inverter
if im correct the inverter inverts battery power to 120 for certain outlets. if inverter is bad but im plugged into shore power will it trip gfi or not allow outlets to work.
Forum Discussion
Inverters usually come with two 120VAC receptacles on their front panel. Alot of folks myself included run a couple of extension cords from these two front panel receptacles into the trailer with one going to the home entertainment area and the other going to the bedroom area. I hid my extension cords using wire managers from LOWES or run behind cabinets etc.. Nothing is visible except the multi-tap end of the extension cords where I plug in 120VAC items.
I started out with a 150WATT MSM Inverter, immediately went to a 300WATT PSW Inverter and finally ended up with a 600WATT PSW Inverter. It seems once you start using them you will find more and more "must have items" connected to the emergency power grid when camping off the power grid. MSW Inverters are not all that expensive these days and with one you don't have to ever worry about what someone is going to plug in to one. I guess I burned a transformer powered Fan, a electric blanket controller, noticed anythig that uses a transformer supply always got almost too hot to touch, no clocks ever worked again after being plugged into MSW Inverter etc. It was wise for me to go with the Pure Sine wave models. I still use my MSW Inverters usually for outside lights when camping off the power grid.
You can also spend some monies and have a lot of headaches and install a manual or auto transfer switch and have some of your existing 120VAC Receptacles around your trailer to be fed by the standard 120VAC Power Distribution Panel or by the Inverter. This could automatic as well and when not on Shore Power it will autoswitch these dedicated 120VAC trailer receptacles to your Inverter.
I only use my Inverter to run most of the Home entertainment items and have several must have 'ON' items available to use when camping off the power grid. Using the two dedicated 120VAC multi-head extension cords works great for me... I have mine installed on the back of the cabinet table top and all you see is the multi-tap 120VAC power head. My multi-head tap has a built-in ON-OFF switch as well.
Inverters are inherently power hungry meaning you will need a beefed up battery setup if you plan to use the inverters. Inverters will draw some serious AMPS from your battery setup. Inverters also generate RADIO NOISE which may interfere with your radio operations - tears up my Ham Radio operations real bad.
Roy Ken
I started out with a 150WATT MSM Inverter, immediately went to a 300WATT PSW Inverter and finally ended up with a 600WATT PSW Inverter. It seems once you start using them you will find more and more "must have items" connected to the emergency power grid when camping off the power grid. MSW Inverters are not all that expensive these days and with one you don't have to ever worry about what someone is going to plug in to one. I guess I burned a transformer powered Fan, a electric blanket controller, noticed anythig that uses a transformer supply always got almost too hot to touch, no clocks ever worked again after being plugged into MSW Inverter etc. It was wise for me to go with the Pure Sine wave models. I still use my MSW Inverters usually for outside lights when camping off the power grid.
You can also spend some monies and have a lot of headaches and install a manual or auto transfer switch and have some of your existing 120VAC Receptacles around your trailer to be fed by the standard 120VAC Power Distribution Panel or by the Inverter. This could automatic as well and when not on Shore Power it will autoswitch these dedicated 120VAC trailer receptacles to your Inverter.
I only use my Inverter to run most of the Home entertainment items and have several must have 'ON' items available to use when camping off the power grid. Using the two dedicated 120VAC multi-head extension cords works great for me... I have mine installed on the back of the cabinet table top and all you see is the multi-tap 120VAC power head. My multi-head tap has a built-in ON-OFF switch as well.
Inverters are inherently power hungry meaning you will need a beefed up battery setup if you plan to use the inverters. Inverters will draw some serious AMPS from your battery setup. Inverters also generate RADIO NOISE which may interfere with your radio operations - tears up my Ham Radio operations real bad.
Roy Ken
