MidNite is going to someday build the ultimate inverter? I can hardly wait to see that one!
Yes, it makes a HUGE difference on how you size your equipment to meet loads. If VF's inverter had that in it, he would have no problem charging his batteries with his Honda 1000 when another load kicks in. And that's kind of the beauty of it - you don't need near as big of a gen to "do the job".
I learned something new as I had thought all along this was a pretty "standard" thing in all of the big name inverters.
I took a photo of the menu options in my inverters. It's under Menu Heading 26, Gen Auto Run Setup:
I currently have it set for 4.8 kW with a 2 minute delay and five minute "wait" period before shutdown after the load drops below the threshold:
I am certain Outback inverters have this in them. The menus are not well laid out in the Mate, IMHO. But there's a guy that lives about 40 miles north of me that has dual Outbacks and he has electric clothes dryer and all that stuff too. I am certain he has his set up the same way we have ours, so the gen starts for Peak Load Management. The Outback may not have the feature to help the gen out above the gen's max output capability, that I don't know. But I'm pretty sure that when it starts the gen for peak load that it only charges batteries if there's enough extra power to do so.
When they start the gen because of low battery condition, then the inverter uses gen power for battery charging as first priority and loads are secondary. But in VF's case, it should not "get ugly' when the Honda is charging and the 'fridge starts. The inverter should merely "spit the gen off" due to gen overload to prevent its breaker from kicking out. Then reload it under Peak Load Management Mode to run the load that came on, and using only extra power to charge batteries.
If it doesn't I don't think the inverter is programmed correctly because I'm 99% certain of it based on other people I know that got Outback units.
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Chris