Inverter/charger location

[knotflying]

Rather than hijack the solar panel thread, I figured I would continue this here.

I think the location of the unit is in a precarious spot and I have always had a concern with this. IMO a better location would be somewhere in the interior cabin. On my R-27 there is so much room behind the stove that may be a good spot. The unit really requires no maintenance and even if it did the stove moves out rather easily for access.
In lieu of moving the unit I think that the biggest culprit is water running over the gutter and into the top grill opening of the unit. Perhaps a deflective shield mounted below the gutter above the unit would be a help.

 

[baz]

FYI…

On our R-25 the Inverter and the Battery charger are separate devices and are located in different locations.

The battery charger is located at the rear of the storage space under the Nav seat (this is where the A/C unit normally is located on the R-25 model).

Our 1800 watt Inverter is located on the hull side of the port side cockpit locker (this is where I believe a genet typically is located in the R-25 model). It's positioned high up and is fully protected from cockpit water wash downs. The Inverter control panel is located just below the Fusion radio in front of the Nav seat.

 

[HRowland]

My R27 is newer than yours and has seperate charger and inverter. They seem to be set far enough back from the lip so drips should not be a problem. Is your combined inverter/charger deeper?



I have added a second battery charger to allow much faster charging when running the genset at anchor or while on a mooring. The factory charger is 20A, I added a 45A single output charger at the aft part of the cave. I selected the 45A size so I could run the water heater and 45A charger at the same time and stay within the max output rating of the Mase. This provides nearly 55A of charge current when you include the 10A or so provided by the Mase genset 12V charge output. When the water heater shuts off I can turn on the factory provided charger for an additional 20A.


Aux charger in aft part of cave.

ANL Fuse added inside battery compartment.

While connected to shore power at the marina I only use the factory installed charger, it is "smarter" and enters a standby mode that reduces the float voltage after an extended period of low 12V current draw.

Howard

 

[knotflying]

Howard,
Your setup is very different than mine, perhaps because you have the genset or Ranger saw that there was a potential problem with previous installations. My inverter is a ProMariner TruePower CombiQS Combination Battery Charger/Power Inverter. The charger in this unit is 40 amps. It is bulkier than yours and sticks out past the gutter and has a perforated grill on the top. Not a good situation. So far I have not had issues, but after hearing about them I need to perform some preemptive action.