Inverter installed

[Carb_Cleaner]

I put a KISAE SW1210 Pure Sine Wave, 1000 watt inverter in our Wolf Creek 850 Truck camper.
It's mounted to a piece of 3/4 inch MDF that's over-layed with a piece of powder coated grey sheet metal (scrap from a standing-seam metal roof on a S&B). The instructions say to mount it to a non-flammable surface. I'm actually a little concerned by that requirement, but I guess it's a precaution. Two mounting bolts through-bolt the inverter, mounting board and the camper's plastic battery box. Two more screws go from inside the battery box into the back of the mounting board. I squirted a little hot glue behind the board before securing with the fasteners. The MDF's botton edge rests on the styrofoam support for the battery box.
The cables are #2 at 3' long with a 6" pigtail for the 100 Amp breaker The other ends poke through the back of the battery box (with grommets in the openings) and are secured to the two group 27 batteries. The chassis ground has a gold-plated lug with #8 and is barely visible in the last pic. Once I figured out where to mount the inverter, the rest fell in place pretty easy. The little square of plywood (the solar panel fuse is attached to it) in the pics was existing from the dealer and was mounted with screws/caulk, so I decide to work around it.
The only thing I've tried is a 25' drop light with a 60 watt bulb, which is plugged in for the pics. It worked. This is a cheap inverter, but I figured I'd take the gamble. We plan on running things like a 24" LED TV (it doesn't have a 12v wart), laptops, DVD/BlueRay player and/or a gaming console. A 110v LED droplight might be useful while setting up camp, too. It also has a 5 watt USB. I think our 900 watt microwave would be a bit much.
Inverter, cables and fancy-pants terminal covers from DonRowe.com.
Breaker from Solar-Electric.com
Questions, comments and criticisms/concerns are welcome.
View through the drawer holes:


Closer:


The 100 Amp breaker:

Connections and chassis ground:

[Steakman]

Very Intersting topic. I have been thinking about doing this to my rig as well.

Nice Install.!

stk

[ewarnerusa]

yeah, I've got a 150 A ANL fuse for my 1500 watt inverter and that is undersized for the max surge capacity. But I'm not planning on ever pushing the inverter that heard. In fact I tried my microwave which based on specs is right at the limit of the inverter's continuous rating and the inverter couldn't run it for more than a few seconds. Could be a number of factors, but bottom line is that my inverter is oversized for my usual needs. With solar, I'm not concerned about the parasitic draw from the inverter when it is shut off. A circuit breaker would certainly be handier and easier to cut the inverter out of the picture when desired though! Good thinking.

[Carb_Cleaner]

Yes. It does have a 2000 watt surge capability.
Specs: http://www.donrowe.com/KISAE-SW1210-Power-Inverter-p/sw1210.htm
I thought I'd err on the side of caution, rather than go to the 150 Amp breaker. If I find that the 100 Amp unit trips repeatedly and is too weak, I have some 150 Amp ANL fuses and a fuse block stored in the camper while I see how the inverter acts. It wouldn't be difficult to swap out the ANL holder for the breaker. If I get tired of pulling the fuse to eliminate the inverter's parasitic draw, I'll pick up the 150 Amp breaker. Hopefully, the 100 Amp breaker will be OK. Those suckers are expensive.
Fuses:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WK51U8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Fuse Holder:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KIR8M0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ewarnerusa]

Looks good. Is a 100 A breaker big enough? I figure a 1000 watt inverter probably has a 2000 watt surge capacity. 2000 watts / 12 V = 167 A.

[diveman52]

If I'm reading your description of the installation correctly? I read it as your positive (Red Lead) is #2? which is correct size but you Negative (Black) is #8?
You run the rick of overheating the #8 it should be the same size as the positive.
Using just a thin piece of sheet metal between the wood and inverter is not a good idea. At the least I would space the inverter 1/2" for air flow off the wood/sheet metal. the heat from the inverter will pass through the sheet metal into the wood

[Carb_Cleaner]

Compliment humbly received. Thank you. I thought protecting terminals that are so exposed and close together would be SOP. I think the 3' and 6" cable kits from DonRowe are a decent deal, when you consider the ready-made convenience. They include the beefy, high temperature terminal protectors, too. Other gauges and lengths are available.
6" breaker lead:
http://www.donrowe.com/product-p/awg2-6in.htm
3' #2 cable set:
http://www.donrowe.com/product-p/awg2-3.htm
The cables seem well constructed.
I'll keep an eye out for oozing hot glue. (LOL) Mainly, I used the hot glue as a third hand to hold the MDF in place while I drilled the 2 holes for the through bolts and 2 pilot holes for the screws from inside the battery box (into the MDF, but not protruding through). Clamping or bracing the MDF in place while drilling looked like a fruitless, frustrating endeavor, so I broke out the hot glue gun. The grey, metal skin on the MDF is held by the sandwich effect from the inverter's through bolts. The top of the metal skin is just a hair short of the MDF, so the cables won't rub on a metal edge.
Thanks, all, for the kind words. I was afraid it looked kinda hacked, but I worked with what I had and, so far, it works.

[TakingThe5th]

X2 on that nice job. I would be careful using hot glue tho around that project. That stuff can re-melt if too much heat is introduced. I think you are OK with what you have used but you may want to take another look. The way my luck runs, the darn thing would probably fall off just as the popcorn was ready to take out of that 900 watt microwave.

[westend]

Carb Cleaner wrote:
Unless it was sarcasm, in which case it's hilarious

No, brother, I was serious, compliment intended. Those terminal covers are a thing most folks would not even consider and are a step above, IMO. You also shrink wrapped other cable ends and that's also a good thing.

About the inverter orientation: I've wondered about this myself and the only thing I can assume is that it has to do is with thermal considerations. Fans and heatsinks are located for maximum dispersion of heat and the engineers are free to CYA about the orientation. If you're not operating at 100% output, I wouldn't worry.

[Carb_Cleaner]

"Termination skills", that's funny. All I did was bolt the cables to the components and slip the covers over the connections. The terminals were already crimped to the #2 welding cable. I appreciate the positive reinforcement and taking the time to comment, though. Unless it was sarcasm, in which case it's hilarious. I did attach the gold-plated terminal to the #8, years ago. It was re-purposed from an old car stereo install. I also threw on a fresh layer of shrink tube.
I bought a transfer switch from DonRowe, too, but I haven't installed it, yet. The plan is to tie into the existing outlet circuit at the camper's breaker panel. For now, an extension cord will be used to power our devices. I'm sure I'll get tired of tripping over it in short order, but I have other priorities between now and our next departure. Our situation requires remote storage, so, sometimes it can be a hassle performing modifications.
In a perfect World, with all the space that's available in a TC (LOL), I would/should have placed the breaker closer to the battery connection, but this spot makes it easily accessible from inside the coach, without being a contortionist. It's ignition protected, and I think I could have mounted it in the battery box, but I like the ability of being able to use the breaker as a disconnect to reduce parasitic draw without going outside. Speaking of space, the inverter is supposed to be mounted horizontally. I couldn't find a suitable place for that orientation. I'm not sure why it's spec'ed to mount horizontally for RV applications, but not other uses. Maybe, it'll shake itself apart. We'll see. I hope I didn't break too many rules on the install. Hmmmm. I wonder what I did with that fire extinguisher I bought 8 years ago?

[time2roll]

I think the breaker should be closer to the battery than the inverter.
Did you wire it to the 120v panel or just operate from an extension cord?
Looks like good work. I had no idea there was so much space in a TC.

[westend]

Nice work, CC. I like your termination skills.