Inverter install ?

Ron3rd wrote:

N-Trouble wrote:
It is a pure sine. Only plan on using it to run my TV (~50W) my sons Xbox and for charging of small electronic devices.

I'm running dual 6v batteries and have 160W solar.

I use my 300w Samlex PSW inverter for the same purpose, ie, TV, dvd, etc. I kept it simple and plug my shore cord into the inverter like pianotuna does, and in fact, got the idea from him. With this method, you must turn off your charger, etc, as he mentioned in his post. I turn off ALL breakers in my panel, except the one labeled "GFI" outlets which powers all my outlets of course.

Same here, this is the easiest approach with nothing additional to install once the inverter is wired to the batteries. Although depending on how your converter receives its 120V AC power, there may be some more work up front to do. You need a way to shut it off and they don't typically have their own on/off switch. So you need to cut the converter off from the 120V AC supply that it gets when you plug your shore power cord in. If it has its own standard 120V AC plug that you can access, then just unplug it and you're done. But many are hardwired into the AC distribution panel. My converter was wired into the breaker for GFI, the wire coming out of that breaker had a "Y" with one end leading to the 1st GFI outlet and the other leading to the converter. So I added another breaker to my AC distribution panel and moved the converter power supply wire from the GFI breaker to the newly installed breaker. So now the converter is on its own AC breaker which serves as its on/off switch. The reason for shutting the air con/elec water heater/micro breakers off is to prevent you from accidentally turning these large draw items which would overload the inverter and shut it down. You just want the outlets left on. If you're careful about not turning these things on when on inverter power then shutting their breakers off isn't necessary, but shutting the converter off is required. Don't forget to turn it back on when you are plugged in to true shore power or a generator if you want the batteries to get recharged!