I'm in the process of purchasing an Outdoors RV Creekside 20FQ. I'm having the dealer add a few things such as a 150 watt solar system and a Go Power 600 watt inverter. I will have two Lifeline AGM 6 volt batteries with 220AH. I would like to mount the inverter in the pass-through area near the batteries and then add a 30 amp plug to the output of the inverter. When dry camping, the shore power cable will be plugged-in to the inverter to supply power to the electrical outlets in the trailer. When running the inverter, the converter will be turned off, the fridge and water heater will be on propane. I have looked at the two AC appliances that we might use and each one is 200 watts or less and would only be used for a few minutes each day. We would not have more than one appliance turned on at the same time. Other usage would be to charge cell phones or a laptop computer.The dealer is saying that I will quickly run out of battery power by plugging the shore cable into the inverter. I don't understand why because the only AC power consumption will be the appliances plugged-in to the outlets. The dealer says that the only way they will do this type of modification is if I have four 6 volt batteries with a 2500 watt inverter. Am I misunderstanding something? Can I supply power to the trailer's electrical outlets as described above?

Unless I'm mistaken this means feeding several receptacle branch circuits with one power source. Jpining the wires ino onr circuit

600 watts divided by 120v is 5 amps, so you won't have much power available.You might be better off to have one outlet installed and powered from the inverter. Anything you want to plug in can be plugged in to that one outlet.

MikeInOregon wrote:The dealer is saying that I will quickly run out of battery power by plugging the shore cable into the inverter. I don't understand why because the only AC power consumption will be the appliances plugged-in to the outlets. The dealer says that the only way they will do this type of modification is if I have four 6 volt batteries with a 2500 watt inverter.It never ceases to amaze me how otherwise supposed professionals can be so ignorant when it comes to electricity. He's either that, or dishonest, or isn't paying attention to what you're saying.You'll be just fine with your intended use.

Hi,You do need to disconnect the converter and set the fridge to propane. Of course the water heater would overload the inverter--so it needs to be on propane too.Be aware that a 200 watt load translates to 20 amps of load on the battery bank.

I have 2 6v batteries and a 150W purse sine wave inverter connected to one of the outlet circuits via a 15a transfer switch. In fact it's on right now, charging my laptop as I type this. It's all the power we need to charge phones/tablets/laptops and watch TV. Anything bigger would kill the batteries too quickly.Of course with 4 batteries and a 2500w inverter you could run the microwave for 3 or 4 minutes also....

Use inverter to power electrical outlets | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

the_bear_II
Explorer
Jan 13, 2015
We have two 12v batteries powering an inverter basically the way that you describe. We can run two 120v lights, TV, Sat Box and laptop for over 6 hours off of the inverter before batteries die.

We don't have the refrigerator or water heater on electric only propane when boondocking. We do have two separate 12v house batteries for 12v needs.
DrewE
Explorer II
Jan 13, 2015
If you leave the inverter on for long periods of time (even when it's not powering anything) it will consume a nontrivial amount of power... 0.9A if it's their pure sine wave model, or 0.2A if it's their modified sine wave model, according to the Go Power website. For charging cell phones, you're likely better off using a 12V car charger than a 120V charger powered by the inverter.

Other than that, you should be OK. You are probably losing some power to unnecessary "phantom loads" such as the microwave clock (assuming you have a microwave), the TV's standby power supply (assuming you have a TV), etc. For relatively short-duration usage, they're probably not worth losing sleep over.
azrving
Explorer
Jan 13, 2015
If someone forgets and the hair dryer gets plugged in there may be an unusual odor.
BurbMan
Explorer II
Jan 13, 2015
I have 2 6v batteries and a 150W purse sine wave inverter connected to one of the outlet circuits via a 15a transfer switch. In fact it's on right now, charging my laptop as I type this. It's all the power we need to charge phones/tablets/laptops and watch TV. Anything bigger would kill the batteries too quickly.

Of course with 4 batteries and a 2500w inverter you could run the microwave for 3 or 4 minutes also....
pianotuna
Nomad III
Jan 13, 2015
Hi,

You do need to disconnect the converter and set the fridge to propane. Of course the water heater would overload the inverter--so it needs to be on propane too.

Be aware that a 200 watt load translates to 20 amps of load on the battery bank.
2oldman
Explorer II
Jan 13, 2015
MikeInOregon wrote:
The dealer is saying that I will quickly run out of battery power by plugging the shore cable into the inverter. I don't understand why because the only AC power consumption will be the appliances plugged-in to the outlets. The dealer says that the only way they will do this type of modification is if I have four 6 volt batteries with a 2500 watt inverter.
It never ceases to amaze me how otherwise supposed professionals can be so ignorant when it comes to electricity. He's either that, or dishonest, or isn't paying attention to what you're saying.

You'll be just fine with your intended use.
Bobbo
Explorer III
Jan 13, 2015
600 watts divided by 120v is 5 amps, so you won't have much power available.

You might be better off to have one outlet installed and powered from the inverter. Anything you want to plug in can be plugged in to that one outlet.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Jan 13, 2015
Unless I'm mistaken this means feeding several receptacle branch circuits with one power source. Jpining the wires ino onr circuit

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Use inverter to power electrical outlets

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