Inverter stays on 24/7

[rickymac]

My inverter is located under my king size bed. The inverter panel is located on the wall under the master control panel and the AC control.


I park the RV in my driveway and plug into a 50 Amp plug under my carport.


Problem: The inverter is always on. I try pushing the button on the inverter remote panel, but nothing happens. The light stays on.



Is this a problem? What should I do?


Thanks

[TurnerFam]

I don't think it's a problem, it's probably designed that way - provide you coach's make/model and your Inverter make/model and maybe others know for sure..

some inverters will 'look' like they are on, even when plugged into shore power, because the internal RELAY that passes thru 120v power to your outlets that are powered by the inverter is LIVE, meaning that it is sensing the external power and allowing it to continue on to the outlets.

some inverters may not have a 'red light', but still do the same.

Now, can you turn the inverter 'OFF'? Meaning, can you physically disable the inverter? If so, you may lose the power to your outlets that the Inverter powers, since now you've disabled the internal pass-thru relay. Probably not what you want to happen.

Since you are on external power, though, allowing the Inverter to be 'on', even if you don't think you 'need' it, is not hurting anything, it is simply a red light, nothing more.

One advantage, though, is that if you were to lose shore power, and your Inverter is ON, it will continue providing power to the outlets, at least until the shore power is restored, or it reaches it's LBCO(low battery level cut off).
We do this, since we want to continue powering things even if parked at a campground with shore power, in the event the campground's power fails.

[rickymac]

Excellent information, thank you!

[Judge]

It does depend on the Inverter. My stock Inverter was a Xantrex XM Pro 1000. I could turn it On or Off when needed.

I upgraded to the Xantrex Freedom Xi and it will power on as some as shore power is plugged in. It can only be turned Off or On when there is no shore power.

I have since required the way my Freedom Xi Inverter works so I can turn it off even when plugged into shore power.

[ducksface]

Many inverters are also your coach converter.
It may be/should be the 120v to 12v converter you're hearing/seeing and not the 12v to 120v inverter. They reside in the same housing.
And the inverter side is always a little bit 'on' so it can sense when the shore power drops voltage or is disconnected, automatically Taking up shore power slack.

Mine is also the battery charger.
(I hope I have this correct. I'm pretty sure this is how a xantrex 3012 works)

Telling us what brand and model of your inverter would go a LONG way toward getting a more correct answer.

[TurnerFam]

there can be several differences in how RVs are built, when it comes to Inverters:

- some basic smaller inverters are only for a dedicated outlet, such as for the fridge, and don't provide power to anything else. The Converter, then, provides two things: Battery charging when on shore power or generator power, and 120v to 12v 'conversion' to the fuse panel, for all of the 12v devices and appliances.

- some others are similar, and larger, and add a few more outlets to the mix...

- some, though, are considered 'whole house' Inverters because they are wired INTO the Main Panel of the RV via a sub-panel, where not only are those outlets powered by the Inverter, AND by shore power or generator power, but the Inverter also has an integrated Battery Charger - in these builds, a Converter is no longer needed. Any 12v devices are powered by the batteries, just like in any RV, but when the rig is plugged into shore power or powered by the onboard gneerator, the Battery Charger effectively replaces the used battery power used by the 12v devices and appliances.


so, in essence, the Inverter/Charger replaces the need for any Converter.

My rig has no converter.

[rickymac]

Arterra Distribution WF-5110R Inverter Pure Sine Wave 1000W

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by rickymac

Arterra Distribution WF-5110R Inverter Pure Sine Wave 1000W

I see you have a 2014 Windsport and unless I am mistaken the 2014 Windsports and Hurricanes did not come with an inverter aand if they did Thor was installing Xantrex inverters at that time and they definitely didn't install pure sine inverters. That looks like an after market install and in that case it would depend on how the person that did the install wired the inverter.

Again, I could be mistaken.