Adding a inverter to our 2010 Bighorn 3055

[Big-B]

Hello,

My wife and I made it to our property in Arizona after a slightly rough start getting out of Michigan. We are off grid so we make all of our own power. We do this with the help of a Honda 2,000 watt inverter generator, a Air-x 400 watt wind generator and a couple of 150 watt solar panels. Lately we have been averaging about a gallon of gas in the generator a week so the electric bill is pretty small.

I installed an inverter before we left Michigan. It is a Xantrex 1,750 watt modified sine inverter. We also added 4 Trojan T-105 golf cart batteries. The inverter is just attached to the battery box and I plug the RV cord into it with a couple of adapters to take it from 50 amp to 15 or 20 amp.

I plan on upgrading the inverter. The current one is something that was given to me and it works OK but I'd like remote control inside the RV as well as charger and transfer switch. Our last fifth wheel, a 34' Montana, had a Xantrex Prosine 2000 inverter that I had installed. It worked great for about 3 years then quit working. Xantrex said it couldn't be repaired so I went with a Magmun 2,800 watt with a 125 amp charger and 60 amp transfer switch for the Big Horn.

This is where my question starts. On the Montana I was only dealing with a 30 amp service so it was pretty straight forward being that it only had one leg. My understanding is that the 50 amp services in a RV are pretty similar to a home service only smaller. There are two legs.

Does anyone out there have any words of wisdom for me or something on the web that will explain how I can make this happen?

Thanks,
Brian

P.S. I had seen a link to a inverter install here and now I can't seem to find it. If anyone can point me to it I would appreciate it.

 

[szewczyk_john]

I added a Magnum Inverter/Charger and my write up is here. Not sure if it will that much help to your situation as I am only powering 2 strings of plugs at 15 amps each off of the unit. I did not want to power the whole rig off the inverter so I did mine a little different than most other installs. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[carl.swoyer]

Your Magnum Inverter has pass thru technology. On mine I chose two circuits from the distribution panel. 1 running the bedroom outlets to include the TV. The other for the kitchen and TV . I pulled the wires from the distribution panel spliced them together and ran them to a two circuit sub panel then the magnum hot out lines 1&2 to the in on the sub panel. You also need a DC shunt (?) To protect the batteries and Magnum . So now I have two charge controller and when on 30amp shore or running on my Onan genset I program the Magnum Inverter to 30 amp shore power. This allows me to charge both banks of batteries without over tasking the Onan.
I called Magnum and spoke to Glen in tech support. They go beyond the call of customer service and will help you understand everything about the install process.

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[carl.swoyer]

Your Magnum Inverter has pass thru technology. On mine I chose two circuits from the distribution panel. 1 running the bedroom outlets to include the TV. The other for the kitchen and TV . I pulled the wires from the distribution panel spliced them together and ran them to a two circuit sub panel. Then the magnum hot out lines 1&2 to the in on the sub panel. You also need a DC shunt (?) To protect the batteries and Magnum . So now I have two charge controller and when on 30amp shore or running on my Onan 5500 lp genset I program the Magnum Inverter to 30 amp shore power. This allows me to charge both banks of batteries without over tasking the Onan.
I called Magnum and spoke to Glen in tech support. They go beyond the call of customer service and will help you understand everything about the install process.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Hello,

My wife and I made it to our property in Arizona after a slightly rough start getting out of Michigan. We are off grid so we make all of our own power. We do this with the help of a Honda 2,000 watt inverter generator, a Air-x 400 watt wind generator and a couple of 150 watt solar panels. Lately we have been averaging about a gallon of gas in the generator a week so the electric bill is pretty small.

I installed an inverter before we left Michigan. It is a Xantrex 1,750 watt modified sine inverter. We also added 4 Trojan T-105 golf cart batteries. The inverter is just attached to the battery box and I plug the RV cord into it with a couple of adapters to take it from 50 amp to 15 or 20 amp.

I plan on upgrading the inverter. The current one is something that was given to me and it works OK but I'd like remote control inside the RV as well as charger and transfer switch. Our last fifth wheel, a 34' Montana, had a Xantrex Prosine 2000 inverter that I had installed. It worked great for about 3 years then quit working. Xantrex said it couldn't be repaired so I went with a Magmun 2,800 watt with a 125 amp charger and 60 amp transfer switch for the Big Horn.

This is where my question starts. On the Montana I was only dealing with a 30 amp service so it was pretty straight forward being that it only had one leg. My understanding is that the 50 amp services in a RV are pretty similar to a home service only smaller. There are two legs.

Does anyone out there have any words of wisdom for me or something on the web that will explain how I can make this happen?

Thanks,
Brian

P.S. I had seen a link to a inverter install here and now I can't seem to find it. If anyone can point me to it I would appreciate it.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Mine runs the entire RV everything but the convertor. My convertor is wired in to my system before the invertor power.
I have the first transfer switch with shore power and Gen Power. Then power from transfer switch #1 goes into transfer switch #2 along with the inventor on the opposite side. We ran a jumper wire from L1 over to L2 to fire up both legs. Power for the convertor is pulled off of the input going into transfer switch #2 from Shore & Gen power only.


I can draw you a diagram it you need me to explain more.

Hope this helps
Jerrod


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[carl.swoyer]

When you say runs everything your not running the ac and microwave are you.

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[carl.swoyer]

However you end up with the install just make sure that when you are inverting your not back feeding to your shore power cable. I've​ seen that happen before.

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[Dennyha]

When you say runs everything your not running the ac and microwave are you.

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We regularly run the microwave off of our inverter, and I have a single 30 amp input to my subpanel. Of course, air conditioners are off limits.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

When you say runs everything your not running the ac and microwave are you.

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Yes I do run the microwave.

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[Big-B]

We run the microwave on the little 1,750 watt inverter that we have now. We just don't run much else when the micro is running.

Jerrod, it sounds like you have done what I am looking to do. A diagram would be awesome. I'm not sure I understand the need for 2 transfer switches. Is it one for each leg of 120 volt or do you have one for shore power and another for generator power?

We don't plan on running the air conditioner on the inverter. The plan is to get another Honda 2000 inverter generator and piggyback them together for when we need the A/C and don't have shore power.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[wdk450]

To those with combined inverter/converter/battery chargers this doesn't apply. To those with SEPARATE converter/battery chargers from the inverters you need to be aware to TURN OFF THE CONVERTER AC CIRCUIT BREAKER WHEN RUNNING UNDER INVERTER POWER. Otherwise you are using battery power to make AC power which is partially used by the converter/charger trying to charge the very batteries that are supplying all the power.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Here's my set up

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[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

To those with combined inverter/converter/battery chargers this doesn't apply. To those with SEPARATE converter/battery chargers from the inverters you need to be aware to TURN OFF THE CONVERTER AC CIRCUIT BREAKER WHEN RUNNING UNDER INVERTER POWER. Otherwise you are using battery power to make AC power which is partially used by the converter/charger trying to charge the very batteries that are supplying all the power.

Not if it's wired like this !!!
You don't have to do a thing. It's all automatically done and one will take priority over the other. So you will never have 2 different power sources at the same time.

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[carl.swoyer]

You don't need a second transfer switch. The Magnum Inverter has one built-in

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[Big-B]

I'm still having a hard time figuring out how you take two legs of 120 and use a regular 120 volt transfer switch, whether you have one or two transfer switches.

My last inverter setup was simple. I unhooked the shore power from the converter, ran it to the input of the inverter and ran the output of the inverter to the breaker panel. Also I just unhooked the charging circuit in the converter. But it only had one leg. How do I combine the two legs and not create a direct short when I plug the rv into a 50 amp pedestal? I had even considered that I could use the 50 amp to 30 amp adapter pigtail and just duct tape then together so it can't be plugged into a 50 amp pedestal.

I haven't looked at the Magnum inverter enough to know if it has one or two legs on the transfer switch.

 

[danemayer]

I'm still having a hard time figuring out how you take two legs of 120 and use a regular 120 volt transfer switch, whether you have one or two transfer switches.

My last inverter setup was simple. I unhooked the shore power from the converter, ran it to the input of the inverter and ran the output of the inverter to the breaker panel. Also I just unhooked the charging circuit in the converter. But it only had one leg. How do I combine the two legs and not create a direct short when I plug the rv into a 50 amp pedestal? I had even considered that I could use the 50 amp to 30 amp adapter pigtail and just duct tape then together so it can't be plugged into a 50 amp pedestal.

I haven't looked at the Magnum inverter enough to know if it has one or two legs on the transfer switch.

So, I'm assuming you're asking this way because you have a transfer switch/inverter combo that only handles one hot leg...

If you had a trailer with a 30 amp service, you would plug the shore power cord into a 30 amp receptacle having a single 120V leg. If instead you wanted to plug into a 50 amp receptacle that has two 120V legs, you would use an adapter that would use 1 of the 2 legs. The adapters don't combine the 2 legs.

Similarly, if you plug into a 50 amp receptacle and route the power to a transfer switch that has only one hot leg, you would only use one leg coming from shore power.

So to answer your question, you don't combine the two legs. You just use one of them.

Some people make this work on a 50 amp trailer by using a sub-panel with built-in transfer switch and inverter. They route power from a new 30 amp breaker in the main circuit breaker panel to the sub-panel. For the devices they want to run off battery power, those circuit breakers are relocated into the sub-panel. When not on shore power, the batteries supply power through the inverter and transfer switch to those sub-panel loads.

 

[Big-B]

I haven't put a meter to the adapter to see if it combines the two legs but assumed that it did because everything tht is 120 volts works fine. If only one leg was hot it seems like there would be some things not working, right?

 

[danemayer]

I haven't put a meter to the adapter to see if it combines the two legs but assumed that it did because everything tht is 120 volts works fine. If only one leg was hot it seems like there would be some things not working, right?

Can you draw a picture of your electrical layout showing all the components and how they're connected, so we can better understand. After drawing, take a picture of the drawing with your phone and upload it.

- - - Updated - - -

I haven't put a meter to the adapter to see if it combines the two legs but assumed that it did because everything tht is 120 volts works fine. If only one leg was hot it seems like there would be some things not working, right?

Can you draw a picture of your electrical layout showing all the components and how they're connected, so we can better understand. After drawing, take a picture of the drawing with your phone and upload it.

 

[Big-B]

I just took my Fluke meter out and checked the 50 amp to 30 amp adapter. The two hots on the 50 amp side are tied together and both show a direct connection to the 30 amp hot side.

It kind of seems like I am over complicating this because I'm sure lots of RV'ers have done the same modification. Just can't quite seem to get my head around it.

As far as drawing a diagram of my system, it is bone stock the way it comes from the factory now. The RV is just plugged into the inverter through the shore power cable right now.

I'm going to take a look at the Magnum inverter and see if it has a two leg transfer switch.

 

[danemayer]

I just took my Fluke meter out and checked the 50 amp to 30 amp adapter. The two hots on the 50 amp side are tied together and both show a direct connection to the 30 amp hot side.

That must be an adapter that plugs into a 30 amp receptacle. The adapter takes the single 30 amp hot leg and splits it across the two 50 amp legs.

If you take the same measurement with the opposite adapter that plugs into a 50 amp receptacle and has a 30 amp receptacle on the other end, you'll find the hot on the 30 end connects to only one leg on the 50 end.