bulbs, surge
supressors and some electronics that the first thing to do when the power goes out is
to hit the main breaker and run on standby power until the utility power comes on and
is stable. I do the same thing in my RV.

Manual transfer lets me flip over to inverter power when shore power goes out and
then stay there until the shore power is back on and stable. Auto transfer,
depending on whether there is a delay built in or not, may just connect back to shore
power in the middle of a big surge.

Both manual and automatic transfer have their happy users so if you go the auto route
you'll probably not be unhappy. But with my utility background and very conservative
nature, I like to have control over even rare events so mine is strictly manual.

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
If stupidity hurt then they'd be putting morphine in the water supply.

.

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