Inverter Question

Hi,

I have both a dedicated inverter outlet and also a way to feed the shore power cable. It works well for me.

Just remember to turn off the devices you do not wish to be powered such as the converter, fridge and electric water heater.

93STPD wrote:
a PW1100-12 Power Bright inverter. My question is, can I hook this to my battery and then plug my shore power line into it. ...to run the TV and Sat. box. .

Yes, but, that's a pretty cheap inverter and sometimes electronic devices don't like them. For your use I would have suggested a much smaller PSW unit.

I just bought a PW1100-12 Power Bright inverter. My question is, can I hook this to my battery and then plug my shore power line into it. I don't plan on running the microwave or anything like that. I just want to use like 2 outlets to run the TV and Sat. box. I'm going to Montauk beach camping but if it rains I want to have something for the kids to do.

Gdetrailer wrote:
Then you should stop whining about folks with chinese gens parking beside you.

And this nasty comment has *what* to do with inverters?

smkettner wrote:

We will still complain about the generator running all day just to watch a movie on a nice day. Chinese, Japanese, USA made does not matter.

X2

Gdetrailer wrote:

2oldman wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

Not to mention getting all the family members to remember to turn the inverter OFF when no longer needed, hence the comment of leaving it on 24/7 which WILL happen.

Mine's on all the time. Ain't no thang.

Then you should stop whining about folks with chinese gens parking beside you.

My PV1250 inverter is a rather smart inverter, it KNOWs when a AC load is present and turns on and when the load is turned of it turns off. Saves a lot of battery capacity, lessens that length of gen run time required.

Hard to conserve battery if your inverter is running 24/7, a lot of Ahrs are being burned up by an idle inverter (Up to 2.5A per hr).

2oldman's solar could idle 5 inverters and not be a worry.
We will still complain about the generator running all day just to watch a movie on a nice day. Chinese, Japanese, USA made does not matter.

mena661 wrote:

otrfun wrote:
I'd like to permanently hardwire the inverter to the battery (with suitable heavy gauge wire), then run some romex or equivalent from the inverter output to an AC receptacle mounted outside (near the frame area), directly underneath the TT's outside power input receptacle.

That sounds like a good plan. Any reason why you want this receptacle outside?

Good question. My TT's main power input receptacle (L5-30P male connector with a flip cover) is mounted on the outside wall. I have to connect my power cable (with L5-30R) to this connector to power my TT. I don't have any outside storage areas to place a receptacle or store power cables. So, I figured the safest place to place the inverter output receptacle was underneath the frame rail, directly below the L5-30P connector, and away from the elements as much as possible.

Yes a dedicated outlet to have the inverter power available to the main cord is fine. Dedicated outlet in the RV is fine too.

Just don't back feed a branch circuit.

I understand you want to use your King Kong 3000w inverter and IMO if you can do fine with 150w to 300w it is much easier to wire in permanent.

otrfun wrote:
I'd like to permanently hardwire the inverter to the battery (with suitable heavy gauge wire), then run some romex or equivalent from the inverter output to an AC receptacle mounted outside (near the frame area), directly underneath the TT's outside power input receptacle.

That sounds like a good plan. Any reason why you want this receptacle outside?

Appreciate everybody's inputs!

I'm aware that without investing in a huge bank of batteries one cannot run high current devices, or run low/moderate current devices for long periods of time. In addition, to conserve every bit of battery power, one should make sure the converter is off, and the water heater and frig are both running in gas mode. Plus, I'm also aware that devices with higher current drain may deplete the battery very quickly, requiring repeated recharging of the battery (via generator or shore power).

FWIW, my TT's breaker panel has individual breakers for the a/c, microwave, converter, GFCI outlets, and frig. When running on inverter, my plan is to turn off all the breakers except the breaker for the GFCI outlets. However, like any plan, it's open to failure. This leads me back to the two concerns which I mentioned in my original post (resulting from the failure to turn off applicable breakers): 1) overload, because I tried to inadvertently use the a/c or microwave, and 2) leaving the converter on with the TT external power cord connected to the inverter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems the general consensus is that neither one of the two aforementioned scenarios will damage the a/c, microwave, converter, or inverter.

From my perspective, the simplest inverter installation would use alligator clips to connect an inverter to the battery and extension cords to run power from the inverter to small appliances inside the TT. A bit crude, but it works. What I would like to do is reduce this clutter of wires without a complex install. I'd like to permanently hardwire the inverter to the battery (with suitable heavy gauge wire), then run some romex or equivalent from the inverter output to an AC receptacle mounted outside (near the frame area), directly underneath the TT's outside power input receptacle.

When I need power, I simply plug the TT's power cord into the appropriate power source: inverter (via frame mounted receptacle below the TT outside receptacle), generator, or shore power.

Have I missed anything? Especially from a safety perspective?

Thanks again for everyone's input!