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bosstyn avatar image
bosstyn asked

Battery charger and inverter

I’m not terribly electronically inclined, so apologies if this question is a bit basic.

I’m building out a camper shell for a few months long road trip. The setup is solar with 100ah lithium. I added the victim 30a charger to shore charge. My question is, can I run one power line from charger to battery and one power line from charger to inverter? Would the charger, when connected to shore power, power the inverter? Then switch to battery charging when the inverter is not in use?


Does it work like that or am I just dreaming up scenarios?

battery charging
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pwfarnell avatar image pwfarnell commented ·
@Bosstyn moved to questions and answers.
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pwfarnell answered ·

The ac charger is only rated at around 400W (30A at 14V = 420W) so if you only have a small inverter and you are trying to keep the ac wiring simple then connect the battery charger to the battery and the inverter to the battery using correct size cables with isolation switches and fuses. When you have shore power the battery will charge. If you need the inverter then just turn it on, DC power will flow to the battery and then to the inverter. You should not run an inverter direct from a charger without a battery in the system to buffer the DC current.

Normally, when on shoreline you have external ac power so you use that in your van not the inverter. You have a changeover switch between ac power from shore line or from your inverter. Some inverters do this for you. If you have shore power then your battery charger runs from shore power, but you do not run your inverter. This involves complex mains wiring and you may be trying to avoid this. From your question your are not experienced and you should consult an electrician experienced in mobile applications for complex ac systems.

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