Anyone install an 30 amp receptacle outside for inverter?

[Bigfoot2005]

Hi guys

I am thinking of installing an inverter inside the front cargo hold and running a wire to the outside to a 30 amp receptacle so that I can plug my trailer plug into it when I want to use the inverter for power.

Has anyone done this? If so, can you share some pics and how you did it?

Thanks

[SoundGuy]

SoundGuy wrote:
I installed a 1000 watt PSW inverter in the trailer's front pass through cargo compartment and ran a cable from one of the 120 vac outlets down through the trailer floor to the outside world and terminated the cable with a female Leviton WetGuard connector.

philh wrote:
How was the inverter wired into the battery(s)?

Group 31 AGM sitting in the front pass through cargo compartment, used 18" 4 gauge cables from the battery to the inverter input.

[77rollalong]

I have done a similar thing with out motorhome, have 3 deep cycle going into the rv through a 50A circuit breaker, and off the batterys through a 150A circuit breaker to the inverter. Have put in a 40A contactor that closes when on shore power to supply power only to the interior outlets. when no shore power or generator the contactor opens, and will feed power to the interior outlets only, and not to the microwave, AC or to the charger...

[JesLookin]

time2roll wrote:
No. I installed a transfer switch. Touch the remote button inside and power is there. No hassle, no fuss.

I added a transfer switch also. Then ran the wire that powers the converter into the transfer switch, then added a relay inside the transfer switch to automatically turn off the converter when the inverter is powering the camper.

[philh]

SoundGuy wrote:

I installed a 1000 watt PSW inverter in the trailer's front pass through cargo compartment and ran a cable from one of the 120 vac outlets down through the trailer floor to the outside world and terminated the cable with a female Leviton WetGuard connector. It was used mostly for the convenience of plugging in a fan, etc but if I connected a dogbone to the trailer's main service cable I could power the entire trailer with the inverter, I just had to remember to shut off the converter in order to avoid a closed loop.

How was the inverter wired into the battery(s)?

[azrving]

time2roll wrote:
No. I installed a transfer switch. Touch the remote button inside and power is there. No hassle, no fuss.

Me too, I guess I didn't know what I was doing back then. 🙂

[time2roll]

No. I installed a transfer switch. Touch the remote button inside and power is there. No hassle, no fuss.

[pianotuna]

X3 on mouse hole--which is exactly what I did. A 30 amp female plug powered by the inverter.

[2oldman]

DrewE wrote:
What I would suggest (to accomplish what you're trying to do) is putting the receptacle in the compartment with the inverter....

x2

[DrewE]

What I would suggest (to accomplish what you're trying to do) is putting the receptacle in the compartment with the inverter, or most likely use the one on the inverter with an adapter for the 30A shore power cord, and then install a standard RV cord compartment door with the "mouse hole" in the storage compartment door. When using the inverter, snake the shore power cord through the mouse hole door in the compartment door and hook it up. Nothing is exposed to the weather, nothing is too hard to wire or install, and it all looks reasonably decent.

[SoundGuy]

CA Traveler wrote:
A 1000W inverter will only supply 8.3A and a common household extension cord could be used if desired.

And if you do use 8.3A AC the battery draw will be about 90A DC and batteries discharge in a hurry.

Any size of inverter can be used to power the trailer "whole house" as long as one limits total draw to within the inverter's rating. Before I wired my own inverter to dedicated receptacles inside the trailer I did use it to provide whole house power by simply plugging the trailer's main service cable into a 30 amp female > 15 amp male dogbone and in turn plugging that into the inverter output I had wired out to a female Leviton WetGuard receptacle. Worked just fine as long as I remembered to turn off the converter. :B

[CA_Traveler]

A 1000W inverter will only supply 8.3A and a common household extension cord could be used if desired.

And if you do use 8.3A AC the battery draw will be about 90A DC and batteries discharge in a hurry.

[CA_Traveler]

Bigfoot2005 wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:
There are a variety of cord covers that you can install in the floor and then route the 30A plug inside the compartment for the inverter.

Sounds like a 20A plug would also supply adequate power.

Does the receptacle not need to be a 30 amp for the trailer plug to fit?

The plugs have to match.

But you should carry a 30/20A adapter. And a 30/50A for some CG pedestals.

[Bigfoot2005]

SoundGuy wrote:

Bigfoot2005 wrote:
This is exactly what I am looking to do. Do you have any other pics on the install?

Here's a series of pics of my inverter installation. Click on "i" at the top right of any pic for a text description.

Awesome, thank you

[Bigfoot2005]

2oldman wrote:
What do you do when the battery(ies) need charging?

I have a generator that is allowed to run at certain times of the day. Usually between 9-11 am and 6-8 pm. I charge the batteries then