Sparing and repair strategy for large inverter-chargers

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

No, the inverter charger, as the nexus between AC and DC, is mission critical on some boats....

Please define "mission critical."


To me, that means propulsion, navigation, and bilge pump. Other things are nice, but don't seem not mission critical in the original sense of the phrase.


Not sayin' they are not important to you and your crew. Not sayin' it's not worth a spare, if you want. Just trying to understand if there is some AC need that might endanger the boat.

[Singularity]

From my perspective (maybe I'm wrong) many of these electrical discussions are perpetually complicated by trying to discuss this or that electrical component without stipulating all the larger system components installed and/or the mechanical philosophy (DIY propensity) of the owner. Not to mention budget.

LFP or no? Is house air conditioning mission critical? Solar with independent charge capacity yes or no? Ample diesel routinely on board to charge batteries while speeding towards a parts destination or not? What type (if any) of genny on board? Water capacity of the boat?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Please define "mission critical."


To me, that means propulsion, navigation, and bilge pump. Other things are nice, but don't seem not mission critical in the original sense of the phrase.


Not sayin' they are not important to you and your crew. Not sayin' it's not worth a spare, if you want. Just trying to understand if there is some AC need that might endanger the boat.

Yes, as I said before, my use of the phrase "mission critical" was probably not really justified.


Maybe we need a new term -- "cruise critical". The impact of losing AC power or losing AC charging ability will vary depending on the intensity of AC power usage on board, but can be a real problem on some boats. Replace the phrase "mission critical" with "would really suck to lose", ok?

[Singularity]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Maybe we need a new term -- "cruise critical". The impact of losing AC power or losing AC charging ability will vary depending on the intensity of AC power usage on board, but can be a real problem on some boats. Replace the phrase "mission critical" with "would really suck to lose", ok?

My understanding:
Mission essential: must have item to complete the task
Mission crticial: item that is key to mission accomplishment, without which probability of mission success is greatly decreased and/or whose failure will require a larger commitment/sacrifice to accomplish the task.

So then everyone gets to have their own definition of what the mission is at any given time or wind direction.

In the electricity realm I wouldn't have an AC system providing any duty as sole provider of a mission essential item (nor would I have DC only, except where options don't exist, like a radar).

[a64pilot]

A boat that has no Solar and no towed generator or wind, not being able to charge the bank without running the propulsion system without a specific component, makes that component mission critical in my opinion.
A second redundant battery charger isn’t hard to install or terribly expensive.
I’m not sure that I would go to the trouble of having twin inverter / chargers, but you could. Lose the inverter, you don’t lose AC, you just lose DC to AC conversion.

Magnums and I assume some others seem to be extremely robust, although, I’m not sure the cards are conformal coated.
I looked and could not find a complaint of a failed Magnum inverter / Charger, and mine even survived my stupidity of plugging in my 30 amp 110 V shorepower cord into a 220 V outlet, thereby feeding 110V into both the hot and neutral wires.
It didn’t connect and pass the power onward, or I don’t know what I would have lost. It did take a reset to bring it back to life, but it survived.

[smac999]

I have seen one or two failed magnums. but we have installed a lot.

a comment above about having 2 ganged inverters, you still been to be cautious.

for example the victrons ones get programmed to run stacked. if one fails. the other will not work. until the network cable is dissconnected and it is reprogrammed as a single master. and this requires the victron USB programmer (MK3) and computer software on the newer inverters. it can not be done on the inverter itself anymore. (older ones you could do via dip switches) so you need the programming hardware, software, and knowledge to do it. otherwise having 2 does not make it more redundant. if anything it makes it worse as either one going brings both down. so you have twice the failure points.

[Sojourner]

On our Amel SM, the PO installed a new inverter and left the old one in the engine room ready to go. So I guess yeah, we carry a spare

[laika]

I may be an outlier in this discussion, but mission critical or not why not try to minimize AC loads to begin with? We've got a good number of small luxuries aboard, but the only thing requiring the inverter to work is my electric razor.