solar/inverter

[lazy grady]

2/5/23 Can not wrap my head around how solar/inverter system works on my vintage 1992 Walk Around Cabin 24' Explorer? It appears most accessories (tv, microwave, toaster oven) work off ac current by way of the inverter. Refrig/Freezer works off dc. Not sure as to hot water heater, ice maker and small in cabin refrig?

Specifically, what occurs on shore power versus at anchor?

 

[Beyond A Wake]

Don't know specifics but in general: I assume your inverter is max 3000W or you need more than 4 golf cart batteries to feed it.
the high wattage/consumption stuff work on AC but not off inverter, too much load. Also remember that inverters are usually marked with max value which is only for short term use, like starting a AC motor (vacuum cleaner or such) the continuous use power is less.
microwave may be iffy since it is high wattage, usually over 2000W, anything up to 1000 work off inverter but will drain batteries faster the higher W they are. I had micro on inverter and it barely made it (inverter was 2000W)
A TV is usually just Ab 200W so not bad, a toaster oven can be 1000 ish
My Ice maker and water heater were all AC but not connected to inverter on a 48ft boat, worked on generator or shore power.

this can give u some idea of what to look for etc.
H

 

[DennisG01]

2/5/23 Can not wrap my head around how solar/inverter system works on my vintage 1992 Walk Around Cabin 24' Explorer? It appears most accessories (tv, microwave, toaster oven) work off ac current by way of the inverter. Refrig/Freezer works off dc. Not sure as to hot water heater, ice maker and small in cabin refrig?

Specifically, what occurs on shore power versus at anchor?

Lazy, can you clarify? Your post title says "solar"... but then you're talking about an inverter... and then about shore power. Those are all different things.

Shore power is shore power... AC volts coming in and then directed, via a breaker panel, to accessories.

An inverter would change DC to AC... do you have one of those?

A solar panel would charge batteries - it's won't power anything. At least not for our practical purposes.

Given teh boat is over 30 years old, there's no way for us to say what's going on - it could have been changed many times. Look at your DC breaker panel and your AC breaker panel - that will give you a clue as to what is powered by shore power and what is powered by the batteries.

 

[Fishtales]

The ac items on a GW are designed for shore power or generator power. Dennis has it right, maybe for battery charging but not for any high demand item.

 

[lazy grady]

The ac items on a GW are designed for shore power or generator power. Dennis has it right, maybe for battery charging but not for any high demand item.

2/6/23 Sorry not to be better at explaining. Boat has solar panels on top, at least 6 I think. It has 2 original boat batteries and 6 twelve volt batteries under the deck. The boat has an inverter with both ac and dc appliances Water heater, ice maker, tv, toaser oven, and microwave work off ac. Refrig/freezer in deck box is dc. Refrig in cabin is dc. Boat has original switches at helm for water pump, wash down, nav lights etc. Boat also has winlass, trim tabs etc.

 

[DennisG01]

Ah, OK. That makes a little more sense, now.

FIRST... keep in mind that what you have there is a custom setup and we can really only give you general advice.

So likely your solar panels are charging the 6-pack under the deck and they are wired in parallel with each other, correct? Possibly the panels also charge the engine batteries. You'll have to follow leads - or see if the engine batteries are registering charging voltage when it's sunny.

In your first post you wondered about the hot water heater, but it seems you figured out (correctly) in post #5 that it is an AC appliance?

Typical boat accessories (lights, windlass, etc) will all be DC.

What appliances are you still wondering about?

 

[lazy grady]

thanks, my electrical guy has promised to id all users and sources