How do I wire in an inverter

Somebody didn't look at my photo of the cable hatch in the cargo bay door :(

On the wrong info re MW, I meant the "too many amps", since it is not too many for a pair of 6s for a short time, even a pair of half shot 6s :)

That guy got the Can Tire (Xantrex) 3000w MSW when it was on sale for $169 in early 2014. He could have used the 2000 but it was more expensive not on sale at the time. Works the same and doesn't need any more set-up when using the same loads as the 2000 would.

Lately I have been using the Can Tire 2000w MSW myself in the 5er to run the MW etc. (It was on sale this year for $169--they are going up!) The MW is a Danby 1000 (The Vector 2000 and Sharp MW went over to the truck camper) The surprise was that the newer inverter draws less to run the new MW than the older Vector and Sharp draw.

The new inverter pulls about 90 amps where the older set draws about 110 amps and does the same job. I guess the newer Xantrex inverter is more efficient than the older Vector. Same with the electric kettle now. Pulls 80a instead of 90a, so it is the inverter that is better, not the MW so much if at all.

I had the PSW Can Tire 1000 for several years but accidentally fried it this year. I never did get any advantage from it being PSW over MSW that I could tell. I now use a 400w MSW inverter I got at The Source (was Radio Shack) for that job in the 5er. Does everything perfectly.

We just don't have anything that needs PSW. Some things do of course. One is a fancy sewing machine a camping neighbour has. She can't use it on MSW.

bigrigfixer wrote:
I'll put in a "whole house" system sometime later. But when I do, I'd like to know what you guys do. Obviously you plug the shore power cable into the inverter, which is usually in the front storage. Do you have a notch cut into the door to accommodate the cable or just leave the door open a little bit?

Check out my own "whole house" installation pics and you'll see that I solved this problem by terminating the inverter output outside the trailer's front storage compartment with a Leviton WetGuard receptacle. ;)

dahkota wrote:
I wouldn't bother with the microwave - it requires too many amps to run even if for a short time.

BFL13 wrote:
Where do people get this wrong info from? They are losing out if they ever want to do it, and maybe causing others to lose out by passing that along.

dahkota nor anyone else isn't saying it can't be done, merely that in order to do so it takes a substantial inverter and a substantial battery bank to power that inverter. For many of us, investing in an inverter / battery system this substantial makes no sense whatsoever considering it's simply for the "convenience" of being able to use a MW oven when dry camping. Your friend was using a 3K MSW inverter ... good for him but whether you or anyone else agrees or not I personally wouldn't power my trailer with anything but a pure sine wave inverter. My choice, as it is my choice to not even attempt to waste my time and $$$ investing in a system substantial enough to power a MW oven when there are plenty of alternative ways of cooking that don't require any electrical power at all. This isn't "wrong" info at all, in fact it's "correct" info that those not familiar with the vagaries of inverter use, obviously the OP included, ought to consider before deciding just which type of system they want to install.

Okay, since some of you are asking...

My trailer is a 2016 Hideout 26BHSWE. It will have 2 6 volt batteries and 250 watts of solar.

From what I've read on here, I'll probably go with a little inverter for my little fridge, and another for the television.

I'll put in a "whole house" system sometime later. But when I do, I'd like to know what you guys do. Obviously you plug the shore power cable into the inverter, which is usually in the front storage. Do you have a notch cut into the door to accommodate the cable or just leave the door open a little bit?

That is how I got ten years service from the wally world marine batteries.

BFL13 wrote:
BTW one thing is they go home a couple days a week so the 130w solar is able to "catch up" and get the batts to full every so often while they are away, so they don't get behind the problem for too long and ruin their batts. Works for them!

dahkota wrote:
I wouldn't bother with the microwave - it requires too many amps to run even if for a short time.

............

Where do people get this wrong info from? They are losing out if they ever want to do it, and maybe causing others to lose out by passing that along.

Last summer, my camping neighbour (newbie off -grid) was running his 3000w MSW inverter off two old 6s that came with his used 5er. He was able to run his microwave, DW hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, etc no sweat. ( I showed him how to turn off the converter and plug his shore power into the inverter with fridge and WH on propane)

The joke is, his two old 6s had SGs "in the red" on two cells in one and in one cell in the other 6. The batts lasted them fine from June to end September doing that. ( I sold him my 130w panel, which helped :) )

This year he returned with now four new 6s (as advised), but I bet he could have got by with just two new ones, since last year he only had three cells of 6 "in the green" by SG the whole time.

Makes you wonder what is really required! :)

BTW one thing is they go home a couple days a week so the 130w solar is able to "catch up" and get the batts to full every so often while they are away, so they don't get behind the problem for too long and ruin their batts. Works for them!

BFL13 wrote:
I didn't go the sub-panel route, and I can do all that the OP wants to easily.

http://forums.trailerlife.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26237237.cfm

"Whole house", just as I suggested in my own post is the easiest way to go about this, no need for a transfer switch or altering any of the trailer's existing wiring. Hopefully the OP will note you're also running a quad set of 6 volt batteries. ;)

I didn't go the sub-panel route, and I can do all that the OP wants to easily.

http://forums.trailerlife.com/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26237237.cfm

Are you ready to install a 2000 watt sine wave inverter and have four batteries to drive it? s/b connected with 2/0 or 4/0 wire on the 12v side.

As for 120 volt side I recommend an automatic transfer switch. You can have one switch feed a subpanel with breakers for each circuit, transfer switch for each circuit you want hot, or you can go whole house and power the entire panel.

Start by mapping each circuit in the panel to identify everything that is connected to each breaker. Also post if this is 50a or 30a RV.

Like I have learned from this forum with some members being pretty blatant, you need to do some research about wiring and the use of an inverter. By asking to run a microwave oven sounds like you might not have quite the grasp on what it is to use an inverter.

I have blown quite a few inverters learning how to hook it up to the panel of the trailer. You need, at the minimum, a DPDT switch to isolate the ground/neutral of the inverter. If you don't POP goes the weasel and I don't mean the breaker.