Carver Owners Forum

Good Morning All,
I am curious how everybody has a inverter setup on their boats. In my breaker box I have a breaker for shore power and one for the generator. I could set up an inverter going to the breaker box, but I guarantee that one of my kids will mess up the thought, like leave the inverter on when connecting to shore power. Very bad...

I need to make the above scenario impossible. Since I am in the marina, I most likely will not need lots of power for anything but a tv/DVD. I think I can just leave the frig off for a day trip of fishing/diving. I was thinking of maybe mounting the inverter and just using the outlets directly off of it to power the tv/DVD. If we need the microwave or something larger, I can always crank up the generator.

Thoughts or comments? Is this really my best option? I have 11 kids...and we all know kids. Everything they can touch or play with, they will.

That's what I have for a setup. I mounted the inverter near the batteries to keep the heavy gauge 12v cables ($$) as short as possible. I then routed the 120vac to a power strip behind the tv.

11 kids? Eleven? Dude, you need a 65 Hatteras!

I guess I don't understand why you would bother with an inverter? You have a Genny for trips, and every marina on Lake Michigan has standard shore-power connections. I'm plugged in whenever not out on the lake.

Hmmm...a power strip behind the tv just to the inverter, I like it.

Ya...I really only need it when I am actually fishing. The kids may find fishing boring and it will entertain them...how sad is that!

Make sure you use your battery switch each time, so you can restart the engines!

True. I also have a 3rd battery just for the generator. Of course the problem is that I did not connect any wires to it except for the charger so I always have a spare...no not the plan, just too much to do.

I have to leave my invertor

breaker on to run my fridge and freezer when I am on shore power are the generator is this correct?

An inverter will take dc current and turn into ac current.
If you are on shore power or genny, you already have ac available, so no need for the inverter.