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Old 04-05-2021, 03:48 AM   #1
RickV
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Inverter Question

This inverter and a Residential Fridge is all new to me. I did a search and after reading a few threads couldn't get a definitive answer on something that happened yesterday. A little background, just bought a new Alpine 3790FK last week it is 13' 4" tall. I have a pole barn that I had built 8 years ago when 5vers weren't so tall. The pole barn has 13' 4" of clearance so the new 5ver won't fit in it. Me and some friends are in the process of raising the clearance 9" to get it to over 14'. I have the 5ver parked near the pole barn and am running 30 amp service to it from the back of the pole barn. Yesterday we started around 8am and I am not sure when it happened but someone must of moved the cable enough to pull it out enough to lose the connection with the 30 amp plug. Around 4pm my wife was in the 5ver and when she opened the fridge it was dead. Once I checked the plug and pushed it back in the Fridge came back on. So now after all this on to my question(s).
The battery wasn't completely dead a few lights and the radio were still working (I didn't think to check the battery at the time just plugged shore power back in) does the inverter shutdown automatically when voltage/amperage gets too low? Is the inverter always active or is it something I need to switch on? Just want make sure that the inverter is doing the job when not on shore power in reference to towing it and battery charge being maintained.

Thanks in advance
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Old 04-05-2021, 04:49 AM   #2
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Generally speaking, your inverter will shut down when it gets to a preset level of voltage to keep from running your battery completely dead. You should have no trouble traveling with it running off the alternator on your truck. We have done this for years and never had any problems.
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Old 04-05-2021, 04:58 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by notanlines View Post
Generally speaking, your inverter will shut down when it gets to a preset level of voltage to keep from running your battery completely dead. You should have no trouble traveling with it running off the alternator on your truck. We have done this for years and never had any problems.
👍 I assumed this from what I have read, just wanted to be sure.
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Old 04-05-2021, 05:02 AM   #4
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Also, you should have a dedicated battery for the inverter... And it has its own battery cutoff switch...
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Old 04-05-2021, 05:36 AM   #5
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You asked if the inverter is always active or something you need to switch on. If like mine you have to turn it on, if not the fridge will stop when you unplug the trailer along with depleted batteries.
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Old 04-05-2021, 07:25 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Javi View Post
Also, you should have a dedicated battery for the inverter... And it has its own battery cutoff switch...
This is what the setup looks like
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Old 04-05-2021, 08:54 AM   #7
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This is what the setup looks like
Where is your inverter, normally they are very close to the battery..

Is this another cut-off, I can't tell from the photo
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Old 04-05-2021, 09:29 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Javi View Post
Where is your inverter, normally they are very close to the battery..

Is this another cut-off, I can't tell from the photo
It is in the front box above all the Hydraulic Crap. I actually had to hunt for it. I read about a LCD display and a switch. Where they have it mounted you can't see the LCD display. I did hit the switch, disconnected shore power and the fridge was still on. So since I am almost always attached to shore power or to my truck while traveling should I leave the switch on so as to not forget to turn it on when traveling? Will it hurt anything? Do I need to add another battery?

The Red Switch in the picture is the main battery kill switch.
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Old 04-05-2021, 10:36 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by RickV View Post
It is in the front box above all the Hydraulic Crap. I actually had to hunt for it. I read about a LCD display and a switch. Where they have it mounted you can't see the LCD display. I did hit the switch, disconnected shore power and the fridge was still on. So since I am almost always attached to shore power or to my truck while traveling should I leave the switch on so as to not forget to turn it on when traveling? Will it hurt anything? Do I need to add another battery?

The Red Switch in the picture is the main battery kill switch.
Is this the Inverter you have.... If so they (the manufacturer) told me to just leave it on while in storage and of course while traveling..

There really should be a separate cutoff and another battery.. your dealer got to you.. If it was me I'd put 2 new series 27 batteries with one going to the inverter and the other powering the hydraulics and trailer.. That's the way my trailer came from the dealer..

https://wfcoelectronics.com/product/wf-5110r/
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Old 04-05-2021, 01:00 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Javi View Post
Is this the Inverter you have.... If so they (the manufacturer) told me to just leave it on while in storage and of course while traveling..

There really should be a separate cutoff and another battery.. your dealer got to you.. If it was me I'd put 2 new series 27 batteries with one going to the inverter and the other powering the hydraulics and trailer.. That's the way my trailer came from the dealer..

https://wfcoelectronics.com/product/wf-5110r/
Mine is the WF-5110RS not sure what the difference is if any.
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Old 04-05-2021, 02:01 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RickV View Post
This is what the setup looks like
You only have 1 battery to power the inverter & run all the other 12 volt items onboard?
Your dealer cheaped out on you, any good dealer would've added 2 batteries, they may have been the cheapest ones on the market, but 2 anyway.
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Old 04-07-2021, 01:42 PM   #12
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It’s a shame the dealership short changed you on main coach batteries.. rack has changed on the new ones but above existing battery is where another should be.. and then typically a third battery.. vented is installed in the very front baggage compartment.

I’d love to see a pic of where the WFCO inverter is actually mounted at... most ALPINES have that in front compartment with battery and cutoff..

Looks like someone replaced an OEM DC resettable breaker that runs up to the dual polarity solenoid on the hyd pump motor... it . From pic looks like an 80 amp which if so is great to see

One battery is way less then desirable even when on shore power ... the furnace will pull 8 to 10 amps and nit sure what your Suburban on demand gas water heater is pulling amp wise...

And the WFCO OEM 5100 series inverter “Auto Senses” when shore power is plugged in and switches to pass thru mode... no battery use when in pass thru
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Old 04-07-2021, 03:07 PM   #13
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inverter

I wish I could get it rite on rig... havin the same problem
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Old 04-07-2021, 05:04 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by ChuckS View Post
It’s a shame the dealership short changed you on main coach batteries.. rack has changed on the new ones but above existing battery is where another should be.. and then typically a third battery.. vented is installed in the very front baggage compartment.

I’d love to see a pic of where the WFCO inverter is actually mounted at... most ALPINES have that in front compartment with battery and cutoff..

Looks like someone replaced an OEM DC resettable breaker that runs up to the dual polarity solenoid on the hyd pump motor... it . From pic looks like an 80 amp which if so is great to see

One battery is way less then desirable even when on shore power ... the furnace will pull 8 to 10 amps and nit sure what your Suburban on demand gas water heater is pulling amp wise...

And the WFCO OEM 5100 series inverter “Auto Senses” when shore power is plugged in and switches to pass thru mode... no battery use when in pass thru
Yes, I have one sealed series 27 battery box under the WFCO 5100 with a series 24 in the front compartment and one series 24 in a dual 27 series open rack under the hydraulic system in the side compartment.

I thought my dealer cheaped out until I saw this thread
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Old 04-08-2021, 03:16 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChuckS View Post
It’s a shame the dealership short changed you on main coach batteries.. rack has changed on the new ones but above existing battery is where another should be.. and then typically a third battery.. vented is installed in the very front baggage compartment.

I’d love to see a pic of where the WFCO inverter is actually mounted at... most ALPINES have that in front compartment with battery and cutoff..

Looks like someone replaced an OEM DC resettable breaker that runs up to the dual polarity solenoid on the hyd pump motor... it . From pic looks like an 80 amp which if so is great to see

One battery is way less then desirable even when on shore power ... the furnace will pull 8 to 10 amps and nit sure what your Suburban on demand gas water heater is pulling amp wise...

And the WFCO OEM 5100 series inverter “Auto Senses” when shore power is plugged in and switches to pass thru mode... no battery use when in pass thru
Yeah I called the Inverter company about just leaving it on and they said as long as it's hooked up to some power source it would be fine. Here is a pic of the inverter location in the front compartment. There a cutoff switch but no battery behind all the hydraulic crap.
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Old 04-08-2021, 03:19 AM   #16
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The thing that pisses me off is after the negotiation when the salesman was writing up everything he made reference to installing two group 27 batteries. So when we did the walk through and I saw only the one battery I said something about it, the guy doing walk through said I'll let the Service Guys know. After we did the final signing of the papers the Finance Guy said I'll let em know we are done and they'll bring your camper up. I could see the 5ver from the delivery area it was about 100 yards away and there was someone doing something on the battery side so I thought they were adding the batteries. We waited 45 minutes for them to bring it up and it was hot and I was tired of waiting so I hooked up and left without checking the compartment. We are out on first trip with this and have found a few small things for a punch list. So I will be make a visit to the dealer soon I will let them know I am not a "Happy Camper". I wish I had a copy of the paper that the salesman had wrote things down on.
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Old 04-08-2021, 04:54 AM   #17
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The batteries do not look like deep cell more like cheap flooded car batteries, Rather than destroying them your first trip I would pull them out and use them for something other than your RV. I think you can get to AGM group 32 batteries in the tray.
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Old 04-11-2021, 07:39 AM   #18
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I still don’t see the inverter.
It is a box that connects to the battery via heavy gauge cables.

The red battery cutoff switch and inline auto-reset fuses aren’t it.
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Old 04-11-2021, 08:50 AM   #19
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I still don’t see the inverter.
It is a box that connects to the battery via heavy gauge cables.

The red battery cutoff switch and inline auto-reset fuses aren’t it.
If you look at the picture in post 15 the inverter is at the top of the picture where the cable wrap stuff is.
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Old 04-11-2021, 09:58 AM   #20
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The inverter I installed for our residential fridge will automatically shut down if the battery get below a certain level. I have two deep cycle batteries. I have towed for up to 12 hours with the fridge running off the batteries and so far it has not shut down.
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