Forum Discussion

bluebarry1964b's avatar
May 23, 2015

Why don't all electrical plugs work on inverter only??

My Holiday Rambler Neptune is wired in such a way that I must be either on generator or shore power to get all of my electrical outlets to work. One outlet that closest to the bed won't work unless we either have the generator running or we're plugged into shore power. That means that if we want to plug something in when only the inverter is on, we have to run an extension cord to one of the other outlets that works without needing to be on generator or shore power. To make dry camping a little easier in the future, I'm thinking of rewiring the outlets so all of them will work without needing to have the generator on or being plugged into shore power. However, before I start rewiring I thought I'd better find out from all of you as to why you think the RV manufacturer didn't want all of the outlets running off the house batteries via the inverter without generator or shore power. The only justification that I can think of is if the RV manufacturer didn't want you draining the house batteries too low. Any other reason??

26 Replies

  • As long as you don't power up the converter or fridge etc after the rewire you are good to go.
  • Dutch_12078 wrote:
    Does the inverter have enough capacity to support all of the outlets?


    The answer is maybe. Remember the load has nothing to do with how many outlets you have. As long as you do not have an appliance plugged into it and turned on, there is zero power consumed.

    But, I will say, it is very common to only have certain outlets powered by the inverter, on the assumption that not everyone is "electric savvy".
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    Just wire in a 600WATT PSW INVERTER and run a multi-head extension cord to the bedroom nite table and maybe to the home entertainment center area. This will be ON 24/7. Plug what you have to have on all the time low wattage items into this extension cord.

    All you have to do is watch your battery voltage and when it drops to 12.0VDC either quit using the INVERTER or start charge it somehow.

    This is what I do in my trailer setup, but I have 255AHs worth of batteries which usually last until 8Am the morning where I re-charge them back up during breakfast.
  • Dutch_12078 wrote:
    Does the inverter have enough capacity to support all of the outlets?


    Good call Dutch. No it doesn't and that's why it's setup that way....
  • Does the inverter have enough capacity to support all of the outlets? That would typically take a pretty large unit and matching battery bank.