When should the Inverter be set to Disabled?

[Newf026]

I am getting used to the new command panel on our 2019 Aria. Most settings make sense but under the electrical section the inverter can be toggled to Disabled or Pass through. A Charger setting can be set as Disabled or No Charge.

These are the settings I see when I have full 50amp shore power coming in.

My gut says that when I have shore power its OK to disable the converter. But if no shore power or generator I would want it on?

Is there a downside to having it in pass through while plugged into shore power?

Sorry for what might be stupid questions here, I am just unfamiliar with these terms and what they mean.

[lwmcguire]

Converter and inverter are two different electrical devices

No need for the inverter to be on when on shore power or generator

Charger should always be on when you want to recharge or keep batteries topped off

[Judge]

If you have a typical Inverter with a built-in transfer switch, you want it on when you are on shore power if you have a fridge full of food. If you lose shore power, the Inverter will switch over and keep the refrigerator running.

If you are storing the coach, you can have the Inverter turned off so it is not draining the batteries in storage.

From a Converter perspective, you want it on with shore power so it....

- Charges the house batteries (and possibly the chassis batteries depending on your confiuguration)

- Is providing the 12V to the appliances needing it and not using the batteries


Now if you have an Inverter / Charger, I still see no reason to disable it on shore power because again you want it to charge your batteries and keep the fridge running if you lose shore power.

[Newf026]

Sorry all, I said converter by mistake. No converter involved, only inverter

But these answers to the inverter make sense

Thanks!

[m1noel]

I haven't ever set my inverter to disabled.

[TurnerFam]

There are very RARE instances when your INVERtER would ever need to be 'disabled', but it HAS to be an option, otherwise you'd never be able to work on it, or the control panel, or the wires and breakers going back to the main panel when on Shore Power. Now, when you might want to STORE the motorhome, yet have a small power source to keep the House batteries at charge, you then might NOT want the Inverter PASS-THRU to remain on, only the CHARGER.
There's also few times you might want to disable the Charger, but again, there needs to be a way to disable it, even so, when on Shore Power.

So, in essence, while 'disabling' either the Inverter or the Charger are rare, an 'On/Off' option is always good, just in case. Since the inverter most likely only has a small round 'pop breaker' on the unit, itself, there is no good way to disable the inverter, otherwise. And, while you 'could' find and press the really small 'reset' power button on the side of the unit, that's not really convenient or practical, except in rare cases.

When on only a 15amp household outlet for power, I many times turn down the 'Shore Max' setting to 5 or 10amps, so that the Charger cannot use very much power, in order to preserve more incoming amps for things I want to use. The batteries will still receive charge power, just much less, like a trickle charge.

The way these Inverters with built-in Chargers are direct-wired within the coach, you start to realize how the power comes into it, via a 30amp breaker in the main panel, and how the power comes out of it, via another 30amp breaker in either the same panel, or a secondary panel, with it's own individual outlet circuit breakers. My own Palazzo has a single sub-panel integrated main panel, where the two 'sides' of the 50amp shore power are divided between individual circuits, and the third 'side' of power, from the Inverter, are the four circuit breakers on the far right side.

[Newf026]

Very helpful information.

Thanks!