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StartingNewChap's avatar
Jul 01, 2019

Running Air Conditioner Via Inverter while Towing/Driving

I am considering buying a 3000 watt inverter for my travel trailer. I would like to run my air conditioner whiling driving to my destination. My hope is that short stops for lunch can be accomplished in a comfortable trailer. The specs on my 20 amp air conditioner states is uses about 2700 watts to start then 1300 to run. I have 270AH batteries that I hope will supplement the startup power needed. I am wondering will my alternator on my Jeep Grand Cherokee provide enough power to run the tow vehicle, run the air conditioner and charge the Jeep and trailer batteries? I could not find any definitive answers from Jeep.
  • I believe that the Renegade brand of Class C Super C has a dedicated Inverter to power the front coach air conditioner while going down the road. I'm not sure how many batteries the Renegade has. I'm assuming a bigger capacitor or the soft start module to help with start up.

    Advantages of not running big diesel Onan. Obviously the power has to come from somewhere. If it has the same Cummins as my super C, then it has a 270 amp alternator to charge the batteries.
  • IMHO, A method with a reasonable cost and ease of install follows. Have a fabricator build a shelf on the back of the rv. If has a rear bumper that can be modified as well if you concerned about a rear end collision mount it high. You can also fabricate a shelf that rides above the tanks on the front of the trailer frame. A Honda 3000 weighs 134 lbs, dry. A good shop can build a unit to that easily would support 175 to 200 lbs. Run a 30 amp cord to the regular power port on the RV. The Honda has a remote start as an option. Set your RV A/C to and start the gennie as needed. The 3000 does not immediately send power when started, as there is lag for gen to come up to speed. Should be able to get this done for under 3k and you now have a power source when dry camping.
  • I use a system that works for us. Because I use a pickup, my exact setup would not work for the OP, but perhaps just knowing it can be done and how, you may get some ideas. I use a Victron inverter/charger and 6 Lifeline 6 volt batteries in series/parallel. Single aught gauge interconnections. Double aught cables to/from inverter from the batts. The Victron has some pretty nifty features that allow you to charge and run AC with lower wattage shore feeds. I blew 300 amp fuses multiple times testing the system on AC so there are very high currents involved here. I never tried to run the AC all day. I envisaged being able running the AC at noon rest stops. During testing i could run the AC for 55 minutes on low fan. The inverter/charger will put around 60 amps (depending on temps) to the batteries with a 30 amp shore line. I have a '17 truck with dual alts. I have obtained a supply of 0 gauge cable and intend to interface the batts with the truck's system. There hasn't been much urgency because we typically camp at no service campgrounds and such for 2 or three days. The batts will run the micro, cat warmers, electric blanket, TV, etc for two days. If we will be staying longer, we bring twin connected Hondas and slam the batteries as hard as possible. Lifelines were chosen because they have nearly unlimited charge and dischargw rates. The batts and inverter fit in a aluminum in bed tool box. Your results may vary.

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