Bought a 2007 Great West Legend Elite!

[JesseLibertine]

Bought my first RV, a Sprinter no less!

It is a 2006 Sprinter chassis with a 2007 Great West Legend Elite conversion.

I am contemplating adding an Inverter since it did not come with that option.

Currently it uses a Progressive Dynamics PD9245C converter and 5100 series transfer switch.

http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/rv_conv/rv_converter_pd9245c_2.html
http://www.progressivedyn.com/transfer_relays.html

Does anyone have an inverter in a Great West as a reference, Which model # and how is it wired up?

Also, some other vendors have new Converters with Inverters built in like the Xantrex Freedom HF. Should I just go that route?

Eventually I would not mind adding a Solar panel or two but that is down the road.

 

[avanti]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the list.

How about some inside photos?

You are more likely to get advice about a choice of inverter if you tell us a bit more about the van and how you plan to use it. What kind and how many batteries does it have? What do you wish to run from your inverter? How much room do you have?

 

[JesseLibertine]

It is a pretty stock 2007 Great West. It has 2 batteries in the coach.

I do not plan on using Shore power often, so either running off generator or eventually Solar.

 

[JesseLibertine]

Oh also luckily it uses Propane for Generator, Fridge, Water heater and Furnace.

I only need 120v AC for a few work items, like a music instrument, bench power supply and maybe oscilloscope once and while but just for short periods of time.

I am removing all the incandescent bulbs and replacing with LED.

 

[Lloyd Crochet]

In June-2015 I purchased a used 2004 Airstream Interstate, (bed in the middle) went on a 42 day adventure to the northwest, when we got back, my wife told me "if we are going to continue traveling, we need the bed in the back.

In Oct-2015 I traded it in for a used 2006 Sprinter chassis, 2007 Great West Legend Elite conversion, it came with the inverter and one battery.

We use shore power when at RV parks, and use the generator and battery when boondoggling camping.

Very few National parks have hook ups, and they will not let you use the generator after 5 pm and before 9am.

It has Propane for Generator, Fridge, Water heater and Furnace.

It works great

 

[JesseLibertine]

In Oct-2015 I traded it in for a used 2006 Sprinter chassis, 2007 Great West Legend Elite conversion, it came with the inverter and one battery.

Awesome, we have the same setup but mine did not come with the Inverter optino. What inverter are you using and how is it wired in?

 

[Lloyd Crochet]

Not sure, I will have to go look, it's been raining for 2 days, and it for cast for rain the rest of the week

 

[JesseLibertine]

Here are some pictures of the electrical panel on my rig for reference:

 

[Lloyd Crochet]

Mine is the same, I think the 12volt fuse panel is the inverter.

It takes the 110 volt shore power and converts it to 12 volts to run the RV 's systems, the same one that work when you are just running off the battery.

When you are running on battery power, the 110 volt outlets do not work, to make them work, you need to be shore power or generator

 

[avanti]

Mine is the same, I think the 12volt fuse panel is the inverter.

It takes the 110 volt shore power and converts it to 12 volts to run the RV 's systems, the same one that work when you are just running off the battery.

When you are running on battery power, the 110 volt outlets do not work, to make them work, you need to be shore power or generator

Not exactly. That fuse panel was still being used when they build my 2014 Legend. It is just a split AC/DC breaker/fuse panel -- a passive device having nothing directly to do with inverters or converters.

Also, in RV parlance, the thing that converts 120VAC to 12VDC is called an "converter". It also charges your battery when running on shore power. An "inverter" is the opposite--it converts 12VDC from your batteries to 120VAC, so you can use your 120 volt appliances when not plugged in.

All RVs have a converter, more modern ones have inverters as well. Some inverters are small (only useful for running a TV, charging your laptop, etc). These tend to only power one or two specialized outlets, with the others only working when plugged in. More elaborate systems have large inverters capable of running the microwave, coffeemaker and perhaps the A/C (briefly). In these systems the inverter and converter are typically integrated into a single large unit which also contains an automatic transfer switch, such that all the outlets are powered either from shore power or from the inverter.

I suspect you have a converter (probably mounted behind the fuse panel). You may or may not have an inverter, but if you do, it is most likely a small one dedicated to one or a few outlets (this is judging by the era when your van was built).

 

[Davydd]

Most likely like my 2011 Great West Van Legend you have a converter. Mine was up behind the fuse/breaker panel and it was a Progressive Dynamics PD9245. There was a what I thought a generous 700 watt inverter for the TV that powered one duplex outlet the TV plugged into. The inverter was not powerful enough for anything but the TV and plugging in laptop computers. It would not power a coffee maker, a cube heater, or much of anything else. It did power a 225w crock pot but you had to be driving and charging your battery for that not to deplete your battery. So you had little electrical utility while not connected to shore power other than lights, TV, DVD, radio and 12v ignition needs on propane powered equipment in the coach. 120vac outlets, refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave needed shore power. Ther efrigerator needed propane because 12v mode would run the battery down in as little as an hour. That was pretty much the standard setup for many Class Bs and why one house battery was standard. If you were boondocking in a wilderness situation you could keep your lights off most of the time, not run your TV and if you drove just every other day to recharge your battery you could get by. Everything else was run on propane. Other than air conditioning (rare for me), recharging the battery in extended boondocking stays, or temporarily running it to mostly use the coffee maker, I didn't see much need for the Onan generator.

 

[JesseLibertine]

Thanks for all the info everyone! I have spent a few days in the Legend and decided I do not need an inverter. I have a small crappy portable cigarette inverter if need be or I can run the Onan.

I still would like to add Solar though to top off the 12V batteries since I rarely use shore power. I only charge the batteries from the Onan or while driving.

I finally got into the battery area and it has 2 LifeLine AGM 125aH batteries from 2/2013 (two Lifeline GPL-31XT).

 

[JesseLibertine]

Most likely like my 2011 Great West Van Legend you have a converter. Mine was up behind the fuse/breaker panel and it was a Progressive Dynamics PD9245. There was a what I thought a generous 700 watt inverter for the TV that powered one duplex outlet the TV plugged into. The inverter was not powerful enough for anything but the TV and plugging in laptop computers.
...

I think I checked all the outlets and no 120AC unless the Onan is running. Outlet near the bed and kitchen and toilet area.

Also my TV is 12V so it works whenever.

I'll make sure I checked all my outlets but I think my Sprinter did not come with the inverter option. Just the PD9245 converter.

Maybe it would be nice to add a weak inverter to one 120AC outlet somewhere but for now I will just settle with running everything off 12V DC (except the AC of course). Luckily I do not drink coffee!!!

 

[Marley]

Old thread but I just bought pretty much the same unit (30th Anniversary edition) and went through the same thing. Seller said that it had an inverter but after buying it and rooting around all the systems I found out it didn't - just the breaker/fuse panel, transfer switch and converter.

I am going to go with an inverter and solar but haven't figured out the best way to approach it yet. My unit only has one coach battery right now so the whole solar/battery/inverter system will be new and hopefully the best available now we are in 2017 and alt-power prices have dropped considerably.

My brother has a ranch/rec property in Dixie National Forest which is off-grid so we have been learning lots about alt-power including micro hydroelectric.

 

[bcislander]

Old thread but I just bought pretty much the same unit (30th Anniversary edition) and went through the same thing. Seller said that it had an inverter but after buying it and rooting around all the systems I found out it didn't - just the breaker/fuse panel, transfer switch and converter.

snip...

If your van has a TV, then it most likely has an inverter, but one of limited power output. Just enough to power the TV and/or run some low-power devices. It is located in the cabinet just above the TV in my GWV Legend. This was mentioned by Davydd in an earlier post.

 

[Marley]

If it the unit does have an inverter for the TV it would be behind the microwave which is bolted down one cabinet over from the TV location. Haven't checked there yet.

 

[muddysprinter]

Hi JesseLibertine,
You say that you have 2 coach batteries - where are they? I just bought a 2007 Legend Elite (2006 Dodge Chassis) and mine only has one coach battery and I'd like to add a second. How are yours set up?