Motorhome Inverter/charger in my Hunter 42 ??

[colemj]

The neutral isn't floating - it is bonded to ground. The confusion here is where that bonding occurs in these units. On a boat, it should be bonded to ground at the source - which would typically mean at the inverter when it is supplying AC, and back at the powerplant, when the inverter is not supplying AC and/or the charger is active.

I would think this would also be the case for RV's, but I have no experience. The RV unit's manual seems to indicate that this is how it works.

Mark

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by colemj

The neutral isn't floating - it is bonded to ground. The confusion here is where that bonding occurs in these units. On a boat, it should be bonded to ground at the source - which would typically mean at the inverter when it is supplying AC, and back at the powerplant, when the inverter is not supplying AC and/or the charger is active.

I would think this would also be the case for RV's, but I have no experience. The RV unit's manual seems to indicate that this is how it works.
Mark

You could be right. After re-reading the 458 item several times it seems a bit confusing. The wording is certainly not as easily understood as the SW2000 item I posted, which is very clear. I just called Xantrex and all the tech could tell me is that the 458 is not approved for marine use because it doesn't meet ABYC E-11. They could not tell me why it doesn't meet E-11, although that may be explained in the email they will be sending me.
I could find nothing else in the manual that would explain why one is marine and the other isn't.

ABYC doesn't test products so if the SW2000 meets E-11 and the 458 does not there must be some difference.

[W3GAC]

Best advice is to call/ email manufacturer. Things that MIGHT be different for marine environment... better corrosion resistant case, encased/ no spark switches/ relays, tinned copper conductors, brushless/ no spark cooling fan, better RFI suppression. As far as grounding differences... I doubt it. Both environments are required to meet same as 'UL' grounding requirements, which basically means among other things the case is isolated/ insulated from anything either of the two 'live' AC wires are connected to. The case then is connected to the 'Earth' green wire. Both 30a & 50a dock & boat power cords, RVs & their power curds, and residual wiring all have a green wire (or equivalent) prong that is similarly connected to the outer case and isolated from either 'hot' wire. The reason for this is the same for home, RV, boat... you can be standing on damp/ wet ground, sea water, or touching water faucet and touching/ operating an appliance, tool, etc. and with the outer case of everything connected to/ held to Earth potential, there is no chance of shock or worse. For obvious reasons boats must scrupulously adhere to proper wiring requirements specialized by the ABYC for our unique wet/ fuel/ fume environment.


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[smac999]

spark stuff doesn't matter. no inverter is ignition protected anyways. (nor are class t fuses, have to be carefull with those as normally batteries are in ER and inverter cable starts in ER, so you end up having to double fuse it with anl fuse in ER and class T outside ER.

from reading that thing looks like they both ground and unground the N-G. curious to see what they say the difference is.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by smac999

from reading that thing looks like they both ground and unground the N-G. curious to see what they say the difference is.

I will try and find out tomorrow. Xantrex tech support couldn't today.