To plug a VERY small inverter into the wall receptacle?

Doing this MALE to MALE plug from the INVERTER to the WALL RECEPTACLE will also back-feed the 120VAC Power Distribution Panel to the shore power plug which will be hanging there with HOT prongs on it as well...

It usually is the innocent animal or small child that gets zapped...

We camp off the power grid all the time in our OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer and use the POWER INVERTER to run several items in our trailer. My inverter started out small but after finding out how neat it was to have 120VAC available I ended up with a 600WATT AIMS PSW Inverter ($249 AMAZON).

This Inverter is permanently mounted close to the main battery bank switch on the 12VDC side and has two 120VAC receptacles on it. I run two multi-tap extension cords from here with one cord going to the home entertainment location and the other cord going to the bedroom nite table for more of the 120AC items we like to use. The two multi-tap extension cords are installed on the back of the cabinets with all of the wiring out of sight.

This INVERTER is always 'ON' even when we are at Electric sites. Being PURE SINE WAVE we don't ever have to worry about what gets plugged into it and going up in BLUE SMOKE.

Surely you being a senior member are aware of the problems of having a potential safety hazard using a double male 120VAC extension cord arrangement... This is a dumb idea...

Roy Ken

If I remember correctly, it takes a suprisingly small amperage at 120v to kill someone as in something like 0.1 amps.

You also have to ensure that it doesn't backfeed into the battery charger. If you are lucky, the inverter will have a fuse that simply trips. If it manages to stay going somehow, you are looking at least at a dead battery in a short time. Worst case, it could overload the inverter and start a fire.

Do it right or don't do it.

Do not make a male to male 12VAC electric cord.

There are several very good reasons to avoid this plan, in order of increasing importance:

1. It's easy to overload the inverter. This would also apply to plugging the shore power cord into it, but this is by far the least important of the concerns. Be careful to turn off all the unwanted power users, like the fridge (on AC), the A/C, the converter, etc.

2. If you accidentally leave the inverter connected when you then plug into shore power or start your generator, bye bye inverter and possibly hello spark and light show.

3. The shore power cord is live when the inverter is on, and has exposed prongs. Touching them would be bad, potentially fatal.

4. Should the suicide cord become unplugged, it has a live end sitting on the floor waiting to be stepped on. This could be bad, potentially fatal.

4a. Should you unplug the inverter end but leave the wall end plugged in and connect to shore power, you have the same problem, but with a larger current source that would be more likely to additionally cause a fire as well as posing an electrocution hazard.

For safety, all AC electrical plugs and sockets are arranged so that the socket (with the enclosed contacts) is live and the plug (with exposed contacts) is dead. Please don't defeat this system.

Yes that adapter is fine.

OK, got it. This adapter?

Fred - there is no 40A anywhere on the AC side. Inverter output is 1.5A max. This is one and a half amp. Computer strip won't help. Don't want strips, cords and wall warts on my night table, and the mirror is 20ft away - electric shaver... hello?... rings any bells? :)...

Hi,

Likely if you try it, you might get 'lucky' and only destroy the inverter before the fuse trips, and the trailer will not get damaged. Remember that the 120 volt to 12 volt 40 amp charger is on your receptacles, so while it might seem like a clever idea, it will not work.

In other words DO not try it.

I would recommend a simple computer strip (without lights that will use up battery power) and plug in your cords to that power strip, and this will leave things organized. ..

good luck,

Fred.

Main cord into the inverter. You may need an adapter.

Need to disable the converter and turn the appliances off or set to propane only.

SMK, without being rude I don't see what I can plug the main cord into ;)

:E NO :E

Plug the main cord in or install a transfer switch.

Yaj - mess of extension cords will kill me sooner. Simply by driving me mad.

I can wire the AC-AC pigtail to wall receptacle permanently, so there will be no exposed hot male plug. Though the only thing that this exposed plug could kill, would be an inverter itself. We are talking 1.5A.