One large inverter or 2-3 small ones?
So as I get closer to adding solar (or at least a larger battery bank) to my RV, I have more questions than I started with! Big thanks to the folks who have helped me along so far. I found a great...
Forum Discussion
Hi Jeff,
My system uses a 30 amp female outlet that is powered by the inverter. This "aux" outlet is in the shore power cord box, so when I unplug from shore power I plug into the inverter.
As others have mentioned, this allows running the fridge on 120 volt while driving as the engine alternator carries the load.
I have a manual plug for the converter, so I simply disconnect it, when using the inverter.
There are some other advantages to being able to plug and unplug just the converter, such as turning the RV into a large uninterruptible power supply by running an extension cord to just the converter.
I would run #10 wire from the inverter back to the shore power cord box inverter powered outlet--some day you may wish to upsize the inverter.
On the DC side, use the largest wire that will fit the inverter terminals, and move the unit as close to the battery bank as is humanly possible without it being in the same box. Don't forget to allow for a catastrophic failure fuse. The fuse should be sized to the DC wiring, or the surge value of the inverter, which ever is lower.
I do have DC disconnect switches between the battery banks and the inverter. I want to know that the power is truly *off*.
Since you have found a new location for the battery bank, I suggest increasing the size of the charging wire from the alternator, or even getting an external device attached to the alternator to allow for greater charging currents.
Are you going to keep the existing battery bank intact? I did when I went from 3 OEM jars to 7 in total.
My system uses a 30 amp female outlet that is powered by the inverter. This "aux" outlet is in the shore power cord box, so when I unplug from shore power I plug into the inverter.
As others have mentioned, this allows running the fridge on 120 volt while driving as the engine alternator carries the load.
I have a manual plug for the converter, so I simply disconnect it, when using the inverter.
There are some other advantages to being able to plug and unplug just the converter, such as turning the RV into a large uninterruptible power supply by running an extension cord to just the converter.
I would run #10 wire from the inverter back to the shore power cord box inverter powered outlet--some day you may wish to upsize the inverter.
On the DC side, use the largest wire that will fit the inverter terminals, and move the unit as close to the battery bank as is humanly possible without it being in the same box. Don't forget to allow for a catastrophic failure fuse. The fuse should be sized to the DC wiring, or the surge value of the inverter, which ever is lower.
I do have DC disconnect switches between the battery banks and the inverter. I want to know that the power is truly *off*.
Since you have found a new location for the battery bank, I suggest increasing the size of the charging wire from the alternator, or even getting an external device attached to the alternator to allow for greater charging currents.
Are you going to keep the existing battery bank intact? I did when I went from 3 OEM jars to 7 in total.
