Carver Owners Forum

tomschauer wrote:Source of the post Just an FYI, a 2000 watt inverter will struggle to run anything more than your microwave or a full size coffee maker. I would not try to run your icemaker with it, The inrush of the compressor starting will drop the voltage to the point that it will shorten the compressor life.

I will check the wattage/amps of the circuits prior to determining what the Inverter will power and sizing everything.

FWIW, in a previous boat, I ran an ice maker for years on a 1700W unit. Along with the continuous rating, inverters have a peak/surge rating that will handle much higher loads such as motor starts for a few seconds at rated voltage. The size of that inverter required some power management but it never really posed any unmanageable inconvenience. The ice maker wasn't much of a problem as far as power usage, once the compressor starts, it only draws a few amps. The amount of ice you go through will of course affect the amount of time the ice maker runs. The higher loads such as the coffee maker was a bit more taxing though, we liked our coffee back then! We ended up buying a coffee maker that had a large insulated carafe instead of your typical glass pot. It kept the coffee hot for a surprisingly long time and cut down on the amount of time making coffee or reheating in the microwave.

Stick with the pure sign-wave, your appliances and electronics will thank you for it.

tomschauer wrote:Source of the post Just an FYI, a 2000 watt inverter will struggle to run anything more than your microwave or a full size coffee maker. I would not try to run your icemaker with it, The inrush of the compressor starting will drop the voltage to the point that it will shorten the compressor life.

The ice maker is a “desktop”version. My main Icemaker doesn’t work. I am not sure if it is worth repairing. Will start another thread on that.

Viper wrote:Source of the post FWIW, in a previous boat, I ran an ice maker for years on a 1700W unit. Along with the continuous rating, inverters have a peak/surge rating that will handle much higher loads such as motor starts for a few seconds at rated voltage. The size of that inverter required some power management but it never really posed any unmanageable inconvenience. The ice maker wasn't much of a problem as far as power usage, once the compressor starts, it only draws a few amps. The amount of ice you go through will of course affect the amount of time the ice maker runs. The higher loads such as the coffee maker was a bit more taxing though, we liked our coffee back then! We ended up buying a coffee maker that had a large insulated carafe instead of your typical glass pot. It kept the coffee hot for a surprisingly long time and cut down on the amount of time making coffee or reheating in the microwave.

Stick with the pure sign-wave, your appliances and electronics will thank you for it.

It will be a pure sine wave, for sure. For batteries, I am leaning towards these. Expensive, but the 4 volt provides over 400 AH. So, to get to 12 volts, you are spending a lot of dough. Anybody had any experience with these.

https://www.bruceschwab.com/advanced-en ... -group-31/

Not sure what your usage is, but it seems to me, firing up the genny once in a while would be more economical and help keep it in top shape.

Nharrison5 wrote:Source of the post..... https://www.bruceschwab.com/advanced-en ... -group-31/

Those are AGM which is fine as long as ALL your batteries on board are AGM and your charger is designed to charge AGM batteries.

Viper wrote:Source of the post

Nharrison5 wrote:Source of the post..... https://www.bruceschwab.com/advanced-en ... -group-31/

Those are AGM which is fine as long as ALL your batteries on board are AGM and your charger is designed to charge AGM batteries.

Today, I have four batteries. The one for the house is an AGM 105 AH battery that is two years old. The two engine batteries are wet cell. The three of those are charged by a 60amp Charles charger through an isolator that can be set for AGM, wet cell, or gel. The generator battery is on a separate 10 amp Charles charger. The intent is to set up 3 firefly 4 volt batteries charged by the inverter charger, have the 60 amp charger charge the two engine batteries, and continue with the 10 amp charger for the Gennie.

I don’t see a need to buy the more expensive AGM’s for the Gennie or the engines which will help defray the cost of the Firefly’s. The new setup will also provide the ability to switch all three to the inverter charger if the 10 year old 60 amp gives out, of course, albeit buying AGM’s for the engines.

Edit to add: the current setup for 60 amp is for wetcell charging which is a compromise with the AGM house battery. That will be corrected with the new inverter charger.

tomschauer wrote:Source of the post Not sure what your usage is, but it seems to me, firing up the genny once in a while would be more economical and help keep it in top shape.

Might, but we do tailgates on the thing with a TV set up on the cockpit, anchor out a lot, and enjoy not being limited to DC if we don’t have to be. May also do the loop within the next few years. Personal preference, I guess.

Well no one putting a solar array in too?

mjk1040 wrote:Source of the post Well no one putting a solar array in too?

Not sure there would be a place in n the boat to place them. If you have them, where did you install them?