Good day all,Have an inverter than is wired to a separate circuit than runs just the entertainment area 1500w off 2 6volt batteries. ( thought this would be least drain on batteries )Question is how do I wire this into the main circuit so when hooked to shore power this is active without damaging the inverter.Read something about a shunt, but that is beyond my basic electrical knowledge.Any suggestions ideas are appreciated.

You will need a transfer switch.

That kind of magic requires a transfer switch.

Was hoping you would not say that, as I already am putting one in to have 2 shore power connections to the coach...Do they make a smaller version of transfer switches since this is only one circuit? All I see are these larger boxes for 100$ and seems like overkill for one circuit.

Nutinelse2do wrote: I already am putting one in to have 2 shore power connections to the coach...t? All I see are these larger boxes for 100$ and seems like overkill for one circuit.I think you should elaborate a bit more on what you're doing. I've never heard of anyone installing 2 shore connections with a xfer switch.And speaking of overkill, 1500w is way overkill for an entertainment center. The absolute simplest way to protect an inverter, plus have the entire coach powered by it, is to plug your shore power cord into it.

Why not just run wires from the converter to the batteries (fused near the batteries) to keep them charged and let them continue supplying power to the inverter? You can also put a disconnect on the hot wire so you can turn that wire off so those batteries won't also power the rest of the house when not on shore power.

Electrical question/suggestions | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

Nutinelse2do
Explorer
Sep 29, 2013
All,

Great comments and great thoughts. Very much appreciated. Will sit down with a few cold beers and plot the best course of action. This forum rocks..

459 days and counting...
Bobbo
Explorer III
Sep 29, 2013
My Winnebago came with a 400 watt inverter to power 2 entertainment centers, the front and the bedroom.
Golden_HVAC
Explorer
Sep 29, 2013
For the very simple way to transfer everything for less than $15, get a power strip. Plug everything into the 5 - 8 receptacle power strip (no light it will use battery power) and plug that into the inverter powered receptical or shore power receptical as required. Only one plug to move.

Yes a transfer switch is a $75 to $100 item. Then a box would be required to install it safely (because it has terminals that have 120 volts running to it) and wiring that seems complicated to many.

The 1,500 watt inverter is quite large for a entertainment center, it might be a bit to large. When I was dry camping, I might be using my 1,500 watt inverter to watch TV and run a DVD or Satelite receiver. This used about 80 - 100 watts, and would draw about 8 amps from the batteries. If I changed to a 100 watt inverter, then amp draw would drop to about 6 amps. The extra 2 amps is used by the larger inverter to run it's larger capacitors and transformer and switching equipment. The small inverter is more efficient at a 100 watt load.

However the extra 2 amps for 6 hours per night is not a deal breaker. It works out to about 12 amp hours from your 220 amp hour battery bank.

You would be best off by changing some of your most used lights to LED's and then run the generator a bit more to make up for the extra power being used.

Have you thought of changing over to solar power to recharge the battery? SunElec.com Look for some 12 volt panels, in the 100 - 150 watt size range and make sure they will fit in the space on your roof without crowding the A/C or the roof vents. And run the wiring down the back of the refrigerator, to the controller. Then to the battery.

Fred.
time2roll
Nomad
Sep 29, 2013
Nutinelse2do wrote:
Do they make a smaller version of transfer switches since this is only one circuit?

Xantrex 15a Prowatt $49
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Sep 29, 2013
Nutinelse2do wrote:
2oldman wrote:
Nutinelse2do wrote:
I already am putting one in to have 2 shore power connections to the coach...t? All I see are these larger boxes for 100$ and seems like overkill for one circuit.
I think you should elaborate a bit more on what you're doing. I've never heard of anyone installing 2 shore connections with a xfer switch.

And speaking of overkill, 1500w is way overkill for an entertainment center.

The absolute simplest way to protect an inverter, plus have the entire coach powered by it, is to plug your shore power cord into it.

We have a 50amp service in the back left corner of the coach. I am installing a 30amp 50ft cord mid ship so its closer to shore power and is able to plug into generator. Was advised not to have an open plug to the 50amp plug so I am installing a transfer switch so if I ever do need the 50amp, no harm will come.

Sorry for the confusion, I have only basic knowledge of electrical and feel kind silly asking these questions.

Instead of the 30A put in a 50A.....that way you can utilize full 50A service. Just use adapters as needed for any 30A service.
I added an extra 50A receptacle at the front left corner under overhang of 5'vr.
My generator is bed mount in truck with a 50A plug on it.
If at a 30A service I just use a 30A to 50A adapter and plug in front or rear.

With OEM at rear corner and the additional one at front corner I have never had to use an extension cord to reach any pedestal/pole.
No extra cords that have to be stored and carried around for those few times needed.
enblethen
Nomad
Sep 29, 2013
Yes an inverter such as this will alow shore power to pass through while connected to shore power and operate from batteries while not connected to shorepower. It will also pass genset power through rether then running off batteries.
Magnum energy
pigman1
Explorer
Sep 29, 2013
I've used this Intellitec Latching Relay for the exact setup you've got. Latching relay On a previous rig we ran a separate setup for 2 satellite dishes and the entire home entertainment system off 4 separate AGM batteries. In addition, we put one of these before a separate inverter that runs our household refrigerator, so we don't have to run the house inverter with it's associated overhead while boondocking. We now use it in the current Bus and it handled the household refrig inverter powering the fridge, a 16 cu ft chest freezer and a basement 4 cu ft freezer. We were loaded with salmon, halibut and shrimp from a summer in Alaska.

One of the benefits of this relay is that it doesn't consume any power when in the OPEN or CLOSED position. It latches in position and takes a momentary rocker switch to change it's position.
Nutinelse2do
Explorer
Sep 29, 2013
KD4UPL wrote:
An inverter with a built in transfer switch would indeed solve your problem. Or, you can just let that circuit always run off the inverter. Your converter in your RV should keep the batteries charged from shore power when you're plugged in. There's no good reason to need to change the entertainment center over to direct shore power.
Or, the simplest is to put a male 15A 120v connector on the end of the wire leading to the entertainment center. Plug it into the inverter when you want to power it that way. Plug it in to an outlet fed from your shore power when you want to feed it that way. Think of it as a very basic, manual, transfer switch.

Awesome, thank you very much, that seems to be the simplest solution to what I was probably making more complicated.
KD4UPL
Explorer II
Sep 29, 2013
An inverter with a built in transfer switch would indeed solve your problem. Or, you can just let that circuit always run off the inverter. Your converter in your RV should keep the batteries charged from shore power when you're plugged in. There's no good reason to need to change the entertainment center over to direct shore power.
Or, the simplest is to put a male 15A 120v connector on the end of the wire leading to the entertainment center. Plug it into the inverter when you want to power it that way. Plug it in to an outlet fed from your shore power when you want to feed it that way. Think of it as a very basic, manual, transfer switch.
2oldman
Explorer II
Sep 29, 2013
Nutinelse2do wrote:
We have a 50amp service in the back left corner of the coach. I am installing a 30amp 50ft cord mid ship so its closer to shore power and is able to plug into generator.
Hmm... wouldn't it be a bit easier to get a 50 (or 30a) extension cord and use suitable adapters?