Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

Jolu · 05-18-2010, 12:00 PM

gojodo,

The AC fuse box has two sides and is an inline disconnect from the solar panels to the charge controller and then the other side serves as a disconnect from the charge controller to the battery. I also added a disconnect coming out of the battery box strictly for my convenience to shut down the battery power to the system immediately at that point if I am working on anything in the battery bay.

I do not have the AC wired into the system. It is still on the main panel. I read where some do power their AC from the inverter and batteries. With a but, they power it maybe for a couple of hours. The AC would probably drain my batteries pretty quick.
In my last rig after owning it for 2 1/2 years I turned the AC on once to see if worked. When I traded it off I couldn't tell you if it worked. When and where we go mostly we just do not use the air.

The reason for the sub panel is I have a 30 amp built in transfer switch in the Xantrex SW2000 inverter/charger. The Xantrex SW3000 has a 50 amp built in transfer switch and can be wired directly to the main panel. The sub panel allows for more control on what I want to run in the coach. I do not want to power all the circuits in the coach. Example frig, WH, etc.
With the sub panel I can run both inverter and shore power at the same time. Flip off the 30 Amp breaker in the main panel to the inverter and inverted power will still power the four circuits in the sub panel and the shore power will power the rest of the circuits in the main panel. Whew! this needs to be read a couple of times. But it can save you some dollars if you are in a metered park.

I power four circuits the 1. BR,Bath,outside plugs, 2. Entertainment Center Center, Computer, Fireplace plug, Right side back plug, 3. Kitchen-GFCI, 4. Liv RM Slide and back left plug.
I moved the wires from the main panel to the sub panel for these circuits.
The inverter will power these circuits or shore power will pass through the inverter to power these circuits.
To do this you have to have an inverter with the pass through capability.
My intent is to change out the 4 circuit sub panel and install a six circuit sub panel so I can use the main Microwave maybe at some point. We do have a small Wattage microwave right now we can plug into any of the kitchen outlets and run off inverter power. This small microwave saves on the amps used.
I need to live with the system I have for a bit to see if I really need to make any adjustments.

The inverter can dictate what kind of system you can have. Some are inverters only and others have a built in battery charger. (Inverter/Charger). The inverter/charger can have a high AMP charger and gets the job done fast. With theses you do not use your converter. Unless you shut down the charging part of the inverter/charger and plug the converter in externally with a power cord.

I know my answers are a little long winded. Hopefully I have answered your questions.

05-18-2010, 12:00 PM	#8
Jolu Montana Master Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Canon City Posts: 1,340 M.O.C. #7919	gojodo, The AC fuse box has two sides and is an inline disconnect from the solar panels to the charge controller and then the other side serves as a disconnect from the charge controller to the battery. I also added a disconnect coming out of the battery box strictly for my convenience to shut down the battery power to the system immediately at that point if I am working on anything in the battery bay. I do not have the AC wired into the system. It is still on the main panel. I read where some do power their AC from the inverter and batteries. With a but, they power it maybe for a couple of hours. The AC would probably drain my batteries pretty quick. In my last rig after owning it for 2 1/2 years I turned the AC on once to see if worked. When I traded it off I couldn't tell you if it worked. When and where we go mostly we just do not use the air. The reason for the sub panel is I have a 30 amp built in transfer switch in the Xantrex SW2000 inverter/charger. The Xantrex SW3000 has a 50 amp built in transfer switch and can be wired directly to the main panel. The sub panel allows for more control on what I want to run in the coach. I do not want to power all the circuits in the coach. Example frig, WH, etc. With the sub panel I can run both inverter and shore power at the same time. Flip off the 30 Amp breaker in the main panel to the inverter and inverted power will still power the four circuits in the sub panel and the shore power will power the rest of the circuits in the main panel. Whew! this needs to be read a couple of times. But it can save you some dollars if you are in a metered park. I power four circuits the 1. BR,Bath,outside plugs, 2. Entertainment Center Center, Computer, Fireplace plug, Right side back plug, 3. Kitchen-GFCI, 4. Liv RM Slide and back left plug. I moved the wires from the main panel to the sub panel for these circuits. The inverter will power these circuits or shore power will pass through the inverter to power these circuits. To do this you have to have an inverter with the pass through capability. My intent is to change out the 4 circuit sub panel and install a six circuit sub panel so I can use the main Microwave maybe at some point. We do have a small Wattage microwave right now we can plug into any of the kitchen outlets and run off inverter power. This small microwave saves on the amps used. I need to live with the system I have for a bit to see if I really need to make any adjustments. The inverter can dictate what kind of system you can have. Some are inverters only and others have a built in battery charger. (Inverter/Charger). The inverter/charger can have a high AMP charger and gets the job done fast. With theses you do not use your converter. Unless you shut down the charging part of the inverter/charger and plug the converter in externally with a power cord. I know my answers are a little long winded. Hopefully I have answered your questions.