Electrical/inverter question....

[Frank Langer]

Hi,

Our boat has a 1,000 watt inverter. My wife would like to use her 1600 watt hair dryer in the morning. I know it would likely trip the breaker if she uses it while we are at anchor with the inverter on, but would it also trip if we are plugged into 30 amp shorepower, or does that sidestep the inverter?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Frank

 

[Lucky Dog]

1600 watt hair dryer

Frank is the battery charger running at the same time. I think the hair dryers is using almost half of the shore amps.

ml

 

[Frank Langer]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. The battery charger is on a separate switch but connected to the shore power, so I can have it charging or not, while plugged into shore power. I would think that if I'm charging the battery with shore power at the same time as my wife is using the hair dryer, it shouldn't deplete the batteries too much. She would only use the hair dryer for a few minutes at a time. Does that make sense?

Frank

 

[Lucky Dog]

more hair dryer

The separate switch is still connected to the same shore power?

A trickle charge is still a few amps and it goes up from there.

Do you have "smart charger" that changes the charging rate as needed?

There are way smarter people here than me,... who are at least getting some sleep unlike us.

ml

 

[Frank Langer]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have a smart charger that charges alot until the batteries are nearly charged and then levels off. It is on a separate switch but connected to the shorepower. What I don't know is if the shore power feed goes through the inverter, or if it is separate and parallel, so that the inverter is not in use when shore power is plugged in.

Frank

 

[Lucky Dog]

Electrical/inverter

Assuming your charging from shore than the charger is using part of the amps as well as the hair dryer, coffee maker and microwave (which use a lot of amps).

The the boat next to you seem to have the same problem?

ml

 

[Frank Langer]

Hi,

It's not been a problem so far. I just haven't let my wife use the hair dryer for fear that it would blow the fuse/breaker on the inverter, as I know that the hair dryer is 1600 watts and the inverter is only 1000 watts. But now I'm wondering if I'm being too cautious. But on second thought, I think the only way that the hair dryer can work is if I have the inverter on, so that it's convering the 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC. So it must be using the inverter, and then I think I'm risking blowing the fuse/breaker. Correct?

Frank

 

[Lucky Dog]

Electrical/inverter

Wow I must be getting tired.

You are plugged into shore power and want to use the 110 volt outlet to operate a 1600 watt load or are operating your entire AC system from a inverting 12 volts DC to 110 AC?

The inverter from the battery will not handle a 1600 watt load, It will either trip the fuse or cook the wiring.

1600 watts from shore shouldn't problem unless your running the other appliances.

ml

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks, I think that's the answer I needed. Have a good sleep!
Frank