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:

[MrWizard]

For most RVers MW serves two duties - boiling water and reheating leftovers, and either one can be done perfectly well on propane stove.

We do at least 90% of our cooking with the MW
Of course in many thing I've never claimed to be like most people

[AH64ID]

My Dewalt charger works fine on my MSW inverter.

[ewarnerusa]

Carb Cleaner wrote:
The 300 watt unit won't drive my cordless drill charger. It's a Radio Shack, cigarette-lighter plug deal. A 400 watt inverter I've had for some time won't, either. Both the 300 and 400 are MSW.
I probably won't have two laptops, a television and a gaming console going at the same time, but I might. If I did, my two group 27 batteries might not last too long. I picked up a Kill A Watt monitor, so I'll get a better picture of what's going on (plus, it's a cool toy).
Kill A Watt Consumption Monitor

MSW warning re: some cordless power tool chargers
It's possible your cordless drill charger isn't compatible with MSW as described on that link? I have never had an issue with my Dewalt cordless drill charger and my 300W PSW inverter.

[Carb_Cleaner]

The 300 watt unit won't drive my cordless drill charger. It's a Radio Shack, cigarette-lighter plug deal. A 400 watt inverter I've had for some time won't, either. Both the 300 and 400 are MSW.
I probably won't have two laptops, a television and a gaming console going at the same time, but I might. If I did, my two group 27 batteries might not last too long. I picked up a Kill A Watt monitor, so I'll get a better picture of what's going on (plus, it's a cool toy).
Kill A Watt Consumption Monitor

[Almot]

Carb Cleaner wrote:

I had not heard of these{inverter MW}. A quick Google revealed a few different models. Very tempting.

It would've been tempting if there were any numbers of energy efficiency comparing inverter MW to a regular one. For those who do a lot of cooking on MW in their homes, inverter model is probably a good choice because it cooks "smooth-er", without intermittent heating-cooling of old magnetron technology. But for RV - I don't even know what the fuss is about. For most RVers MW serves two duties - boiling water and reheating leftovers, and either one can be done perfectly well on propane stove.

A proven way to reduce the energy draw of the MW, be it an inverter model or a regular, is getting a smaller one, 0.7 - 0.9 cu.ft, with LCD display (not LED), and with mechanical timer.

SMK is right - the sweet spot is 300W inverter for low-power devices and 2,000W inverter for high-power ones. That is, if you have those "high-power devices". Mostly, it's MW, coffee maker, hair drier, some toasters. Yes, you can camp for a while without any of those.

It's odd that your low-power A/C loads exceed 300W. Shouldn't happen, unless you run your DVD, gaming console, and laptopS (how many??) - all at the same time. I was unable to exceed the capability of 170W inverter, with just me in the trailer. There is no gaming console, of course.

[Carb_Cleaner]

ewarnerusa wrote:

I think the way to go is with the inverter microwaves. They apparently actually reduce the power load when you turn down the cook power rather than just cycle full power on and off.

I had not heard of these. A quick Google revealed a few different models. Very tempting.

[RoyB]

I was just reading the INSTALL guide for the KISAE SW1210 Pure Sine Wave and it asks for a 150ADC fuse or breaker for the SW1210 model. Full load for the 1000WATT Inverter will be around 80AMPs DC not counting loses. 150AMP fusing sounds about right to be on the safe side. My 1500W AIMS PSW Inverter is using a 175AMP Blue Sea fuse block setup.

INSTALL GUIDE


Nice install job... Looks very professional...

Roy Ken

[ewarnerusa]

Carb Cleaner wrote:
Yep. I went overboard with 1,000 watts. I have a 300 watt, and it doesn't pass the muster. A 600 watt unit may be the Goldilocks. As far as the microwave goes, I guess sometimes we gotta remember we're "camping".

I think the way to go is with the inverter microwaves. They apparently actually reduce the power load when you turn down the cook power rather than just cycle full power on and off. So you can dial the cook power down until it is low enough for your inverter to run it. But you also have access to a full power microwave if you're on hookups. I don't own one, but many times I've considered updating our microwave so we could run it off the inverter. Then, like you say, I remember that we're supposed to be camping.

[time2roll]

Sweet spot is 300 watt for low power stuff and a second inverter of 2000 watts for the big stuff :B

[Carb_Cleaner]

Almot wrote:
With your stated loads a 300W inverter would do, but 1,000W will probably make you feel better 🙂

Yes, 900W microwave is a little bit too much for 1,000W inverter. If it says 900W on the label, it's a cooking power, and the input is about 1,400W.

Yep. I went overboard with 1,000 watts. I have a 300 watt, and it doesn't pass the muster. A 600 watt unit may be the Goldilocks. As far as the microwave goes, I guess sometimes we gotta remember we're "camping".

Mongo68 wrote:
Nice install. Get the remote switch for $20 @ DonRowe when you wire it into the coach breakers. You wont have to crawl in there to turn it on and off...

Right on. The remote switch is in the box with the transfer switch, awaiting install. I haven't hammered out exactly where I'm going to put it. It comes with a sufficiently long cord, so options are wide open. My objective was to get the inverter functional for our next trip. I'll have more time, later, for the peripherals. Plus, waiting makes the fun last longer.

[AH64ID]

Nice install. We did an inverter install this spring and it's amazing how handy it is, considering we try to only boondock.

[Mongo68]

Nice install. Get the remote switch for $20 @ DonRowe when you wire it into the coach breakers. You wont have to crawl in there to turn it on and off...

[Almot]

With your stated loads a 300W inverter would do, but 1,000W will probably make you feel better 🙂

Yes, 900W microwave is a little bit too much for 1,000W inverter. If it says 900W on the label, it's a cooking power, and the input is about 1,400W.

[Carb_Cleaner]

diveman52 wrote:
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

I don't know how I missed it, but I just noticed your post.
The Chassis Ground is a #8. The Pos. and Neg. battery leads are both #2. You can see the black #2 zip-tied to the red #2 and a stretch of #8 going the other direction along the side wall.
I guess I was hoping/assuming the unit wouldn't get that hot. The metal skin is 24 gauge steel. At .024", not very thick. Having a little air under the inverter wouldn't hurt. I'm sure I have a few washers around here that I can stack. I might have some proper, metal spacers. I'll need longer mounting bolts, too. I guess I didn't think far enough past the instruction's direction to mount it to a non-flammable surface. Good lookin' out. Thanks.