charlysmom&dad
illinois
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Does anyone have experience with having an inverter/charger removed from a mh. We have a new motorhome & had to have the inverter replaced because it stopped working. We will never use the inverter because we always stay at campgrounds with shore power. Since the inverter/charger also charges the house batteries, we would need a stand-alone charger.
I just need to know if this is possible. We would have to have the outlets that are powered through the inverter rewired. We wouldn't be doing the work ourselves, we'd leave it to the pros.
We'd like to hear from anyone who has had this done, or who has looked into having it done.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Hi charlysmom&dad,
Yes, it is possible--but resale value may be affected--as more and more of us boondock and it is "oh so nice" to have at least some 120 volt A.C. power.
It may also be more expensive if rewiring of the outlets is required. I'm surprized that the inverter failure is not covered under warranty if the RV is new.
charlysmom&dad wrote:Does anyone have experience with having an inverter/charger removed from a mh. We have a new motorhome & had to have the inverter replaced because it stopped working. We will never use the inverter because we always stay at campgrounds with shore power. Since the inverter/charger also charges the house batteries, we would need a stand-alone charger.
I just need to know if this is possible. We would have to have the outlets that are powered through the inverter rewired. We wouldn't be doing the work ourselves, we'd leave it to the pros.
We'd like to hear from anyone who has had this done, or who has looked into having it done.
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts solar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries 2500 watt inverter.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Seems like a very straight forward task to remove and rewire.
Get a good converter such as Xantrex XADC-60.
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charlysmom&dad
illinois
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Hi pianotuna
Yes, it is covered under warranty. We're just exploring the possibility of removal, because we've only had it 4 months, and the inverter already has failed. We only need it for the charging function. We thought about the resale, but we need it to be reliable.
To smkettner: is the xantrex a charger?
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Chris Bryant
DeLand, Florida, USA
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What is the make and model of the inverter? I would tend to agree with having it fixed, as electronics usually fail very early on, and if they make it through the warranty period, they should last pretty well.
It's hard to get a stand alone charger that does as well as the better inverter/charger combos.
-- Chris Bryant
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TXBlue
Saginaw, TX
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You are referring to the Converter/charger unit?
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mkirsch
Rochester, NY
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Electronic gizmos either fail right away or last a long, long time when used normally. You had the bad luck of getting the "infant mortality" failure. Odds are now that you will get many long years of use out of the replacement inverter. There's enough to worry about, don't worry about the remote what-ifs.
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smkettner
Southern California
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charlysmom&dad wrote:To smkettner: is the xantrex a charger?
XADC-60 @ bestconverter.com
It is a converter designed to supply the nominal 12v power needed for an RV. Yes it is a very good charger with a boost voltage for fast charging as needed and a lower float voltage to minimize water usage and extend the life of your battery.
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dougrainer
Carrolton, Texas
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Leave the Inverter/Charger in place. Then, install a 75 amp Converter and leave the Converter 120 plug un plugged. If the Inverter ever fails, then just plug in the Converter 120 plug. This is what I do with Motorhomes that had a Converter and I installed a Inverter/Charger for the customer. I leave the Converter in place and just un plug it. Then it is there in case the Inverter fails. Doug
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charlysmom&dad
illinois
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The suggestions are very interesting. Thanks, smkettner for the link to xantrex.
To dougrainer, if I leave the inverter installed, and it fails, I'd have 7 outlets that would not function, including the ones my tv's are plugged into. But I like the idea of having the converter as a backup charger.
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