Inverter in 35A

[SunriseSunset]

Hi all!!

My 1st post!  I know you can help me out.  My Itasca Sunrise 35A could be equipped with a 600 watt Dimensions inverter, but wasn't.  I have downloaded the Winnebago wiring diagram for my MH.  I understand which outlets are powered by the inverter.  I believe the Dimensions has an isolation relay to switch from inverter-to-shore power.  Is this correct?  I think I know the general location of the factory installed inverter, but I'm not 100% sure.  Does anyone have a photo of a Dimensions inverter installed in a 35A?  If no photos, how about a general description of where and how it's installed in the 35A?  Where is the RCP outlet located that it is connected to?

I may install a larger inverter (1000 watts) and relay to power a crock pot and several storage bay "heaters" (100 watt trouble lights) to keep the water supplies from freezing, while under way.  I use the motoraid heater to keep the rear of the coach warm instead of using the propane heater. I'm not sure if it will supply enough heat for the storage bays.  I have upgraded the house batteries to CG-2 from the standard 12V marine and will rely on the alternator to recharge the house batteries, while underway.  I don't plan on using the inverter much, except for one or two days at a time, while camping.

Thanks,  Fran

 

[Ken & Sheila]

See the following for Dimension's current versions:

Note that you would want the "T" option - internal transfer switch

General Website, look under Recreational vehicles --  http://dimensions.sensata.com

Manual -- http://dimensions.sensata.com/Manuals/122039.pdf

Their inverters larger than 600 watt include battery charging. This is good, bit you will need to disconnect the charger portion of you Converter, or simpler eliminate it a by a separate DC distribution panel the handle the DC distribution now done by the Converter.

ken

 

[John Hilley]

You wouldn't want to run lights off the inverter for heating your basement bays, it would be too inefficient. The propane furnace will keep the water storage and lines from freezing. You can also get 12 volt heaters for keeping the holding tanks and water tank from freezing.

 

[John Canfield]

Welcome!

You can call/email Winnebago Owner Relations for answers if you don't get a complete answer here

The Dimensions would not be my first choice in inverters - Magnum is #1 with #2 being Xantrex.

 

[Ken & Sheila]

John,

I agree with recommending Magnum, but I didn't want to muddy the waters - yet.
I had a Magnum 2000-20B (single 30 feed, two 20 breakers for output). With Magnum tech support help first I changed to a 30amp output feeding a sub-panel with multiple circuits, then upgraded to a 2800 with two 30 amp feeds and more circuits(7) in the sub-panel.
When I installed the residential frig I had a long string of emails wit magnum over keeping the 2000 and adding a 1000 dedicated to the refrigerator, but Magnum was concerned that the two chargers (100, 50amp) might not play well together limiting the benefit of two chargers.

All that really to say that Magnum support is first rate.

I can't say the same for Xantrex on my previous coach.

ken

 

[John Canfield]

Ken - we just changed out our Norcold for a residential fridge earlier this year and our single Xantrex RS2000 easily manages all of the inverter loads.  With the fridge running, we're drawing less than 150 watts.

 

[FrontrangeRVer]

We have the same model, and you should have an inverter, which is located in your second storage compartment on the passenger side.  This operates the front outlet near the main door, and all three outlets above the windshield.  I was operating two small heaters up front and the inverter tripped all the outlets up front, and you need to reset it AT THE INVERTER.  Had to download the wiring diagram from Winnie to find this out last weekend.  Our Dimension Inverter has never let us down, and is totally fine for running all the front electronics.  If we had any intention of running more outlets with it, or installing a residential fridge (we won't), then I would upgrade obviously.

You dont have an inverter power switch on your One-Place panel?  If you don't, then for sure you don't have an inverter installed.  Ill take a picture of mine when I can and post it in this thread.

Also your motoraid heater for the water tank will heat the basement up enough for cold weather driving.  I alternate the LOW fan speed on and off as we drive.  We drive in the teens alot up here at 8,600 feet in Colorado where we live, and while I dont think the heat warms up the pump area (at all!), it does keep the sewer area above freezing.  PS, I don't know WHAT Winnibago was thinking installing the water pump where they did, as I ended up removing that metal plate with all the plumbing, and moving the pump closer to the storage area.

 

[Ken & Sheila]

John,

Actually our frig runs under 100watts except in defrost. The advantage for me with the dual feed to the sub-panel is that I isolated all the circuits with phantom loads (except the frig) to one side. I located a 30amp switch conveniently in the coach to turn off the feed to the side with the phantom loads. This just reduces the load on the batteries - handy overnight and when traveling.

We are now looking at going all electric and getting rid of the propane tank. The only thing left on propane is the cooktop. Big problem is to hopefully find some to redo the corian with having to replace the whole kitchen corian.

ken

 

[SunriseSunset]

We have the same model, and you should have an inverter, which is located in your second storage compartment on the passenger side.  This operates the front outlet near the main door, and all three outlets above the windshield.  I was operating two small heaters up front and the inverter tripped all the outlets up front, and you need to reset it AT THE INVERTER.  Had to download the wiring diagram from Winnie to find this out last weekend.  Our Dimension Inverter has never let us down, and is totally fine for running all the front electronics.  If we had any intention of running more outlets with it, or installing a residential fridge (we won't), then I would upgrade obviously.

You dont have an inverter power switch on your One-Place panel?  If you don't, then for sure you don't have an inverter installed.  Ill take a picture of mine when I can and post it in this thread.

Also your motoraid heater for the water tank will heat the basement up enough for cold weather driving.  I alternate the LOW fan speed on and off as we drive.  We drive in the teens alot up here at 8,600 feet in Colorado where we live, and while I dont think the heat warms up the pump area (at all!), it does keep the sewer area above freezing.  PS, I don't know WHAT Winnibago was thinking installing the water pump where they did, as I ended up removing that metal plate with all the plumbing, and moving the pump closer to the storage area.

Thanks for the feedback Mark.  The inverter was an option and we don't have one installed.  We will be heading south from NH to FL in January, so I expect below freezing temps on the way down.  We will mostly use the inverter to power a crock pot for meals on the road, while heading south and also when we stay at Walmarts, etc. and National parks during the summer months.  I'm concerned about the water pump freezing (and yes--it is in a terrible location!!), thus the thought of using a 100 W bulb to keep the compartment warm, while driving.  Of course there is no power outlet in this area (nor the sewer compartment), so one needs to be added.  It's nice to know the sewer is heated.  There is a vent on the base of the shower pan, which may feed into the water pump area.  I'll put a remote thermometer in that area and run the motor aid to see if it warms up and let you know the results.  I would certainly appreciate a photo of the inverter in the second bay.  It would help me in installing one.

This MH is new to us and I haven't had a lot of seat time.  This is also our first year at snowbirding!!  Many things are still unknown about this particular MH.  I guess I'll be learning as we head south in January!!  We had an older MH prior to this, so I'm familiar with them in an overall sense.

BTW, do you have the combo washer/drier installed in your 35A?  If yes, is it noisy?

Thanks for your help, as well as others who have replied,

Fran

 

[SunriseSunset]

I put a remote thermometer in both the waterpump and sewer bay areas of my 35A Itasaca.  I ran the motoraid, dash, house LP and an electric cube heater all on high to see if they warm up these two bays.  All the heaters were run for at least a half hour.

The test conditions were: outside temp: 27F, inside coach temp: 32F, bay temps: 31F.  The electric cube heater was placed in front of the vent at the base of the shower pan or the vent below the hallway monitoring panel.

Results (after running all the heaters for 1/2 hour, min.):  outside temp: 27F, inside coach temp: 66F, sewer bay temp: 38F, waterpump bay temp: 32F.

Conclusions/Observations:

Sewer Bay: If you open the sewer bay door you can feel the heat pour out under pressure.  With the increase in temperature here they, must be heated.  I also only ran the motoraid fan alone (everything else was off), which supplies the house LP floor registers, and I could still feel the heat come out.

Waterpump Bay:  It does not appear that the waterpump bay is heated.  The one degree rise in temperature may be due to the engine exhaust pipe exiting under the waterpump bay.  The water drain valves are also located in this bay.  This bay should have an alternate heat source installed if the waterpump is used in below-freezing temperatures.  As a side note, the first two pass. side bays are ducted from above by a vent next to the entrance door.  These bays should be heated (but I didn't test to see how well).  I wonder if a hole could be cut between the second bay and waterpump bay sidewall to allow heat to get into the waterpump bay?  Has anyone tried this?

Fran

 

[John Hilley]

If you turn the water heater on it keeps the water pump bay above freezing. Interesting measurements. I have found that a 1500 watt electric heater will keep my 38G 28 degrees above the outside ambient temperature.

 

[SunriseSunset]

If you turn the water heater on it keeps the water pump bay above freezing. Interesting measurements. I have found that a 1500 watt electric heater will keep my 38G 28 degrees above the outside ambient temperature.

Hi John,

I was trying to wrap my head around how turning on the W/H would keep the water pump from freezing.  I looked up your plumbing diagram and found your W/H and W/P are mounted near each other forward on the passenger side.  My W/H is mounted in front of the driver's side rear wheel and my W/P is mounted in front of the passenger's side rear wheel (opposite sides of the coach).  Unfortunately my W/H can't heat the W/P.

My experiment was run quickly.  My MH was not connected to shore power.  I was running the engine, LPG heater, and generator (for the 1500W electric cube heater).  The MH had been cold soaking below freezing for about a week or two and it takes many, many BTU's to get the temps up.  I didn't want to waste all the gas and LPG to get the MH up to "living comfort".  We've run the electric cube heater in the past, when hooked up to campground power, to keep the MH warm and it does a good job of it.

Thanks, Fran

 

[FrontrangeRVer]

Waterpump Bay:  It does not appear that the waterpump bay is heated.  The one degree rise in temperature may be due to the engine exhaust pipe exiting under the waterpump bay.  The water drain valves are also located in this bay.  This bay should have an alternate heat source installed if the waterpump is used in below-freezing temperatures.  As a side note, the first two pass. side bays are ducted from above by a vent next to the entrance door.  These bays should be heated (but I didn't test to see how well).  I wonder if a hole could be cut between the second bay and waterpump bay sidewall to allow heat to get into the waterpump bay?  Has anyone tried this?

Fran

Let me know if you do this, as I am leaning toward doing this.  I agree, and have posted that our particular model's water pump area is NOT heated.  I have removed the vent below the One-Place Center and it opens up under the sink somewhat, and the vent under the shower pan only goes there.  I seriously dont believe there is any access to the water pump area except from the outside bay door.  Be cautious of others with different models responding to this thread, as our 35A model is the only one I know of with this hokey water pump installation area.

PS, I think the vent by the main door is a return vent for the furnace, although I cant feel air sucking in as the furnace is running.  If it is a return vent, it might help to cut a hole in the second bay to allow return air to flow to the pump area..  My current solution is hanging a trouble light in the water pump area (and the sewer area) while parked with 120 volt hookup.

 

[FrontrangeRVer]

Waterpump Bay:  It does not appear that the waterpump bay is heated.  The one degree rise in temperature may be due to the engine exhaust pipe exiting under the waterpump bay.  The water drain valves are also located in this bay.  This bay should have an alternate heat source installed if the waterpump is used in below-freezing temperatures.  As a side note, the first two pass. side bays are ducted from above by a vent next to the entrance door.  These bays should be heated (but I didn't test to see how well).  I wonder if a hole could be cut between the second bay and waterpump bay sidewall to allow heat to get into the waterpump bay?  Has anyone tried this?

Fran

Fran, did you ever do this?

 

[SunriseSunset]

I drilled 4-three inch diameter holes in the side wall of the rear-most curbside under the kitchen slideout storage bay into the water pump bay.  I put a round plastic soffit vent (HD) into each hole.  The photo shows the left vent, located near the bay door.  It should be about 2 inches lower.  :-[  There is a diagonal aluminum brace in this location.  You can see where I stopped drilling to avoid the brace a second time.  I would suggest a stud finder to find all the bracing.  The vent holes allowed the water pump bay to get heat from the forward bays.  If I recall, when outside temps were 15 deg F, the water pump bay went up to about 40 F.



Fran

 

[FrontrangeRVer]

Thanks so much for the reply!!!!   

Does this temperature increase require the furnace to be running or the dash Motoraid fan? (to pull air from the open vent near the front door)

 

[SunriseSunset]

Thanks so much for the reply!!!!   

Does this temperature increase require the furnace to be running or the dash Motoraid fan? (to pull air from the open vent near the front door)

Sorry I never replied to this topic.  Either the furnace or Motoraid will work, once the mods are done.

Fran