AC Power from Inverter.

[SieraHotel]

The shore power on my Hunter is working fine, but the output from my DC inverter does not feed the AC breaker. Has anyone attached their inverter to their AC panel so that the AC circuits can be used while underway? Is there a switch or relay I can use to protect or cut out the inverter when shore power is supplied?

 

[onecoolair]

For the Lay Person I would keep it simple.

The shore power on my Hunter is working fine, but the output from my DC inverter does not feed the AC breaker. Has anyone attached their inverter to their AC panel so that the AC circuits can be used while underway? Is there a switch or relay I can use to protect or cut out the inverter when shore power is supplied?

Lets see older hunter 31 no generator setup.....For the Lay Person I would keep it simple.
I have my inverter installed under the nav-station and hard wired to the "C" post on the main battery 1/2both/off selector switch. My computer and any televisions,etc are plugged into UPS battery backup. UPS backup is plugged into dedicated breaker-ed Shore Power/Generator only GFI receptical . When on the hook I manually reach under nav and unplug UPS from the dedicated GFI outlet and plug it into the inverter. (Only thing to remember is to turn off UPS when unplugged from shore power and not being used) I just open the cabinet and push the button to stop the beeping. It has a warning alert when unit first loses power. This will extend the life of small backup battery.
For the cabins I have a smaller inverter that plugs into the 12 volt power ports in each cabin. Simple and basic ....Idiot proof.....
If you still want to get fancy then you will have to get a shore-power /generator selector switch. But these switches can get expensive and that does not include finding and hiring a qualified electrician you can trust to do the work right.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

The shore power on my Hunter is working fine, but the output from my DC inverter does not feed the AC breaker. Has anyone attached their inverter to their AC panel so that the AC circuits can be used while underway? Is there a switch or relay I can use to protect or cut out the inverter when shore power is supplied?

I hooked a large wire to a 15 amps connector which gets plugged in the 110V outlet of the inverter. The large wire (Hubbell) runs to near the 110V inlet for shore power and ending with a female 30 amps 110 connector. When anchored or running if I need 110 anywhere in the boat, I just connect the 30 amps connector to the shore power inlet, turn the inverter on and voilà ! No possibility of mistakes at the shore power inlet as it's one or the other that gets connected: 110 from shore power or 110 from the inverter.

 

[onecoolair]

I hooked a large wire to a 15 amps connector which gets plugged in the 110V outlet of the inverter. The large wire (Hubbell) runs to near the 110V inlet for shore power and ending with a female 30 amps 110 connector. When anchored or running if I need 110 anywhere in the boat, I just connect the 30 amps connector to the shore power inlet, turn the inverter on and voilà ! No possibility of mistakes at the shore power inlet as it's one or the other that gets connected: 110 from shore power or 110 from the inverter.

Claude...Thats another great idea for keeping it simple... Just remember to turn off battery charger.

 

[seadaddler]

Simple

I would listen to some of the ideas mentioned to keep things easy simple
and less$$$$,reason is I have seen on here when things go crazy and don't work when you are out using the boat and want things to work properly so you can enjoy and not going crazy.
My inverter and Gen were all installed at the factory when I ordered our boat new but I have seen all the electronics involved with big $$$$ boxes that do all the auto switching between shore power and Gen and my built in inverter/charger and have not had a problem and so am very happy for sure and nice for me to just push a button and the guess work is all done for me with this auto system but keep my fingers crossed that all keeps on working when out cruising.
Nick

 

[artboas]

Claude .... Read ABYC

I hooked a large wire to a 15 amps connector which gets plugged in the 110V outlet of the inverter. The large wire (Hubbell) runs to near the 110V inlet for shore power and ending with a female 30 amps 110 connector. When anchored or running if I need 110 anywhere in the boat, I just connect the 30 amps connector to the shore power inlet, turn the inverter on and voilà ! No possibility of mistakes at the shore power inlet as it's one or the other that gets connected: 110 from shore power or 110 from the inverter.

Claude,
You have an issue.
According to ABYC, when you have a new source of power generation, you need to bond neutral to ground.
Please read up on this.
I don't believe your panel is neutral-ground bonded, so you might have a dangerous situation.
Please investigate

 

[Stu Jackson]

Oh, nonsense.

What you HAVE to do is to figure out how it is connected on YOUR boat.

If you have an inverter connected to your boat's A.C. system, then you need either an automatic or manual transfer SWITCH.

The purpose of this is to avoid ever having two sources of A.C. power ON at the same time.

Some newer standalone inverters have this built-in. IIRC, all combined inverter/chargers DO have this feature.

If you have an inverter that gets its power from the DC system and you ONLY use the receptacles on the inverter, you usually don't need a transfer switch. That, unfortunately, leads to extension wires run around the cabin...

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Oh, nonsense.

What you HAVE to do is to figure out how it is connected on YOUR boat.

If you have an inverter connected to your boat's A.C. system, then you need either an automatic or manual transfer SWITCH.

The purpose of this is to avoid ever having two sources of A.C. power ON at the same time.

Some newer standalone inverters have this built-in. IIRC, all combined inverter/chargers DO have this feature.

If you have an inverter that gets its power from the DC system and you ONLY use the receptacles on the inverter, you usually don't need a transfer switch. That, unfortunately, leads to extension wires run around the cabin...

Thanks Stu, that is what my research had given me also. My setup makes it impossible to have 2 A.C. power on at the same time since EITHER the inverter OR the shore power cord gets connected in the BOAT 110v inlet. And since I also wanted to avoid having extension cords in the cabin, I ran a large size 30 amps Hubbell cord from the receptacle of the inverter behing the wall and through the cockpit lazarette where it is left until needed. When needed, I pull it out and plug it in the connector the same way I would connect the shore power cord.

 

[artboas]

Stu, I agree & disagree

Oh, nonsense.

What you HAVE to do is to figure out how it is connected on YOUR boat.

If you have an inverter connected to your boat's A.C. system, then you need either an automatic or manual transfer SWITCH.

The purpose of this is to avoid ever having two sources of A.C. power ON at the same time.

Some newer standalone inverters have this built-in. IIRC, all combined inverter/chargers DO have this feature.

If you have an inverter that gets its power from the DC system and you ONLY use the receptacles on the inverter, you usually don't need a transfer switch. That, unfortunately, leads to extension wires run around the cabin...

As the inverter is simply plugging into the AC power inlet, no transfer switch is needed. But, the AC neutral must be ground bonded at the generation source.
This is code

 

[Sailvayu]

I agree the ground and neutral need to be connected at the power source only so if the inverter is the power source they need to be connected there. THis is easy to check with an ohm meter (with the power off of course)

 

[artboas]

Exactly my point

I agree the ground and neutral need to be connected at the power source only so if the inverter is the power source they need to be connected there. THis is easy to check with an ohm meter (with the power off of course)

The neutral & ground will not be bonded in the inverter, as it would be uncertain as to end usage
I agree this can be checked with an ohmmeter, but I am certain the ground -neutral bond is left to the details of installation.
In any case, they need to be bonded once used as a voltage source aboard