Advice on deep cycle setup?

full_mosey wrote:

It is good that you are increasing the Wattage to 1000W. I started out like you with cheaper inverters like the Whistler. I placed too much trust in the peak Watts. I ruined a microwave. I hoped the peak Watts would work over at at least a few minutes. The truth is the peaks on cheaper inverters only last for milliseconds, or less than only 1 second. I don't pay any attention to peak Watts any more unless the manual clearly gives time specs.

With 12V cables, bigger and shorter is better. My 2/0 gauge cables are 3 feet each for both positive and negative, plus about one foot for the fuse. This is a total round trip of 7 feet.

Now I just retested the 12 cup drip coffee maker with a 900W name plate. I apologize that I mis-stated it at 1080W before. It started at 840W, at the 6 cup mark it was 908W and at the end it was 920W. I used 50 feet of 110VAC extension cord between the inverter and the dripper. The point is to use the AC side for longer runs.

Long runs of 4 gauge 12V cables may be too small for 20 minutes. Over time, small cables can heat up and make Voltage drops bad enough to cause earlier inverter shutdown and you won't get the 20 minutes.

Even if you are able to do this, you will still be placing en extra burden on the alternator of around 50A while driving. This will increase wear and tear on the alternator.

HTH;
John