SteveAE wrote:
We almost are never plugged in. I have a 2000 watt inverter, solar charger and regular charger (I disabled the "stupid converter") under the bed. The bed is in the front of the trailer so it's all close to the four batteries on the tongue allowing for short lengths of heavy wire to connect it all. I started out with a fancy automatic transfer switch, but changed it to a much more reliable manual two position - center off electrical switch. All outlets (including the AC which the inverter can't run but it's doesn't take a rocket scientist to simply not turn it on) are powered which makes life super simple. Wife loves being able to use the microwave. I run the refrigerator and water heater on propane. If we accidentally overload the inverter (which has only happened when I tested it to see what would happen) it simply drops off line until the overload is resolved. It took some time and money to put together, but this systems works well for us. You can get fancy and get an inverter/charger that is smart enough to take power from wherever you have it available (shore power, the batteries or both), but this isn't as economical as a little $70 switch in an electrical box.
Thanks Steve. I like it when people who have actually done something share their experiences rather than like some who just spew theory and assumptions based on their imagination.
We run everything off solar and wind right now already in our previous trailer but have it separate from the trailer's electrical system, simply because I didn't trust it not to be working right in the first place. We just picked up a replacement trailer where everything does work, so I wanted to just eliminate a lot of the double work and extra set up I had in the old trailer.
