Inverter charger for 30 amp RV travel trailer

[RV Pilgrims]

Hi. I'm looking for a recommendation for an inverter-charger for our 30 amp 2023 Lance travel trailer. Current configuration:

• 390 Watts of solar (one Renogy 200 watt, one factory installed GoPower 190 watt)
• GoPower Solar controller (which I may replace)
• 2 - 100 Ah Battle Born LiFePO4 Batteries
• Renogy 40 Amp DC-DC charger (wired to our truck alternator)

Other considerations: this needs to go into a vented compartment that is about 25" long and be mounted either upside down or horizontally, so the fans will not ingest dust and such. We don't need to run this all the time, but can turn it off when not needed.

Features in order of importance:

1. Compatible with our standard Progressive Dynamics power panel. The built in converter will be disconnected. It cannot be ground-neutral bonded.
2. Charges the batteries
3. Runs the HighPointe RV microwave (which draws about just under 1900 watts when running)
4. Runs the Norcold absorption fridge when we are driving. The batteries are being recharged by solar and the DC-DC charger.
5. Remote shut off switch
6. Low vampire draw

Bonus features:

• Manufacturer support
• Remote monitoring panel
• Built-in MPPT solar controller
• Bluetooth or WiFi management
• Eco mode

I know that Victron is the best choice, but they are very expensive, a Multiplus may not fit in the space required, and to monitor and control the Victron stuff means several add-on components. Attempting to use Renogy products has been a huge waste of money due to poor support, an incompatible battery inverter, and excessive restocking fees. The Sungold 3000 watt looks very promising, but I think it's too long to fit in the compartment and be adequately vented.

 

[seneysolar]

Do you need 3000W?

Have you looked at Cotek?

They have a 2000w inverter/charger thats 17 inches long.

You will need to put the solar panel on its own mppt.

 

[FLD]

I chose the Sungoldpower 3000/9000 watt 12 volt inverter charger. It has an adjustable 20-85-amp charge rate and different settings for several battery chem is tries including lifepo4.
It powers everything including the rooftop air on our Mini Lite 2205S. It also has an automatic transfer switch.
I could have gone with their 2000/6000-watt inverter-charger but I wanted the higher charge rate of the 3000/9000 watt unit.
This will be our third year with this inverter and I don't have anything but good things to say about it.
We just expanded our lifepo4 battery bank to 800 amp hours. We're hoping to go to the Oshkosh Air Show, which is off grid camping. We should be able to run the air conditioning at night with this inverter-charger/battery bank, and recharge during the day with 720 watts of solar on the roof, a 60-amp mppt controller and two parallel 2300 watt inverter generators.

 

[HarryN]

My preference is to use separate inverters and chargers vs combo units.

The reason is that when you plug in, not all outlets are wired correctly.

Especially camp sites have large loads being added / disconnected ( such as those 50 amp x 240 vac RVs ) and surges / brown outs can happen.

A dedicated charger acts somewhat as a filter to keep all of that mess out. Then you just need a good quality inverter to feed your own uses.

 

[RV Pilgrims]

@seneysolar We don't need 3000 watts as long as it can handle the startup and running of our microwave. In theory, 2000 watts is enough...
@FLD I looked seriously at the Sungold. My concern is that it is 22" long, and there may not be enough space to connect the wires and for the fans to breathe in a 25" space.
@HarryN I tried several Renogy inverters, but they faulted because the inverter was ground-neutral bonded. By using an inverter charger, I hope to avoid the same problems and not have to manually turn off breakers when dry camping.

 

[FLD]

@seneysolar We don't need 3000 watts as long as it can handle the startup and running of our microwave. In theory, 2000 watts is enough...
@FLD I looked seriously at the Sungold. My concern is that it is 22" long, and there may not be enough space to connect the wires and for the fans to breathe in a 25" space.
@HarryN I tried several Renogy inverters, but they faulted because the inverter was ground-neutral bonded. By using an inverter charger, I hope to avoid the same problems and not have to manually turn off breakers when dry camping.

Ventilation was a concern for me too because it is mounted in the front pass through storage compartment. It does warm up that compartment but not to the point that it automatically reduces output.
I wasn't concerned very much about it's physical size but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more compact ones available.
I think the Sungoldpower has a way to disconnect the ground-neutral by cutting a wire. I'd have reread the manual. Maybe the Renogy has some way to do that?

 

[FLD]

Here’s what is in the SGP manual. Honestly it’s Greek to me but I thought I’d post it in the hopes that it helps you.

 

[seneysolar]

Here’s what is in the SGP manual. Honestly it’s Greek to me but I thought I’d post it in the hopes that it helps you.View attachment 203056

Sungold and Aims are similar, just unplug the green wire at the AC terminal strip.

 

[justinm001]

Victron is well worth the extra money. Also the cerbo gx-s and a network cable is all you need to connect the inverter to the internet and control everything remotely and see it all from your phone anywhere as long as you have internet.

Not only this but it has power assist so you can use 30a plus 3000w or whatever and you can set input limits so can run 15a shore but get 3000w on top of that.

All this for what 1300 including the cerbogx? Buy it once and lasts for decades.

 

[SoggyShoes]

If you are worried about size, you might consider the original Victron Multiplus. It sticks out further but is only 14.3" tall.

It is my understanding that the biggest differences Multiplus and the Multiplus II (Other than form factor) relates to codes with systems connected to the grid not moble setups.
I am planning on going with the Multiplus because it will fit in my RV basement a lot better.

Maybe those that know more like @sunshine_eggo can chime in on this.

 

[time2roll]

If cost is an issue consider a simple 2000w inverter only. Victron has these also. I have a Go Power 2000w and it works great. Get a separate transfer switch for whole house or just the branch circuit needed. Use the PD converter when needed. Use the current solar controller. Ok to use propane in transit same as thousands of RVs do every day. Even consider a Panasonic "inverter" MW replacement as it runs at lower power when on the lower settings vs the typical MW that cycles the magnetron.

 

[mptx]

I went Victron to do what you are attempting - for all the reasons mentioned by others.

 

[Rocketman]

I have a Victron 12/3000 inverter (we full-time in a Motorhome).

After using the Victron for 3years 24/7, it is worth the price.

I have 544ah of DIY batteries it powers the microwave without issues, plus all my other smaller loads - Residential Fridge, Starlink, computers,etc. you will need at least three 100ah batteries to run the microwave (Victron recommends at least 400amps of input amps available and 400 ah’s of capacity).

The best feature of the Multiplus occurred to me this last winter. We were in Baja, and as the RV park filled up, the volts got low. My Power Watchdog cuts the power off at 106v. I overheard a few people talking to the manager saying the power kept going to low and tripping off their equipment- he asked me if I was having the same issue… I said I don’t know - let me look. Yep the power kept tripping off, but the Multiplus didn’t miss a beat, when it came back on it would charge at 7.5amps of input (my settings- why charge fast when I am there all month). My wife was inside doing our Christmas baking running the oven and mixer and didn’t even notice an issue. (The music covered up the clicking sounds of the relays engaging and releasing).

The Power assist feature is AWESOME!

I had the same concerns of cost when I bought the Multiplus- but I am glad I did.

The charger part is great - lets you pick to the settings to charge to the .1v on all phases - bulk, absorbing,float,storage and equalization.

There is a Neutral-Ground relay that is user changeable and automatic. Normally when power arriving from Grid it is open (N-G connection at the service entrance of the park or generator), but when on inverter then it closes creating the N-G bond for the RV. Perfect application. (You can change it in the software too).

As a minimum you need the Multiplus, and a VE.Bus smart dongle. (If you buy it from a place that will program it for you).
Instead, I would get a Cerbo-S because then you can program it yourself (with WiFi and a computer). Everything else Victron - just adds to the user experience and makes it better.

A Smartshunt or BMV712, gives battery voltage and current so the chargers compensate for voltage drop (a big deal in 12v systems) and keep track of state of charge (a big deal with lithium batteries and living with the system).

Other stuff just helps in other ways.

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[justinm001]

The best feature of the Multiplus occurred to me this last winter. We were in Baja, and as the RV park filled up, the volts got low. My Power Watchdog cuts the power off at 106v. I overheard a few people talking to the manager saying the power kept going to low and tripping off their equipment- he asked me if I was having the same issue… I said I don’t know - let me look. Yep the power kept tripping off, but the Multiplus didn’t miss a beat, when it came back on it would charge at 7.5amps of input (my settings- why charge fast when I am there all month). My wife was inside doing our Christmas baking running the oven and mixer and didn’t even notice an issue. (The music covered up the clicking sounds of the relays engaging and releasing).

The Power assist feature is AWESOME!

Agree, although the only bad part is when you go to leave the CG from a day of burning tons of free power to realize your breaker tripped and your batteries are down to 20% and had no clue. They do have the monitor for shore disconnect which emails if issue and is great, but doesn't work with the prioritizing solar or you'll get emails everytime it switches from shore to solar. One day I'm going to program a relay to turn on when shore is disconnected, hooked up to a dash light or something.

But like you I set mine to 27a on a 50a, which is plenty for me and enough below 30a to not risk tripping a breaker. Unfortunately the 5000w inverters min is like 13.4a

BTW where's that N-G bond option in the software? I'm betting this will fix my issue with trying to use 15a GFCIs and them tripping.

 

[S Davis]

I went with the original multiplus 12/3000/120 as it just fit into my system by just that much. Works great so far, just getting the fans installed to ventilate the compartment.

 

[RV Pilgrims]

Ventilation was a concern for me too because it is mounted in the front pass through storage compartment. It does warm up that compartment but not to the point that it automatically reduces output.
I wasn't concerned very much about it's physical size but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more compact ones available.
I think the Sungoldpower has a way to disconnect the ground-neutral by cutting a wire. I'd have reread the manual. Maybe the Renogy has some way to do that?

Renogy has no way to disconnect the G-N bond on their "new style" inverter (per their engineering team), which is why this all happened. I purchased a bunch of stuff from them and was charged a significant restocking fee to send them back even though the issue was due to their poor design, terrible support, and delay in communication.

 

[RV Pilgrims]

If cost is an issue consider a simple 2000w inverter only. Victron has these also. I have a Go Power 2000w and it works great. Get a separate transfer switch for whole house or just the branch circuit needed. Use the PD converter when needed. Use the current solar controller. Ok to use propane in transit same as thousands of RVs do every day. Even consider a Panasonic "inverter" MW replacement as it runs at lower power when on the lower settings vs the typical MW that cycles the magnetron.

That's where I started, but using an inverter charger with TS means it's a simpler solution and doesn't involve turning off the converter when not connected to shore power. By the time you add up the cost of an inverter, 30 amp TS, and subpanel, there's not that much savings.