Potential inverter noise

[patrickj]

I am a proud new RV owner since one week ago. Just purchased a 2014 Jayflight QBH that will stay on a campground. There is no shore power in my camping site so I have a solar setup. My two 6V 232Ah will be in a battery box under the trailer. Converter and inverter will be in pass through storage, right under the bed. I plan to plug the RV power in the 1000W Renogy inverter to run my CPAP at night from the RV 110 sockets. My main concern is to know if the fan from the Renogy 1000W inverter will be loud and annoying when trying to sleep. It will be a few feet away from our ears. There is the mattresse as insulation, but I am wondering if it will be an issue.

Thanks for your help

patrick

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Most inverter specs I've read do not give fan noise. So it will be a trial-and-see project.

We had a 2KW pure sine wave inverter in our other trailer. It was located physically under the bed, on a shelf. Other than when the fan needed lubrication, it was totally quiet. When the fan needed lubrication, it screamed. One couldn't miss it. A shot of whatever lubricant was handy immediately quieted it down. Of course, I had to remove the inverter and its cover to do this.

A 2nd point, if you use the batteries to power the inverter, and plug the RV power cord into the inverter outlet, make sure your converter is turned OFF. Otherwise, the inverter pulls from the batteries, converts this to 120 volts AC, and then the converter operating off of 120 volts AC will try to charge the batteries. Of course, depending on your solar configuration, the onboard converter may not be an issue. But in most installations, it is best to turn the converter OFF when one does not have shore power.

Bob

 

[patrickj]

Most inverter specs I've read do not give fan noise. So it will be a trial-and-see project.

We had a 2KW pure sine wave inverter in our other trailer. It was located physically under the bed, on a shelf. Other than when the fan needed lubrication, it was totally quiet. When the fan needed lubrication, it screamed. One couldn't miss it. A shot of whatever lubricant was handy immediately quieted it down. Of course, I had to remove the inverter and its cover to do this.

A 2nd point, if you use the batteries to power the inverter, and plug the RV power cord into the inverter outlet, make sure your converter is turned OFF. Otherwise, the inverter pulls from the batteries, converts this to 120 volts AC, and then the converter operating off of 120 volts AC will try to charge the batteries. Of course, depending on your solar configuration, the onboard converter may not be an issue. But in most installations, it is best to turn the converter OFF when one does not have shore power.

Bob

Thx for the feedback. Yes I do intend to turn off the onboard converter.

Patrick

 

[Utclmjmpr]

You also may not have enough battery bank to last the night,, most I've seen takes four batteries to get it done..>>>Dan

 

[patrickj]

You also may not have enough battery bank to last the night,, most I've seen takes four batteries to get it done..>>>Dan

Thx Dan. I've been using my CPAP with a 42000 mAh portable power pack and I always get through the night. I think I should be OK with my battery setup ( 2 x 6V 232Ah). I'll upgrade if it doesn't work.

Patrick

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Being a solar setup my first take at this would be to use a more appropriately sized inverter for better efficiency. Some smaller inverters don't even have fans. Or perhaps using a different DC powered CPAP and obviating the inverter altogether.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[John From Detroit]

The fan runs when needed.. Odds are good that at night when you are sleeping you won't be using much in the way of 120 VDC so the fan won't be needed as well.