It makes it from 12v?
Unless I'm missing something this is a hodgepodge of parts and not a traditional rv inverter like you're thinking
Camper wiring
- Thread starter theoldwizard1
- Start date
Unless I'm missing something this is a hodgepodge of parts and not a traditional rv inverter like you're thinking
OP
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
It is an INVERTER ! I makes its own 120VAC from a battery !
OP
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Simple drawing. Is this safe (notice, no grounds are show).
OP
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
I beg to differ ! Inverters with built-in chargers and transfer switches are a "relatively" new concept, probably less than 25 years old.
Call it a "hodgepodge", but if it works and is safe, what is wrong with it ?
micromind
Well-known member
Simple drawing. Is this safe (notice, no grounds are show).
It'll work and most likely be safe but it's not the right way to do it.
The shore power has a neutral-ground bond. Since shore power doesn't always exist, the neutral-ground bond doesn't always exist therefore, the inverter needs to have a neutral-ground bond.
If only the hot is switched then when running on shore power, there are 2 neutral-ground bonds. Not a good idea since the ground in now parallel to the neutral and is now a current-carrying conductor. The ground should never carry current except in a fault situation.
So the solution is to switch both hot and neutral and thus, have only one neutral-ground bond at any given moment.
I don't know when they started using them. I know for sure the new camper in 2000 had one, and the multiple before that did as well but I can't recall the years.
OP
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Thanks. I don't understand why this was such a hard thing for people to understand
(Hard for me to "draw" switching both with the tools I have !
)
OP
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Related to this whole discussion ... In a camper trailer with a "modern" inverter/charger/transfer switch, if you are NOT attached to "shore power", "ground" is at best the frame of the trailer.
No one is going to carry a 6' copper bar and pound it 5' in the ground. What is the "best" "ground" solution when using a generator or inverter.
No one is going to carry a 6' copper bar and pound it 5' in the ground. What is the "best" "ground" solution when using a generator or inverter.
Cruzan80
Well-known member
You answered your own question. The best solution is to attach a grounding fastener. The snip is from a Generic 4000XL (not inverter, but answers the first part).
The difference is that leaving the neutral connected when switching between shore and inverter means dual pathways are possible.
Attachments
rlitman
Well-known member
I think you're confusing ground, with grounding, grounded, and earth. Each has it's own meaning.
For the purposes of a camper trailer (or boat) with an inverter, the grounding is a chassis ground. What matters is that you have a low resistance (all-metal) non-current-carrying return path to the source, and since the power source is on-board, earth doesn't come into the equation, so ground rods are irrelevant.