How good is Tripp-Lite RV3012OEM Inverter?

[fasteddie313]

I have one of these.. Works great to run our pellet stove when the power goes out and whatever else..
http://www.tripplite.com/rv-power-inverter-charger-3000w-automatic-transfer-switching-hardwire~RV3012OEM/


12V DC or 120V AC input; 120V AC output (hardwired)
3000 watts continuous, 4500 watts OverPowerâ,,¢ and 6000 watts DoubleBoostâ,,¢ inverter output
3 stage, 35/140 amp selectable wet/dry cell battery charger


As far as I'm concerned it is a beast, is it a good one?
Would it be valuable to me as a replacement, upgrade, or possibly be used in conjunction with the current systems?

[ClydesdaleKevin]

If its pure sine wave, its a keeper.  (Also sometimes called true sine wave).

Kev

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

First, that is a Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) rather than a Pure Sine Wave inverter charger.  When using the inverter mode, make sure any electronic equipment you have will work on a PWM AC source.

Converter/Charger section:
Is the converter/charger section better than what came in the RV originally? Yes
It is 3 stage charger that can supply up to 45 amps for battery charging.  14.1VDC bulk charge; 13.3VDC Float charge
Note: The 140amp selection would require a very large battery bank.  If the 140 amp selection was used on a small battery bank (say 4 6VDC deep cycle batteries) it can potentially destroy the battery bank.

AC/Inverter section
The 30 amp shore power cable gets connected directly to this unit
The unit automatically detects if an AC source (shore power or generator) is present and passes that input source voltage out to the RV AC distribution panel.  If no AC source is detected, it automatically selects inverter output for output to the RV AC distribution panel.  The unit only turns the inverter ON if there is a AC load present otherwise, it shuts OFF until an AC load is present.

A 3000W inverter requires a whole lot of DC current.  At full capacity, the unit draws 290 DC amps.  So, a bank of 4 6 volt batteries ( 2 110AH 12VDC banks in parallel = 220AH) will be depleted in less than 1/2 hour (you should never draw a battery bank down below 50% capacity or you will shorten the life of the battery).  Refer to the owners manual, page 8, for a good description of load calculations and battery bank size (also http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php/topic,9711.msg51820.html#msg51820)

[fasteddie313]

"" You may connect AC IN 1 and AC IN 2 to a single source to provide power to AC OUT 1 and AC OUT 2""

So bridge both AC IN circuits together and connect them to a big shore power cord..


""Dual input/output models provide for either: a) dual-source inputs and outputs; b) singlesource
input and output; or c) single-source input and dual-source outputs (with AC OUT
2 power only available in invert mode).""

It is not clear on whether or not you can also bridge both output circuits together into a single 40 amp output but I can call and ask. If not then this unit cannot realistically bypass enough shore power energy to entirely power the RV. Maybe if you were to wire one AC unit to "AC out 2" and the rest of the RV to "AC out 1" it could be made to work if you can't just bridge them..



And another thing.. My installed converter has a separate RED +12v line for the coach power and the battery power is BLACK. Would I just connect the RED coach power output directly to the batteries +12v along with the BLACK circuit if using this unit?

Just take both black and red off the old inverter and put battery +12v to both of them, and ground the WHITE common 12v ground to the chassis as the batteries are?

[fasteddie313]

Tripplite says that it is not recommended to bridge both AC outputs together for a single 40 amp bypass because the machine has no way of equalizing the 2 channels and it may pull X amps from "AC out 1" and XXX amps from "AC out 2" and the internal breakers may not work as designed..


They recommend that I wire "AC out 1" to the main distribution panel, and then take one of the air conditioner units of the main panel and wire it to "AC out 2" to split up it's power bypassing capabilities..


That would give me 20 amp service to the 110 main distribution panel and another separate 20 amp service to an air conditioner..


Does this sound reasonable? Is 20 amp service enough for the main power source if no air conditioning units are run off the same circuitry?

[Rickf1985]

Depends, Do you have a microwave or AC circuit on the fridge? Both of these are power hogs.

[fasteddie313]

Both microwave and 110 fridge power.. Microwave works, and the fridge works on 12v and 110..

[Rickf1985]

The fridge on 12 volt is only for when you are driving, it runs off of the chassis battery and not the house batteries. It also draws a LOT of amperage on DC and will not cool down on DC, It is designed to just maintain temp.

[fasteddie313]

I first tried it on 12v and the back got warm like it's supposed to, maybe for 15 minutes.. Then I turned it to 110 and its been running for hours now and is ice cold like that.. I also got the front AC working today so both work now.


I have the original converter working, but I don't like it..

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I'm a big fan of Powermax Boondocker converters.  Randy over at Best Converter (link in the member's area) will hook you up!

Kev

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Your HR rig is 30 amp based.  As such, I doubt it was ever designed to run both AC's off of a single 30 amp source.

Assuming you converted the shore power connection to 50 amp service, the Tripp Lite unit is designed to only handle 20 amps on each output leg.  The additional 16 amps it is designed to use is reserved for converter operation.
To support the 2nd AC unit, I suspect your HR was designed to feed the 2nd AC unit off of the 2nd leg (rated at 20 amps) of the generator.  The primary leg of the generator is only rated for 25 amps.  So, everything was on the edge originally.  3 to 10 amps of that 25 amps was used by your existing converter depending on the number of DC loads that are needed at any given point.
AC will use around 15-20 amps at start up then pull back to 7-10 amps for run.  With only a 20 amp circuit, you may just have to manage your loads. e.g turn AC off, use microwave, turn AC back on.  Fridge on AC cn draw anywhere from 7 to 10 amps for the heating element.
You mostly need to decide what you want to run when using the inverter mode and work from that point to determine how to rearrange your system design.  That way you can get the benifits of the new converter and use the inverter to power a limited load set.