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WHAT is a non inverter Generator?

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gary350

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We plan to travel pulling the camper trailer behind the vehicle and camping some place along the road as we go from one National Park to another. Park Advisor apt on the phone allows us to find a camp site spur of the moment it shows all he camp sites in our area as we travel. But if no last minute camp site can be found we can spend the night in Walmart parking lot with a 5.5Kw generator in the back of the vehicle. Camper trailer is 120 volts AC, lights, water pump, AC unit, microwave oven, electric hot plate, coffee maker is all the electric we have. Some GUY on the camper forum claims it can not be done with a non inverter generator? I never heard of such a thing not sure there really is? RVs are all 120 volts, 15 amp or 20 amps or 30 amps or 50 amps. My 5500 watt generator has 2 outlets that are both 120 volts 20 amps each. The 240 volt outlet is 20 amp. There is no way I can run my RV on any of the generator outlets the RV has a 120v/30a male plug. I need a 240v to 120v step down transformer 5KW to convert 240v/20a to 120v/40a. Maybe this is what the guy is talking about, I never seen a generator that comes with a 30amp 120 volt outlet????
 
An inverter generator has an electronic circuit to generate a regulated output voltage, low distortion sinewave, at a constant AC frequency independent of engine speed, from the raw generator output.
Standard non-inverter generators can generate a high distortion sinewave output, with poor regulation, and output voltage and AC frequency dependent on the engine speed.
The guy on the forum was likely referring to the idea that some electronic appliances, such as microwaves, or televisions, could possibly be damaged by the waveform distortion, and poor voltage regulation and frequency variation of a standard generator.

If you've already run all your appliances from your generator without a problem, then I wouldn't be concerned.

One of the big advantages of inverter generators, besides their giving a purer output, is that the generator engine can be throttled back to a lower speed under light load, while the output voltage and frequency still remains stable.
This can significantly reduce noise and fuel consumption.

Standard generators much remain running at their maximum speed even under light load to maintain voltage and frequency.
 
RVs are all 120 volts, 15 amp or 20 amps or 30 amps or 50 amps. My 5500 watt generator has 2 outlets that are both 120 volts 20 amps each. The 240 volt outlet is 20 amp. There is no way I can run my RV on any of the generator outlets the RV has a 120v/30a male plug. I need a 240v to 120v step down transformer 5KW to convert 240v/20a to 120v/40a. Maybe this is what the guy is talking about, I never seen a generator that comes with a 30amp 120 volt outlet????

OK Gary,some math:

240*20 = 2 * 120 * 20 Units are Watts.

Your limited to 20 A because the output is split phase or 240 V center tapped.

You would have to get a 30 A 240 V generator. The 240 20A conversion can really get weird because it may not be isolated sitting on the ground.

This https://www.tripplite.com/5kva-5kw-...k-mount-l6-30p-5-15-20r-l6-30r~SU5000XFMRT2U/ SAY NOT SUITABLE FOR MOBILE APPLICATIONS and it's also 208V and 60 lbs. So, it's a BIG suitcase. Just using it to illustrate size and weight.

And just looking at an RV pedistal: https://www.rvparksupplies.com/p/503020AMPPEDPOWER/ you get 120 V 20 A, 120 v 30 A or 240/120 50A here the 50 A version is 240/120. So, you either bought the wrong RV or a generator that is undersized for your RV. The generator breaker will keep the current from exceeding the generators capacity.

Remember in the US, we call it single phase which it is and it isn't. Those trying to explain stuff will call it 240 split-phase. It's a center-tapped transformer where the center-tap is ground. The primary is single phase (maybe 9.6 kV) with one side grounded.

With 240/120, the two 120's delivered is 180 degrees out of phase from each other, therefore when you put them in effective series, the voltages add and you get 240 VAC.
They supply L1, L2, N and ground.

There is no way I can run my RV on any of the generator outlets the RV has a 120v/30a male plug

Well, you make an adapter that adapts your RV (30 A 120 V) to your generator at (20 A 120 V). The generators breaker limits the current to 20 A. The plug configuration does too. It's OK to provide the RV with less, but you will have to do some load shedding. Maybe the AC has to be off when doing some tasks. Maybe you have to prevent the water heater from coming on.
 
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