Running trailer from tow vehicle inverter

afidel wrote:
The stock alternator on my vehicle is 170A (~2kw), plenty to power a 1500W inverter. The only thing I don't know is if the truck is smart enough to do a high idle if the battery voltage goes low, typically idle alternator amperage is half of rated full load. I've actually thought of doing the exact same thing since the muffler on my truck makes it about 100x quieter than even a Honda inverter generator and a 1500W inverter is a heck of a lot cheaper than said generator. Idle fuel consumption is only about 2x what a 3k generator uses at 80% load (or whatever the non-idle fuel consumption is quoted at) and I have a 26 gallon tank instead of 1-2 gallons for most generators.

For sure, there's a lot to be said for the idea of using a dramatically quieter truck instead of a so-called "quiet" inverter genset which in reality is anything but, despite that the pundits may clamour over the "inefficiency" of using such a large engine for this purpose. :R I suppose for those who do nothing but dry camp they have a point but for those like the OP who are only looking to this idea as an infrequent alternative to solar charging because the sun isn't out this may not be a bad idea after all. My own Silverado has a 145 amp alternator, I have a 1000 watt PSW inverter currently mounted in the trailer that I could instead also use for this purpose, so I too am thinking it might be worth experimenting with to see how well this might work. Alternately, another idea would be to instead invest in a DC > DC charger like this CTEK 250SA which has dual inputs so it can not only be powered by the truck's electrical system but can also serve as a solar charge controller.