Owning an RV inverter needs you to be hands-on in ensuring that it is still in good condition. It is one of the “must-need” to consider first, especially when planning to have a travel escapade or camping with your friends or families. In some cases, your RV’s primary power grid gets disconnected, so your last resort would be your power inverter set up to stay connected. However, if the inverter battery isn’t ready to operate, you and your family will be left nothing but to be patient until it is available.
In this situation, it is a good sign for you to conduct a regular maintenance check to ensure that it won’t have any complications during the next get-together, and it guarantees to last longer. If you want to know where to start and how to maintain your inverter for your RV, keep reading. So here are the things to keep in mind:
Clear Out Enough Area
Just like any other device, your inverter must stay safe and secured. In doing so, you must clear out enough space for it to have a rest. Also, you have to ensure that the inverter is a distance away from flammable objects, avoid putting it below fluids and even in areas without enough airflow. Otherwise, this might have a significant effect on your inverter.
Knowing that your inverter played a massive role in your RV, you need to plan where it would be safe to put. More so, it is even better if you consult first with an expert on its dos and don’ts to gain more idea of what would be the best thing to do. All of these should be upfront to consider to ensure that your RV inverter is safe enough from any possible damages.
Don’t Overload The RV Inverter’s Battery.
Every RV inverter has its limitations. It is not something you can operate without restrictions because, like any other situation, you have to be mindful of everything about its boundaries. As an RV owner, you should plot out first what appliances you want to put in your RV to estimate the capacity of your inverter’s battery. Otherwise, it will shorten the battery’s lifespan, and much worse, it will overload.
Indeed, no one wants it to happen. Aside from wishing to run the appliances efficiently, every RV owner also hopes that the power source -inverter- must always be in good condition. Above all, it would be better to know the watts of your equipment and the inverter’s capacity before connecting too many devices onto it.
Know When to Turn On and Off Your Inverter
The electrical systems in RV are pretty complicated, and it will be even more difficult if you add an inverter. As you should have known, RV inverters have complex electrical machines. This complexity often leads to confusion on when they should be left turned on or off. To help you, here’s some information you need to know:
It’s better to leave your inverter ON when you are planning to travel or camping. In doing this, you can freely use your AC appliances.
If your inverter is a dual unit, it is better to leave it on to do its job accordingly, and it can charge its house batteries while using shore power.
You want to guarantee that there would be no interruption if the shore power loses its access.
It’s better to leave your inverter OFF when you want to save enough energy. This way can extend the life of your inverter than letting it on.
It is not actively in use. However, some manufacturers give the buyers an inverter user manual to see when it would be safe to turn it off or not.
You want to use the generator rather than running the batteries by utilizing the inverter all the time.
Secure Your RV Inverter
Aside from clearing the space of your inverter, it would help if you secured it from any other potential hazards. One of the things you must consider is to keep away your inverter from fire and smoke. The reason for this is to ensure the safeness of your inverter’s battery. Also, to avoid it from getting damaged.
You may not always protect it against possible fire or any other unforeseen circumstance, but you should still find a way out by storing it away from flammable materials. Otherwise, it will cause significant impairment to your inverter’s battery. Hence, knowing all these considerations, you better plot out the places where it is far away from a possible fire.
Topped Off Your RV Inverter’s Battery Regularly
Most RV owners have no time to check the status of their inverter. Although it may not be necessary to do it every day, you still need to regularly top off your RV Inverter’s battery using distilled water. But you have to remember that tap water contains impurities that might affect the capacity of your battery when charging. Also, you have to ensure that the water will never go down beyond its borderline minimum level.
Conclusion
To wrap up everything, maintaining your inverter is one of the obligations you have to consider if you are an RV owner or soon to buy one. Although adding an inverter is only one of your options, whether to add one or not, if you choose the former, it would be best to know and understand the tips mentioned above. It is also good to ask for further information from experts in RV inverters on what to do and what’s not. In this way, you would find a lot of ways on how to maintain it accordingly.
Also, you have to keep in mind that it is better to give them a maintenance check to ensure that they are still in good condition. Otherwise, you would be able to buy an inverter for your RV all over again. Aside from being costly, it would also waste your energy and ruin your travel escapade and togetherness. Hence, to prevent this from happening, it is well recommended that you maintain your RV inverter’s efficiency and capacity.