New Boat Options Question: Inverter

[Ong's Hat]

Looking at the options on a new 2016 330 Sundancer. Two questions:

1. If I purchase the $17,000 generator, is there ANY reason to also get the $1,058 inverter?

2. Can the inverter run the A/C? Would I be giving anything up by getting the inverter INSTEAD of the generator?


Sam

 

[JimT]

1. for that price i would get it to run small electronics and appliances
2. no

 

[Stee6043]

No offense, but if I had the budget to buy a brand new 330 I wouldn’t imagine batting an eye at a $1,000 factory installed inverter!



I’d do it. You’ll find yourself wanting one every once in a while. Less wear and tear on the generator than starting it up for small tasks.

That said…I bought a nice $50 Energizer brand invertor from Amazon for just these occasions. But I assume my $50 is your $1000. Ha.

 

[JimG]

No offense, but if I had the budget to buy a brand new 330 I wouldn’t imagine batting an eye at a $1,000 factory installed inverter!

I was thinking the same thing...

 

[Ong's Hat]

Thanks, so is this correct: With an inverter, if I were at anchor and wanted to use a 110 outlet for a coffee maker, I could use the inverter, but if I didn't have one, I would have to either use the generator or start one of the two merc engines?

I appreciate answers to these basic questions.


Sam

 

[Ididntdoit]

the inverter may just be for the TVs......i would talk to the dealer/searay about it - I'm sure there is not an "inverter" selection on the transfer switch that powers the entire panel like the gen and shorepower do - If its only for the TVs you need to as yourself 1) am I going to use them away from the dock (sat TV, DVDs, antenna) and 2) if I am will I be running the generator anyway (for a/c, etc)....In the end, anything you add is "one more mouth to feed" and while an inverter does not "eat" all that much, it is another system to troubleshoot if there is a problem....

 

[Ididntdoit]

Thanks, so is this correct: With an inverter, if I were at anchor and wanted to use a 110 outlet for a coffee maker, I could use the inverter, but if I didn't have one, I would have to either use the generator or start one of the two merc engines?

I appreciate answers to these basic questions.

the two merc engines will only produce 12 volt power - you need the generator - the generator is very useful to run the battery charger when away from the dock too, that way you can top off your batteries from all the 12v draws like the stereo, lighting, fridges, etc........thins with a heating element (hairdrier, coffeemaker, etc) use a TON of juice and inverters are VERY ineficient at converting the power - you would need several hundred pounds of golf cart batteries to "run" the boat....and forget about air cond - you really need to make (not covnert) your own A/C power when away from the dock and thats what the genny does

 

[Ong's Hat]

I appreciate all the inputs; however, I am still unclear of how the inverter would be used. For example, it's been suggested earlier in this chain that I use it for small electronics. How? Is there a barrel switch on the electrical panel that has shore power/generator/inverter as three different choices? I'm just trying to figure out how the boat would work.

The local dealer didn't have these answers, the the Sea Ray website seems determined to steer me to a dealer, and not give me their factory contact info.

 

[JimG]

I don't know how the factory install works, but on my 270, I installed a 2,000 watt inverter and basically wired it into my shore power plug. This would power up all of the AC receptacles on the boat. I could run a coffee pot or the microwave, or TV... whatever. Just had to be sure to turn off the battery charger.

Don't have an inverter on this boat... so every time my wife wants to make a blender drink, she has to fire up the generator.

 

[Ididntdoit]

Get a new dealer........they are trying to sell you a 250k boat and they are unwilling to do the legwork with searay to answer your question? As I said above, im sure the inverter is limited and does not power the panel.....but let the dealer research it and tell you for sure....by the way, you know you can buy 2 or 3 boats that are a few years old for the price of a new one, right? No one wants 30 - 40 foot cruisers and the market is flooded with them and they are worth very little. Without a trade in you should be lookin at brokerage boats.

 

[alnav]

I called up the Owner's Manual for the 2015 330SDA, assume it's the same or very close. From the electrical diagrams (pg.66) it looks like the optional inverter is wired directly to a "Fridge/Outlets" breaker and using it would power the refrigerator, TVs and all outlets. It looks like from the drawing that a corded plug is used to put the inverter online.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Thanks, so is this correct: With an inverter, if I were at anchor and wanted to use a 110 outlet for a coffee maker, I could use the inverter, but if I didn't have one, I would have to either use the generator or start one of the two merc engines?

I appreciate answers to these basic questions.


Sam

Sam, you are right on the coffee maker, as well as bring aboard electronics. An inverter is kind of courtesy thing as well. If you are an early riser and want your coffee, or toast, you may find yourself out of luck in some of the more popular anchorages where it is considered impolite to run a gen at say 06:00. Likewise if you happen to find yourself on the hook in crappy weather and try to stay up for an overnight anchor watch, hot coffee at 03:00 that is made without waking everybody up on the boat is also a big plus.

One question I would ask is whether they upgrade the existing batteries, or add any to compensate for the battery drain from the inverter.

Henry

 

[Gofirstclass]

If you're going to put in an inverter, and I would recommend doing it, I'd go with a much larger one that will power anything on the boat, and install a battery bank just for the inverter.

The way ours is set up, if we're on shore power the inverter batteries are kept charged by the inverter control. If the batteries are low (due to long usage of the inverter) when shore power (or the generator) comes on the charger sends a strong charge to the batteries. As they come up it changes over to a float charge to keep them maintained.

When we unhook from shore power we don't have to run the genset unless we're going to be using the reverse cycle heat/air, or cooking a meal that will take all three burners on the stove for quite awhile.

It is nice to be able to run the 110VAC appliances when we're away from shore power and not have to start the genset. That being said, if we're cruising a long day and want to have the A/C or heat on we'll fire up the genset to take care of that and leave the inverter batteries for other stuff.

Hope this helps.

 

[Ong's Hat]

Thanks again everyone. I feel a little smarter on inverters now. Now I'm about to post another new boat options question on teak.

 

[Stray Cat]

OP - Good for you to be looking at a new boat. I bought new and have never regretted it. I agree with post #10 above, have the dealer explain how the inverter integrates with the generator, AC panel, etal. I'm surprised they offer it as an option if the boat is equipped with a generator.

In 10 years of ownership of a boat with a gen, I've not found the need for an inverter. If I'm on the hook for an overnighter, I usually have the genny running to cool the cabin, microwave, heating water, etc. If you have a need for running a TV when the gen is shut down, the inverter would be a nice to have...but for $1058...you could buy a lot of gas for the genny.

 

[jared.m.gudenkauf]

I just bought a 2012 370 Sundancer with this option. It worked great the first time we had the boat out on the lake two weeks ago. The cockpit tv worked and we could watch the Masters without running the generator. At some point since then, it stopped working! The manual only says check the breaker switch and the inverter to see if it was tripped. Here is the trouble......I can't find it anywhere! I've gone behind every cabinet that would have space for it and have not located it. The previous owner doesn't know. Does anyone have this option that can share the location of the factory-installed inverter?

 

[velooce]

Inverters are a great thing with proper battery bank. With undersized battery bank it's just a gimmick imo

 

[Dieseljeff]

I bought a HF 2000/4000 inverter for 129.00 or so on sale...it's mounted in the cabin so no big deal on it not being ignition protected.
I then bought a RF remote on ebay for -$20.00 and a automatic transfer switch for apx. $60.00.
I wired the transfer switch to my outlets.
I can press the remote and the transfer switch powers all of my outlets off of the inverter.

Jeff