Country Coach Restoration, Repair & Parts Forums => Country Coach Archive => Topic started by: Philbaker47 on May 18, 2012, 06:41:10 pm
Title: ref replacement
Post by: Philbaker47 on May 18, 2012, 06:41:10 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 79297 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79297)Question on refrig replacement, I have a 2000w inverter, do I need to increase inverter size? Been told yes and no by various service folks.
Intrigue 11667
Title: Re: ref replacement
Post by: Lyle on May 18, 2012, 07:28:34 pm
The answer is yes and no. If you do not plan to dry camp for more than one night without recharging your batteries then the answer is no you do not need to upgrade your inverter. Just carefully manage your power consumption before turning in for the night and make sure your batteries are fully charged. The power draw of the residential is probably less than the Norcold when on electric. If you do anticipate long periods of dry camping with no generator then you may need to upgrade your batteries first. This is a general answer since you did not specify the potential new refer, your battery arrangement, any solar panels, other power consumption you anticipate etc. 2000w is a lot of power, its the duration that is important. Lyle Wetherholt 04 Intrigue 11740 Samsung 197 refer
Magnum 2800 PSW inverter No solar
2 Deka 8D house batteries > Question on refrig replacement, I have a 2000w inverter, do I need to increase inverter size? Been told yes and no by various service folks.
Intrigue 11667
Title: Re: ref replacement
Post by: Bob Wexler on May 18, 2012, 08:59:12 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 79300 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79300)The question is pure sine wave vs modified sine wave. The answer is still yes and no. You need to check with the maker of the refer as to the suitability to run on modified sine wave inverter. Some will some won't. Then the battery capacity comes into play along with your general consumption habits. If you (like me) have two TVs running all evening with DVRs and computers, plus lights etc, you will need to monitor you useage and be sure your batteries and or generator + fuel supply are up to the task. My new GE uses about 100 watts at 120 volts but dos not run constantly. The energy tag says it uses 365 KWH per year or about 1 KWH per day. My casual monitoring says the estimate is conservative.
Bob Wexler SOB
Title: Re: ref replacement
Post by: Ron Baran_01 on May 19, 2012, 08:14:24 am
Yahoo Message Number: 79312 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79312)Lyle The size of the batteries and size of the inverter have nothing to do with one another. The inverter at 2000 watts means you can use up to 2000 watts of power at 120 volts. If you had a 3000 watt inverter and had a 2000 watt load, then the draw on the batteries would be the same, and would run down the batteries in the same amount of time. With the 3000 watt inverter you would have an additional load of 1000 watts available to invert , and therefore draw the batteries down even faster. To determine how much capacity required for the inverter size , you have to add up your typical loads. It's not uncommon for a toaster to use 1000 to 1500 watts, so you can't have all the other appliances on, or being used or the inverter will shut down. Also some older inverters had 2000 watts available , but only 1800 watts continuous load . Not trying to nit pick, but inverter size and battery bank size are independent of one another. The smaller the battery bank, the faster you draw the batteries down and have to recharge. You could change to a 3000 watt inverter and use the same battery bank , but if you use the inverter near the maximum amount of wattage, you will draw the bank down quicker
Ron Baran 09 Magna 7025
Title: Re: ref replacement
Post by: Lyle on May 19, 2012, 09:49:33 am
So what did I say that set you off of on me. I think I told Phil that if he anticipated a lot of power consumption over a period of prolonged dry camping without generator he would need more batteries and that the size of the inverter did not matter relative to a residential refer, independent of other loads. Lyle Wetherholt 04 Intrigue 11740 > Lyle The size of the batteries and size of the inverter have nothing to do with one another. The inverter at 2000 watts means you can use up to 2000 watts of power at 120 volts. If you had a 3000 watt inverter and had a 2000 watt load, then the draw on the batteries would be the same, and would run down the batteries in the same amount of time. With the 3000 watt inverter you would have an additional load of 1000 watts available to invert , and therefore draw the batteries down even faster. To determine how much capacity required for the inverter size , you have to add up your typical loads. It's not uncommon for a toaster to use 1000 to 1500 watts, so you can't have all the other appliances on, or being used or the inverter will shut down. Also some older inverters had 2000 watts available , but only 1800 watts continuous load . Not trying to nit pick, but inverter size and battery bank size are independent of one another. The smaller the battery bank, the faster you draw the batteries down and have to recharge. You could change to a 3000 watt inverter and use the same battery bank , but if you use the inverter near the maximum amount of wattage, you will draw the bank down quicker >
Ron Baran 09 Magna 7025
Title: Re: ref replacement
Post by: Ron Baran_01 on May 19, 2012, 12:18:07 pm
Yahoo Message Number: 79321 (http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Country-Coach-Owners/conversations/messages/79321)Lyle Nothing "set me off " ! Your answer dealt with battery, and not the size of the inverter , that he asked about. Size of the Inverter is about how much 120 volt stuff you are going to use. If he totals his continuous load , including the new fridge and it is more than 2000 watts , then he has to increase the size of the inverter. If not , then he can leave the inverter , as is . The battery bank he has can be used with either 2000 or 3000 watt inverters. If he is using the 3000 inverter near capacity , he will get less time between chargings on the same battery bank. His question was about the inverter size and to determine that you have to look at the loads applied. Your answer was about battery. Nothing more , nothing less. Don't be so thin skinned, as no offense was intended.
Ron Baran 09 Magna 7025
Title: Re: ref replacement
Post by: Lyle on May 19, 2012, 01:50:01 pm
OK, maybe I'm just having a bad hair day. I dwelled on batteries a bit because he did not seem up to speed on the batteries vs. inverter size. I think, with your input and mine, he will now understand that the two work together and he has to think about both in his intended use scenerio. Sometime after I installed the Samsung I also replaced my Xantrex 2000 MSW inverter for a Magnum 2800 PSW with AGS. Not because of the refer but because DW uses an oxygen generator at night and it will not work on MSW. Our highest anticipated power load can easily be accommodated with 2800W although our battery bank is marginal to run the O2 generator for eight hours. It will take careful power management to run the night without the genset coming on. An interesting thing I learned along the way was that the Bose system draws about 10 DC amps even when it is off. Power to the control unit comes from the subwoofer located in the kitchen sink cabinet. So far I have not figured out how to turn it off except by tripping the audio system breaker in the pane. I would just as soon do away with the subwoofer (it rattles the cabinet) but haven't figured out how to get power to the rest of the system. More than you wanted to know but may shed a little light on the issue. Lyle Wetherholt 04 Intrigue 11740 > Lyle Nothing "set me off " ! Your answer dealt with battery, and not the size of the inverter , that he asked about. Size of the Inverter is about how much 120 volt stuff you are going to use. If he t