Inverter advice please

[Cashbuyer]

Hi Guys and gals, inverter advice please. 600W Quasi sine. Permanent connection to battery.
If the inverter is switched on for any reason -
a, Can the shorepower be connected?
b, Should the battery charger be switched off?

 

[sailorman]

Hi Guys and gals, inverter advice please. 600W Quasi sine. Permanent connection to battery.
If the inverter is switched on for any reason -
a, Can the shorepower be connected?
b, Should the battery charger be switched off?

1/ permanent connection should be able to be fused & isolated when not in use
2/ yes
3/ No

 

[NickRobinson]

No...

You need a a/off/b switch (double pole double throw) unless it's very smart synchronised job like home generators use to sell power to the grid I think.

Nick

 

[hlb]

You need a a/off/b switch (double pole double throw) unless it's very smart synchronised job like home generators use to sell power to the grid I think.

Nick

Is that the Nick Robinson of old, or are you a new one??

 

[BGW]

Hi Guys and gals, inverter advice please. 600W Quasi sine. Permanent connection to battery.
If the inverter is switched on for any reason -
a, Can the shorepower be connected?
b, Should the battery charger be switched off?

1)The inverter should have it's own isolation switch and fuse.

a) On no account should you connect the inverter to another circuit that is connected to another live mains power source (shorepower) and I can see no reason why you would want to have the inverter running separately from shore power while connected.

b) You must switch off the battery charger if the inverter is supplying the power to the circuit that the charger is powered from.

I can see no benefit of running the battery charger from the mains, just to power the charger, that charges the battery the inverter is running from.
If that is what you are thinking, why not just run your appliances from the shore power?

 

[Cashbuyer]

Hi Brian. Thanks for that advice. I wanted to clarify that if the inverter is accidently switched on whilst the boat is connected to shorepower, would that affect/damage the inverter? It would appear that it does. As you say there is no point running the inverter when connected to shorepower...

With regards to the battery charger - I think you are saying that the inverter should not be switched on whilst the charger is on?

I only ask as the inverter three pin outlet is nearest the saloon sofa/table and a certain somebody likes to plug in the laptop power cord as it is the nearest power source

 

[fireball]

Hi Brian. Thanks for that advice. I wanted to clarify that if the inverter is accidently switched on whilst the boat is connected to shorepower, would that affect/damage the inverter? It would appear that it does. As you say there is no point running the inverter when connected to shorepower...

With regards to the battery charger - I think you are saying that the inverter should not be switched on whilst the charger is on?

I only ask as the inverter three pin outlet is nearest the saloon sofa/table and a certain somebody likes to plug in the laptop power cord as it is the nearest power source

If the Inverter socket(s) is/are independent from the shore power sockets - ie not connected in anyway - then you can run the inverter at the same time as plugging in the shorepower. And you can have the battery charger on shore power charging the battery which is providing the Inverter - but it may not be able to keep up with the drain, although if it is 'just' a laptop then it is no great issue.

If the Inverter sockets are wired in with the shorepower sockets then no - you cannot have them running at the same time - although some Inverters have intelligent switching built into them to allow you to continuously run.

On our previous boat we had a 300w inverter hardwired into the batteries and a lead to the shorepower socket (in a locker) - we had to unplug one to plug the other in and the only thing we needed to check for was that the immersion heater was turned off prior to plugging in the inverter.

 

[hlb]

I think there is very little sence, in fitting any bigger inverter, than will work off the fag ligter. The fag lighter will charge phones or run the TV.
For other stuff, there is the ring main and shore power. Else the little honda genny, which will run most stuff anyway. I see no point in an inverter unless very small. It will only flatten batteries. There is little problem these days, in getting extra support power when out of the marina. Just start up the little honda and plug it in.

 

[fireball]

I think there is very little sence, in fitting any bigger inverter, than will work off the fag ligter. The fag lighter will charge phones or run the TV.
For other stuff, there is the ring main and shore power. Else the little honda genny, which will run most stuff anyway. I see no point in an inverter unless very small. It will only flatten batteries. There is little problem these days, in getting extra support power when out of the marina. Just start up the little honda and plug it in.

The rational was that the inverter had just one 13amp output and we quite often wanted to run a couple of items. Also, by semi hard wiring the power outlets were in convenient places and stopped the need for having wires trailing all over the place.

Oh and personally I'd rather get a couple of extra batteries rather than run a generator ...

 

[BGW]

Hi Brian. Thanks for that advice. I wanted to clarify that if the inverter is accidently switched on whilst the boat is connected to shorepower, would that affect/damage the inverter? It would appear that it does. As you say there is no point running the inverter when connected to shorepower...

With regards to the battery charger - I think you are saying that the inverter should not be switched on whilst the charger is on?

I only ask as the inverter three pin outlet is nearest the saloon sofa/table and a certain somebody likes to plug in the laptop power cord as it is the nearest power source

Hi, I don't know the full details of what happens, but I do know that if you connect two AC currents together they have to be synchronised - otherwise the 'wave' of the supply can go above the correct level and do damage to things that are plugged in And there will be no way to synchronise your inverter with the shore power.- An appalling description that I hope someone can improve on I am not sure if it would damage the inverter though.
If you have the charger supplied from the inverter you create a 'loop' and most inverters will break under the strain.
If the Inverter is not connected to your shore power supply then you will have no problems with having the shore power connected and the charger on, but as pointed out above, the charger may not be able to keep up with the demand the inverter makes on the battery - Is your charger capable of supplying up to 60 amps? (I think that's what your inverter would draw if fully loaded)