Truck Camper adding inverter

If a microwave uses 1500 watts it is using about 125AH. Or about 21 AH of battery power for 10 minutes. (not counting line and inverter losses) This isn't an issue if you have 100AH available (full battery in your case).

The issue will most likely be that despite cable sizes being correct your voltage sag will be over 1 volt with your battery bank and probably down to a point the troubles the inverter trying to make that much momentary power. When you dip down to 11v range inverters will typically shut down or not deliver adequate power. 1 minute or 10 the voltage drop will make it tough on the battery and inverter, if it will perform at all.

Burning man makes a very good point regarding solar. If you are supplementing the battery with solar that enters the equation. But...

IMO sizing inverter and battery for high load applications should be done without calculating solar input for momentary loads. For one, the solar you have mentioned is a small fraction of the microwave load, two solar is a battery charging mechanism not a constant load output.

That’s not quite the point I was making.
I didn’t mean that small solar panel will increase the max output any significant amount. You’re right, the batteries will be doing all the heavy lifting.
I meant you might get ten minutes of cumulative total microwave use if it’s all in short one or two minute bursts with the solar recharging the batteries in between.
Depending, of course, on how long it is between those uses of the micro.

work2much wrote:
Yes, we have a 2800 watt magnum inverter that powers the entire camper. I believe you will see too much voltage sag with only 2 group 27 batteries.

This thread got me looking at inverters again and this post had me looking at Magnums... pricey.


I have a some questions for those who have added inverters to their TCs.

A. Where did you put the inverter and why?
B. What would you do differently?
C. Is it worth getting an inverter with a builtin transfer relay switch?
D. What inverters should I absolutely avoid?

Freep wrote:

work2much wrote:
Yes, we have a 2800 watt magnum inverter that powers the entire camper. I believe you will see too much voltage sag with only 2 group 27 batteries.

This thread got me looking at inverters again and this post had me looking at Magnums... pricey.


I have a some questions for those who have added inverters to their TCs.

A. Where did you put the inverter and why?
B. What would you do differently?
C. Is it worth getting an inverter with a builtin transfer relay switch?
D. What inverters should I absolutely avoid?

I mounted the inverter in the battery compartment. The battery bank is in the genset compartment. The inverter has a transfer switch eliminating the need for the stock transfer switch. I recommend magnum and victron for large inverters. Aims is reported to be good unit as well and less pricey.

I installed the inverter in a small storage compartment right above the battery compartment. I ran 4/0 cable from the batteries to the inverter, it is either 2' or 3' runs. The inverter is a Xantrex PROWatt 2000, I think it was about $400.

I don't use a transfer relay switch in my setup. I wired a dedicated outlet to the inverter, and use that whenever I'm using the inverter. I guess I like to know when I'm drawing off the batteries. I figured if the shore power came unhooked or went out for some reason, I didn't want the inverter to kick in and start drawing on the batteries without me noticing.

The outlet is in a central location, reachable by the Keurig or the wife's hairdryer. If I want to run the microwave, I have to use an extension cord.

Hi,

You may find the 3012 a bit better buy than the 2800 and it is hybrid as well, which makes it ideal for the times where there is only 15 amp shore power, or a generator.

I mounted mine behind the driver's seat, because there was enough space to do so, and it is right above the OEM battery bank. I use the inverter as a "whole house" but do have one "dedicated" inverter outlet in the Kitchen. That outlet has a circuit breaker on it (20 amps). I use thirty amp plugs so I can "patch around" the inverter. That proves useful when I come across shore power with GFCI. Some of those do NOT like the Magnum and trip immediately. However, I can not do "double conversion" with the Magnum as the inrush current blows the reverse polarity fuses in the OEM PD converter. I get around that by temporarily disconnecting the converter, if I have a load greater than 15 amps I wish to run.

What I would do differently:
I would use larger wire than #10 on the 120 volt side.

Transfer switches:
I don't prefer transfer switches but with the Magnum hybrid there is no choice, as it is built in. I try to not plug in with any items on to reduce arching inside the switch.

Inverters to avoid:
Many of the Chinese PSW inverters are suspect.

Freep wrote:


This thread got me looking at inverters again and this post had me looking at Magnums... pricey.


I have a some questions for those who have added inverters to their TCs.

A. Where did you put the inverter and why?
B. What would you do differently?
C. Is it worth getting an inverter with a builtin transfer relay switch?
D. What inverters should I absolutely avoid?

This is the inverter I am using. I bought it on Amazon, and it was about $200. The price was attractive and I like red. Oh yeah, it’s pure sine, too. Unless it dies an early death, I’m happy as a clam with it.



I put it here, just above the step into the cabover bed. My 18 year old TC has a battery box big enough for ONE group 31 battery. There isn’t a good place to add extra batteries without doing major remodeling, so my goal has been to make the most of what I have. The route the cables needed to take to reach the battery made them just under 6 feet long. I’m using 0 AWG Temco fine strand welding cable with crimped lugs. It’s very flexible and easy to work with.



I also cleaned up the wiring in the battery box by adding buss bars just outside the box to make the connections that were all on the battery posts. The battery box is on the other side of this panel I made.



If the converter in your camper includes a smart battery charging unit, then I don’t think a hybrid inverter Is really necessary to get some load sharing, because your generator or solar system is going to do whatever it can do through the battery charger or solar controller when you’re using the inverter anyway.

I don’t want the inverter trying to power anything I don’t have plugged directly in to it, so I didn’t buy one with a transfer switch.

The inverter is used to run the microwave when shore power isn’t available, and to run the fridge in AC mode while driving. Most of the time (>95% of the time) when we’re dry camping, the Yamaha 1000 is running in the evenings anyway. I don’t want to have to start the big Generac that’s built in to the camper just to use the microwave for a few minutes. The microwave will run off the inverter for nearly an hour if the Yamaha is helping to support the load. If the battery is at full charge, it will run the microwave at least 15-20 minutes on its own.

The cabling is obviously very important. The cable I used doesn’t even get warm when pulling almost 100 amps from the battery continuously.

:):)

I run a 1500W inverter from a single 100AH AGM battery. The inverter is connected with a 12 inch long ground 2AWG cable and an 18 inch long 2AWG positive cable. It is used mainly to run an 80W compressor fridge while driving. The battery charges from the truck alternator while driving so it's always at full charge when we get to where we're going. We also use it to power a PS4 and a 25 inch LED flat screen as well as 2 power supplies for our laptops for our evening's entertainment. One of these days I'm going to try and power our 700W microwave for a couple minutes with it :-) We also have a EU2000i but don't always have control of where or when we can run it.

Update:
I've decided to go with the AIMS 3000 inverter and the Go Power TS-30 30 Amp Automatic Transfer Switch. This way I do not have to pick and choose which 110 outlet gets the inverter power or install new one.

More to come.

computermonkey wrote:
Update:
I've decided to go with the AIMS 3000 inverter and the Go Power TS-30 30 Amp Automatic Transfer Switch. This way I do not have to pick and choose which 110 outlet gets the inverter power or install new one.

More to come.

With your stated config, be sure to shut down the converter charger and switch the refer back to LPG.