Electrical system questions

[kiddsysco]

I just bought a 1996 Rinker Fiesta Vee 266. Of course I have no manuals on the componets. I pluged the shore power in this afternoon and I do not appear to be getting power to the converter/charger. Im fairly sure that due to its age the converter is shot. It is a Guest Power Pro 3 phase 15 amp. I have searched Ebay and Googled it and dont seem to be getting much return results on my search. I have a battery bank of 3 batteries. Here are my questions. Should I replace the converter with the same size or a little larger? Im also wanting to install an inverter to run the microwave and water heater. I do have A/C but no Gen Set. I wasnt planning on running that without shore power. What size inverter (wattage) is needed to run the micro and water heater. Also is there a combo Converter/Inverter avaliable? Any ideas on where to search and price these?

 

[wire2]

Re: Electrical system questions

Is there power at the 115v receptacle feeding the converter when plugged in to shore power?
15 amp is very low power for charging 3 batteries; or is that 15 amp on each of 3 outputs?
Inverter wattage rating is typically very liberal; it should exceed the AC load by at least 25% for non inductive loads, 50% for motors. If your micro is 600 w output, it will draw 1200-1300 w input. Keep in mind, a 10 amp draw (1200 watts) from an inverter needs a supply of 100 amps DC from the batteries.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Electrical system questions

Running a water heater from battery power means you best have a truckload of batteries on board. Batteries are not an inexhaustable supply of energy so you need to do some calculations on power consumption before you start spending money on inverters and converters. And by the way, inverters are about 85% efficient so tack on another 15% absolute minimum to the total requirement. Why not diagnose the converter issue first and go from there. You either have power into it or you don't. A simple $15.00 multi-tester will tell you that. If power is available into the panel then kill that power and measure the resistance of the primary transformer windings. Open windings = infinity = bad. If that checks ok then power the panel again and measure the output of the transformer. Power out = ok. No power = bad. Follow the juice -- when you lose it you located the problem.