Inverter Operation
The Inverter is controlled by its control panel located at the
circuit breaker panels by the aft stateroom steps. The panel has
an LCD display that shows the present function. LED Display
lights tell you the inverter’s status.
The inverter should be “ON” all the time.
You will see
one of the “AC IN” lights lit (depending if shore power or the generator is running) or the
“Inverting” light, indicating that the inverter is making AC from the ship’s batteries.
If one of the “AC IN” lights is lit, you should see the “Bulk” or “Float” light lit, indicating
that the inverter is charging the batteries as it should.
In summary, the inverter should be on whenever shore power is present or the generator
is running, and it should also be left on when underway.
Note: Only the breakers in the panel illustration on page 4.12 with an
asterisk (*) are powered by the inverter!
Inverter Breaker and Bypass Switch
These two breakers (A) supply power
to
the inverter and (B)
control whether the inverter can use the batteries to supply power to the
receptacles in the event there is no shore power or generator power.
(A) The
Inverter breaker
in the power panel cabinet should be “On” at
all times.
This breaker supplies power to the inverter so that
when there
is shore or generator power
, the inverter will in turn pass the power through to the
receptacles throughout the boat and, at the same time, charge the batteries.
Then,
when there is no generator or shore power, the inverter itself can supply the
receptacles with AC power
.
(B) There are times when you want the inverter to charge the batteries but you
do not
want the
inverter to use the batteries’ energy to provide AC if shore power or the generator should not be
working. That is the function of the
Inverter Bypass
breaker. For example, during winter when
the boat is at the dock with electric heaters keeping it warm, if the shore power were to fail and
the inverter were to function normally and start to supply power to the outlets, the heaters would
quickly run the boat’s batteries down! The purpose of the Inverter Bypass breaker is to let you
bypass this inverting function.
When the inverter bypass breaker is in the “Off” mode, the inverter works normally
and is not by-passed. The Inverter Bypass breaker normally should be set this way,
to “Bypass Off”!
When the inverter bypass breaker is in the “On” mode, it bypasses the inverter’s
“inverting” mode, preventing the inverter from fulfilling its power-supplying
function in
the event of shore or generator failure,
yet it still allows the inverter to charge the
batteries and power the receptacles when shore or generator power is present.
This
“Bypass On” mode is used only in those special kinds of circumstances, and seldom
during a charter.
Section 4F: Electrical Systems, AC 4.11
