Coachmen Galleria

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by SiennaGuy

Here's the info on the 2016 Pleasureway inverters, direct from them:
"350 watt sized to accommodate the TV and blu ray player"

As I've said before, just because it's not in the brochure doesn't mean that the RVs don't have them.

Well, I think it wasn't included it in the 2016 brochure because, as a practical matter, it really isn't an inverter in the sense that the word is used in RV parlance which generally defines an inverter as a device that supplies 120 volts to appliances of the owners choice subject to its capacity and which typically uses the same 120 volt outlets that are used by shore power or a generator. I don't think this inverter fits that description.

There may such an animal, but I've never seen an RV inverter provided with a rating of less than 750 watts which at least supports a coffee maker. My guess is that this 350 watt inverter output isn't conveniently available to the owner but is dedicated to running the 120V TV and Blu-Ray player and for the brochure to infer it to be a convenience item available to drive other appliances would invite some confusion which they chose to avoid. But it's a guess and I could be wrong.

[Davydd]

My 2005 Pleasure-way 350 watt inverter was solely for the TV the it was accessible inside a cabinet. Same with my 2011 Great West Van, though the GWVan had an accessible duplex receptacle in the cabinet above the kitchen counter so the inverter could be used other things under 750 watts like an electric crockpot which we used while driving or to charge cell phones and tablets with the USB outlet also built in. All other duplex outlets remained dead unless plugged into shore power.

[avanti]

I've never understood why upfitters insist on 120VAC TVs when so many 12VDC models are available. My 2005 Airstream Interstate DID come with a 12V set (and no inverter). Unfortunately, it also came with a 120VAC to 12VDC power brick, so it didn't work without shore power! What were they thinking?

It is true that some of those sets expect closely-regulated 12 volt power, but many others work just fine with straight automotive power.

I quickly added a 2000 watt Xantrex inverter/charger and a second battery so we could use a coffeemaker.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Davydd

My 2005 Pleasure-way 350 watt inverter was solely for the TV the it was accessible inside a cabinet. Same with my 2011 Great West Van, though the GWVan had an accessible duplex receptacle in the cabinet above the kitchen counter so the inverter could be used other things under 750 watts like an electric crockpot which we used while driving or to charge cell phones and tablets with the USB outlet also built in. All other duplex outlets remained dead unless plugged into shore power.

Thanks for shedding some light on this. Do you remember if the 2005 PW inverter was always powered up or was it dormant until the TV was turned on?

PW now provides a 2000 inverter but I wonder if it feeds the entertainment system at this point. Isn't there a fair amount of entertainment equipment made these days to run on 12 volts which would avoid voltage conversion losses? For example, I know that when Roadtrek initially employed their compressor refrigerators, they had them running so they switched between 12V and inverter AC until a lightbulb went off somewhere at the factory and they are now wired as as 12V only units.

[Bruceper]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

PW now provides a 2000 inverter but I wonder if it feeds the entertainment system at this point.

It powers everything except the AC unit and fridge. So yes to the entertainment system.

As for the fridge, it is a 3 way fridge. So it is powered by 12 volts but not from the inverter.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Bruceper

It powers everything except the AC unit and fridge. So yes to the entertainment system.

As for the fridge, it is a 3 way fridge. So it is powered by 12 volts but not from the inverter.

The 2000W inverter has the capacity to support the AC but since they are only providing 200ah lithium battery capacity I guess they opted not to do that. IMO, this should be beefed up to 400ah which could support short term off grid AC use, but admittedly it would push the coach cost up a couple of thousand.

I'm surprised to see they are still staying with the 3 way fridge rather than using the newer compressor design that the 200ah battery will support, particularly if their is solar assist. The boilers on the absorption fridges are fairly efficient on propane but the 12 volt mode pulls over from 20-25 DC amps which is fine underway with alternator support but that current draw makes it impractical at rest.

Love their multiplex wiring! Roadtrek is still in the dark ages in this regard.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

Thanks for shedding some light on this. Do you remember if the 2005 PW inverter was always powered up or was it dormant until the TV was turned on?

PW now provides a 2000 inverter but I wonder if it feeds the entertainment system at this point. Isn't there a fair amount of entertainment equipment made these days to run on 12 volts which would avoid voltage conversion losses? For example, I know that when Roadtrek initially employed their compressor refrigerators, they had them running so they switched between 12V and inverter AC until a lightbulb went off somewhere at the factory and they are now wired as as 12V only units.

With the Pleasure-way the inverter only operated when the TV was on or I should say the fan came on when the TV was on and that to me was annoying. The Great West Van did the same. Both were annoying because being plugged into the inverter the fan noise right behind the TV came on even when you were on shore power. I was able to rig up an optional way to plug into a VAC outlet that became hot when plugged into shore power for both. It occurred to me that we rarely watched TV and when we did it was usually at electrical service campgrounds.

With our ARV, we leave the 2800 watt inverter on all the time and it is very quiet and the fan noise may come on when there is demand. It powers everything electrical in the van all the time so use is transparent whether plugged into shore power or not. The biggest reason is our articulating beds operate off 120VAC and I am constantly adjusting positions when using as a recliner.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by Davydd

With our ARV, we leave the 2800 watt inverter on all the time and it is very quiet and the fan noise may come on when there is demand.

Does your inverter control panel have a power saver mode that brings the inverter to life periodically to check for a demand? What's the draw when the inverter is on in standby?

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

Does your inverter control panel have a power saver mode that brings the inverter to life periodically to check for a demand? What's the draw when the inverter is on in standby?

The inverter draw is around 3 amps per hour on average so would be around 72 amps draw off the battery every day. That's not a big deal when you have 640 usable amps to draw from out of an 800ah battery bank. Those 72 amps can be restored in 15 minutes of driving with our second alternator. Does it have a power saver? I don't know as I have not looked into the details. I can monitor usage off the Silverleaf screen and can pretty much calculate usage now from experience.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Davydd

The inverter draw is around 3 amps per hour on average so would be around 72 amps draw off the battery every day.

We have the same Outback inverter as DavyDD. I measure our inverter at 2.3 amps at idle. The ARV install is much more automated then ours, so I suspect there is a bit more overhead included in DavyDD's measurements.

The Outback unit does have a load-sense auto-on feature. We don't use it, though, since it doesn't help keep the clock on the Microwave on, and that is the only reason I might want to have the inverter on most of the time. Our van is 100% 12VDC powered, except for the obvious high-current items such as the Microwave, A/C and coffeemaker. We have a very convenient toggle switch that makes it easy to turn the inverter on only when necessary, which isn't very often. If I had an awesome ARV battery, I would probably just leave it on as well. The load-sense things also tend not to be completely silent and so get annoying.

[Davydd]

When I said 3 amps that was just an estimate you see when you turn the inverter on and off since numbers are rounded off to whole numbers on the Silverleaf screen. Then there are always draws for many little things like Trik-L-Start, alarms, the microwave clock, idiot lights, standbys, the Silverleaf screen itself, etc. and who knows what else. Turning the inverter on and off is a touch screen button on the Silverleaf. Fast and easy but I hate to have to reset the microwave clock when doing so. Besides, I like the transparency of everything powered 24/7. It's nice and frees you up from even thinking about seeking shore power camping.