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Old 01-21-2022, 08:09 PM   #1
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Inverter vs generator confusion

We just purchased a 2021 Winnebago Adventurer 36Z and are dry camping for the first time. We have a 5500 Onan generator and Magnum inverter. The manual says to run the inverter only for short periods or when driving, so as not to deplete the batteries. So, with the generator off, we turned on the inverter overnight to keep the residential refrigerator and freezer running. By morning, batteries were at 1/3 level.

In the morning, we turned the inverter off and turned on the generator to recharge the batteries and turn on the furnace. However, the microwave would not power on, and there was no interior light in the refrigerator, which suggests to me that the fridge and freezer did not have power. We then experimented and turned on the inverter with the generator running to see if that made a difference, and the microwave powered on and the fridge/freezer appeared to be running with the interior light on.

In digging deeper into the manual, there is a section labeled standby mode, and it reads: “When an external source of AC power (i.e. utility or generator) is connected and qualified on the inverter’s AC input, it operates in standby mode. In standby mode, the unit operates as a battery charger to convert the incoming AC power into DC power to recharge the batteries; and at the same time, automatically closes an internal AC transfer relay to pass the incoming AC power directly to the inverter’s output to continue powering the connected electrical appliances.”

Not being an electrician, does this mean that the inverter should be running at the same time as the generator? In our previous Thor Class C, we were told that when the generator is running, the inverter should always be off. Can someone help educate and enlighten us? Thanks in advance for whatever advice can be shared.
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Old 01-22-2022, 07:03 AM   #2
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Inverter needs to be on, standby , for it to charge your batteries . This will allow any outlets on the invert circuit to be powered also. With inverter OFF ,those outlets will not work. I leave it on ,and only press invert when I need it ,while driving or dry camping.
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Old 01-22-2022, 08:18 AM   #3
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There are times when simple "names" of things gets us into trouble.

An inverter only does one thing, it turns DC power into AC. And in many cases is will also let AC power pass through.

A converter is like the opposite in that it uses AC to make DC to use or charge batteries.

However if you have an inverter charger, it will do both and we often get confution because it is called only an inverter as we are not very precise at times!

On your RV, the parts catalog shows this. The book is a good thing to follow as there are hundreds of different ways to do things and thoughsands of different RV.
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Old 01-22-2022, 08:25 AM   #4
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Can you tell us which model magnum inverter you have and which “remote” (that’s what Magnum calls the control display) you have inside your RV.

There is a basic remote that comes on most Adventurers with 3-buttons and a display but there is a much more capable remote installed on some other models. I’ve attached photos of both types below.

(It’s also possible you have the 1000w inverter with a single button on the remote and no display - but not usually with a residential fridge.)

Knowing which type you have should help us better respond to your questions.

UPDATE: I checked your Operators Manual and you most likely have the 3-button remote.
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Old 01-22-2022, 09:22 AM   #5
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I have a 2017 Adventurer and Winnebago has made huge changes between 2017 and 2020+ Adventurer models.

But, I do have a residential fridge and a 2000w Magnum inverter. So, I think I can help you with your questions.

I’ve read you post a few times and I think the issue is that your generator is not powering your coach. Here me out.

Your fridge operates on 110v power only. So if not on shore power or generator power you must have the inverter on to power the fridge. When driving you turn on the inverter and the inverter powers the fridge and at the same time your RV alternator is charging your batteries.

Then you dry camp without shore power or running the generator, so you rightly leave your inverter on to power the fridge. This uses a great deal of your battery’s state of charge, as you’ve found out.

However, the next day when you started the generator it should have:

1. Powered the fridge and all other 110v appliances and outlets in the RV
2. Started charging the house batteries via the charger inside your inverter

But what you saw was that no power fron the generator was being provided to the fridge and one would have to assume, that it was not powering anything on your coach.

So, as you said in your post you turned on the inverter and the fridge had power again. BUT, it’s my guess that your generator isn’t producing any 110v power to the coach and so, yeah, turning on the inverter did just that but from your batteries.

According to your Operators Manual you have the 3-button remote. With it you can turn the inverter on and off, but you cannot turn the charger on and off with it. See your inverter will always be in standby model whenever the inverter is not on. When outside power is available via shore power or generator the power flows through the inverter to power all 110v on your coach AND to charge your batteries via the inverter’s charging section. You don’t do anything to make this happen other than provide that outside 110v power source to the RV.

Depending on the setup of your RV you may or may not need to manually connect your generator’s power output to your RV. I say you “may not” have to do anything to make this happen because your year Adventurer is available in two versions. If you have a 30-amp model then you must manually plug in your generator to connect the power to your RV’s electrical system, but if you have a 50-amp model then you have an automatic transfer switch to make this connection.

I would guess that your model Adventurer is a 50-amp model. But you’ll have to tell us that.

If it is 50-amp then there is a problem with either the generator or the transfer switch. Because starting the generator should provide whole house power to your coach without you doing anything.

If it’s the 30-amp model then you do need to plug the generator power cord into the receptacle in the power bay.

Here’s the page from your Operators Manual that details this part of using your generator to power your coach.
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Old 01-22-2022, 10:41 AM   #6
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In line with what Creative said above, perhaps an easy way to sort if you are getting AC power to the Rv, is to check the microwave. In most cases it will not be powered from the inverter as it takes quite a lot of power, so when you mention the microwave not working, that leans toward no AC power!

I often use the micro as a quick check for AC as the lights on it depend on Ac. No lights on the micro, no AC? Some might like to use a lamp[ plugged into an outlet but that can get confusing if that outlet is one which works through the inverter as the inverter will likely be passing AC power through it to the outlet OR the inverter senses no AC but makes it from the DC batteries, leaving a check of the lamp not really telling you which source is being used to get the power.
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Old 01-22-2022, 10:49 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Morich View Post
In line with what Creative said above, perhaps an easy way to sort if you are getting AC power to the Rv, is to check the microwave. In most cases it will not be powered from the inverter as it takes quite a lot of power, so when you mention the microwave not working, that leans toward no AC power!
Richard, if they have the 50-amp coach then the microwave IS powered by the inverter. So, that test will not work. Turning on the inverter turns on the Microwave clock, etc.

The way to test that the generator is powering the coach is either attempting to start an A/C unit - what we do is put a table lamp on one of the receptacles that is not on the inverter.
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Old 01-22-2022, 03:44 PM   #8
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Inverter - generator issue

I appreciate the quick responses. Our unit is a 2021 Adventurer 36Z, 50-amp. It has the Magnum MS series pure sine wave inverter-charger. To test, I turned on the main cabin AC, and it sounds like just the fan comes on - I could not hear the unit kick in. I turned on the rear bedroom AC, and nothing happens. I was told both ACs should run with the generator. I have the three-button MAgnum panel - the top of the two images shared elsewhere.
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Old 01-22-2022, 03:50 PM   #9
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So, a quick followup question. If it is the transfer switch that is a problem, would running the coach chassis engine recharge the house batteries? Kind of a workaround?
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Old 01-22-2022, 06:27 PM   #10
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Okay, I can go with what Creative is saying as I do not know but was thinking the 2000Watt inverter would be near small to runn a microwave but if it works that way, I'm okay with going that way!

Yes on the question of work around being to charge coach batteries by running the RV engine, both sets of batteries should be tied together when engine is running!

However, I might also want to verify that there is a problem with the transfer switch by checking some of the other things which runn only on 110 AC. Have you found which outlets are only on ture ac and not from the inverter? A check of them with something like a lamp may tell you that the AC power is actually out if they are all dead but if you find some outlets are working without the inverter being on, that says you may not have a transfer switch problem but possibly need to chase a problem with getting the charging section to charge?

The Air condioners are also an indicator as they do require 110 AC and much more than the inverter will do, so if they run, the transfer switch is less likely to be the problem.
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Old 01-22-2022, 11:30 PM   #11
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I’m wondering about the circuit breaker on the generator. That could cause this it would seem. Maybe it’s too simple an answer.
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Old 01-23-2022, 11:22 AM   #12
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To test, I turned on the main cabin AC, and it sounds like just the fan comes on - I could not hear the unit kick in. I turned on the rear bedroom AC, and nothing happens. I was told both ACs should run with the generator.
So you are saying that the above test was when running on generator and not when running on shore power. If that's the case then the generator is delivering 110v power to the coach and it's not the circuit breaker like I mentioned as a possibility previously.

With the ME-MR 3-button remote it is not possible to turn off the charger portion of the Inverter/charger. There are settings for charging you can change but the On/Off button only concerns the inverter portion of the device.

As a test, with the generator OFF - and not on shore power and not with the RV engine running for a while (no outside power for 30 mins to an hour), look at your battery monitor on your One Place monitor. What is your house battery voltage? You need to have the inverter off for this test, as well.

Then start your generator, run it for ~5 mins and while it's running look at your house battery voltage again.

If you could do this and report back it would help us narrow down possible issues.

With everything OFF and a period of rest, your house batteries should be between 11.9v and 12.7v. Once the genset kicks in (30+ second delay) and the Magnum starts charging you should see your house batteries jump to ~13+ volts.

This will let us know if the generator and inverter are working together to charge your house batteries. (This assumes that you've already determined that the genset is powering 110v as you stated in your post about the A/C units above.)
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Old 01-26-2022, 04:32 PM   #13
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I’m glad for this discussion! I have a 2019 Adventurer.
I’d like to confirm that batteries will charge while on shore power or with generator running—inverter does NOT need to be ON for the charging to occur. Is this right?
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Old 01-26-2022, 08:09 PM   #14
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To me, it says to have the inverter on all the time, even when connected to shore power!
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Old 01-26-2022, 08:12 PM   #15
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My service advisor said exactly that—leave inverter on all the time except when RV in storage.
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Old 01-26-2022, 11:08 PM   #16
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Everyone should keep in mind that not all Winnebago RVs have the same inverter model nor even the same brand. So the instructions for one may be the opposite for another. There is no one set of operating instructions for all RVs.

So be specific with suggestions concerning inverters.
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Old 01-27-2022, 07:58 AM   #17
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I’m glad for this discussion! I have a 2019 Adventurer.
I’d like to confirm that batteries will charge while on shore power or with generator running—inverter does NOT need to be ON for the charging to occur. Is this right?
In this one case, it does look like you have the same inverter-charger that does both make AC AND use AC to make DC for batteries, but that if not always true, so it pays to look for what each of us have and not assume it works the same.
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