I bought a new fifth wheel last year and it did not have the inverter included so I negotiated that as part of the deal.. When I pickup to the fifth wheel, they didn't have time to install it, they just gave me the inverter and days to have a local dealer install it and they would pay me back. Which I had the local dealer install it and they actually did pay me back. My fifth wheel had an Onan 4000 installed as well.So I went camping once last year after it was installed and noticed it didn't power any electrical outlets. I would have thought a $500 install would have included wiring it to the panel to power the outlets. It's in the shop now and I asked them about it, they said I would need a bigger inverter to power the outlets. I'm like, it's a 2000 amp inverter, it should be plenty big. And installing it where I need to run an extension cord is dumb. They also said I can't run it to the go power solar panel control, because that had a button to turn the inverter on and off. I boondock one 5 night trip a year and a couple 3 night trips, so a running inverter is pretty useful.Please let me know your thoughts.

2001400ex wrote:..it didn't power any electrical outlets. I would have thought a $500 install would have included wiring it to the panel to power the outlets. It's in the shop now and I asked them about it, they said I would need a bigger inverter to power the outlets. I'm like, it's a 2000 amp inverter,.Bummer. I've never talked to an RV shop that knew much about inverters, and unless you tell them exactly what you want, it's a crapshoot. What kind of wire did they use to connect it to the batteries? (assuming they even did that.) Kinda surprised you took it back to the same shop.A bigger inverter to power the outlets? That's nonsense, unless you run your coffee maker and toaster at the same time. Sounds like all they did was hook it to the battery and you plug into it. That actually works ok, but you gotta turn off a few things, like the converter and the water heater. And you use your RV cord, not an extension cord... again, assuming that will reach.I'm like, it's a 2000 WATT inverter. Too bad you didn't ask here first. Oh well...

We had a 2000 watt inverter and Onan Generator installed after market. The installer added a second breaker box and breakers. Most of the outlets and maybe the microwave (can't remember) were redirected from the main breaker box to the auxillary box.A few of the outlets were not "redirected" to the new breaker box.It did not carry much of a load for any length of time. Further investigation showed that the wire used from inverter to batteries was not the proper size. The installer cut corners by installing the wrong size wire (#6) . . . it wasn't heavy enough. The manuals specify that "00" size wire should to be used, but he either didn't read the manual or didn't think we'd notice!

to have it wired to the outlets also means there needs to be a transfer switch to switch between shore power/generator and the inverter. you do NOT want to ever have inverter and generator/shore power connected to the outlets at the same time.!!!You also need to have it wired so the converter (charger) is NOT connected when the inverter is running. Otherwise the converter tries to charge the battery from the inverter connected to the batteries. Not good!When I installed mine, I added a subpanel and transfer switch. On the inverter, a 1000W sine wave, the inverter via the subpanel is only connected to outlets and microwave. will not power the fridge, converter, AC or water heater.

jcpainter wrote: Further investigation showed that the wire used from generator to inverter was not the proper size. I don't understand.. why a wire there?

You and the dealer negotiated for an inverter and installation. You paid...he/she provided the equipment but didn’t install. Give the dealer another chance. If they won’t, have it done right and sue them. All this is documented, correct? Not oral I hope.

Inverter install by dealer | Good Sam Community

39 Replies

Ron3rd
Explorer III
Apr 30, 2018
time2roll wrote:
Nope. Just 300 watts.

Yes it just powers a tv, dvd, Chromebook and other small items as needed. Has run the fridge when the propane would not ignite.

Me too

Just use my little 350 watter to power the tv, DVD etc
BFL13
Explorer II
Apr 30, 2018
I find the "divide by ten" rule works fairly closely with inverter draws. If the 120v appliance pulls 900w, it is about 90 amps draw.

You can't go just by the watts label on the appliance, but it gives you some idea of what it will want. You can see on the inverter's watts read-out what it actually pulls.

Also a microwave pulls less from a MSW inverter than from a PSW inverter, but it also has lower cooking power. Some MSW inverters have a hard time with microwaves and other inductive loads. Pick a MSW inverter that is rated to run "motors" for best results if you don't go to PSW.
MrWizard
Moderator
Apr 30, 2018
2000 'WATTS'

1000 'WATTS'

NOT AMPS

2000 watts, 12v battery bank roughly 165 Amps draw

1000 watts roughly 87 amps draw
SoundGuy
Explorer
Apr 30, 2018
allen8106 wrote:
You don't need a bigger inverter. The inverter needs to be properly wired into the campers 110v electrical system. Then you just can't run anything that exceeds 2000 amps for a single appliance or as a combination of several appliances.

I have a 1000 watt inverter wired into my 110v system and it works flawlessly, I just can't run anything over 1000 amps which gets us by just fine.

Methinks you're confusing "watts" with "amps" ... BIG difference. Heck, around here all the houses including mine are wired with 100 amp service, 1000 amps around here would power 10 houses. :S

And FWIW, nominal voltage here in N America is 120 vac +/- 5%, not 110, not 115, not 117 as once was the case many, many, many, many years ago. :W
allen8106
Explorer
Apr 30, 2018
You don't need a bigger inverter. The inverter needs to be properly wired into the campers 110v electrical system. Then you just can't run anything that exceeds 2000 amps for a single appliance or as a combination of several appliances.

I have a 1000 watt inverter wired into my 110v system and it works flawlessly, I just can't run anything over 1000 amps which gets us by just fine.
2001400ex
Explorer
Apr 28, 2018
time2roll wrote:
Yes switch off the converter. May as well switch off water heater and air conditioner too. Set the fridge to propane only as it might be connected to GFI or General circuits.

Yeah my fridge can go on propane of course. My hot water heater has 2 options, one for propane and one for electric. Of course would put that on propane.

Thanks for the reply!!
time2roll
Nomad
Apr 28, 2018
Yes switch off the converter. May as well switch off water heater and air conditioner too. Set the fridge to propane only as it might be connected to GFI or General circuits.
2001400ex
Explorer
Apr 28, 2018
So I got a hold of the dealer yesterday and picked up fifth wheel. They want another 6 hours of labor to run it right. Whatever, guess that's my bad for not dealing with it last summer.

I took a pic of the fuse panel. If I switch off "converter" before I run the cord from the cable outside to the inverter, will that work?

Thanks again for everyone's input!!!
DiskDoctr
Explorer
Apr 23, 2018
2oldman wrote:
DiskDoctr wrote:
I'm guessing the "you need a bigger inverter" suggestion means they were using the built in transfer switch in the inverter?
'Bigger' wouldn't be the word that comes to my mind if referring to a transfer switch, but as I said, RV techs don't know a lot about this stuff.

I was thinking "bigger" referred to the amps the inverter's built-in transfer switch was designed to handle. With an inverter less than 30amps, maybe they figured your "30 amp coach" couldn't be be fully supplied.

I had a similar concern, didn't want to buy a larger inverter (cost + standby power). I had a choice between a smaller pure sine wave (1800w/2100w surge) and a larger modified sine wave. Also due to the discussions and info here, I went with PSW, which is better for our needs.

You remember, thanks ;)

Obviously, I'm just speculating as to 'why' the techs suggested a larger inverter ;)
DiskDoctr
Explorer
Apr 23, 2018
joebedford wrote:
Is your 20 receptacle really directly fed from shore/generator power or is it from the 120V distribution panel?

The input from the shore power cable into the ATS lugs is double tapped from the shore power cable side to provide a 20 amp receptacle into which the new Progressive Dynamics converter/charger is plugged.

Also, do you have another ATS in the Shore power / generator block (that you've left out for simplicity) or do you manually plug shore power into the generator?

We have a TT, so the generator is external (Champion) and we do set it up using a 25ft 30 amp extension cord connected to the shore power line.

The goal of that connection is to only power the converter/charger when the shore power cable was energized.

It was a brilliant suggestion from the folks here. REALLY simplified things and made it "idiot proof"

Only thing I have to worry about is turning off the inverter if we won't be using it for an extended period...and that is only for wear and tear purposes (or we want to have the TT powered down from AC for an extended period like a really long tow).

The standby on our inverter is so low, not even worth turning on/off.

I posted the link as well, so others can follow the thought process and discussions that lead to this setup.

Did that answer your questions? ;)

Edit to add: I think this is the ATS wiring diagram.