Today's Inverters - What's Good?

[dedmiston]

I haven't shopped for an inverter in ages. We installed a nice big Xantrex in our last toy hauler eleven years or so ago. I don't remember spending an arm and a leg, but it was very high quality. I had Camping World install it and they wired it so the inverter would power the entire coach. Perfect.

I assume things have evolved and technology has improved in the decade+ since I last shopped for inverters. I’m looking for info and advice on what’s good these days. Ideally I would like to power every 110 outlet again so we don’t have to pick and choose which outlets can run off inverted power.

As far as usage goes, it would be nice to run a TV or two. Everyone will have their gizmos plugged in to recharge. The most important use case is to run some medical equipment overnight.

The two things that seem to be different about our new toy hauler:

* It’s HUGE, but it doesn’t have a ton of 110 outlets so the power consumption probably won’t be extreme.
* It has two televisions installed, versus the zero TVs we had in the old rig. It also has a functional HD antenna that makes it possible to watch OTA channels. I assume the family will turn them on more often now that it’s so simple to get a signal. Time will tell.
* I’ve only been able to find one 12v outlet so far. Our old rig had quite a few 12v outlets that we could use for charging phones, etc. Not this one.

Thanks in advance for guidance and wisdom, or smart a$$ comments.

[2btowed]

Installed a Magnum 2500w inverter/charger when my trailer was new in 2006.It has had no problems and will run micro with TVs on,Dish etc.Charges up to 120 amps and has 3 charge levels plus you can manually equalize your batteries.My first 6 costco 6v lasted 5years,my second set of 4 costco batts lasted 6years.I wired it so all plugs are hot when inverter on,makes it simple.Has feature to start genny when batts low but never bought the adapter for it.Has remote panel to make things easy.Yes it was pricey,but has been the best addition that I have done.The only thing you have to watch out for is that it will blow out 12v phone chargers,since it goes over 14.4 volts and 15v sometimes to finish a charge.I got the modified sine-wave,and will upgrade to a pure sine wave if replacement is ever needed,since some electronics like UPS will not charge at present time.

[Blackdiamond]

smkettner wrote:
I have and recommend Go Power sine wave. You probably only need 300 to 600 watts unless you want coffee or microwave then go 2000 watts and 4+ batteries to drive it.

I wired mine (300w) to the two strings of outlets only with two transfer switches.
Only issue to to make sure fridge is set to propane.

Probably, and just not run a/c or microwave off it. My installation would have been a major PITA to wire the whole coach because of battery location in comparison to breaker box location.

[windviewer]

One (long) opinion on inverters (handybob)

[eDUBz]

I just installed a 600w Samlex pst-600 pure sine wave and really like it. Im running 2 tvs.

[time2roll]

I have and recommend Go Power sine wave. You probably only need 300 to 600 watts unless you want coffee or microwave then go 2000 watts and 4+ batteries to drive it.

I wired mine (300w) to the two strings of outlets only with two transfer switches.
Only issue to to make sure fridge is set to propane.

[dedmiston]

Blackdiamond wrote:
I bought a Xantrex Freedon HF 1800, I use it to run tv/dvd and the CPAP at night. I only wired to to those locations. I has a 40amp charger an automatic transfer switch and a remote panel. Really nice for under $500

Could you have wired it to run the whole coach?

[Blackdiamond]

I bought a Xantrex Freedon HF 1800, I use it to run tv/dvd and the CPAP at night. I only wired to to those locations. I has a 40amp charger an automatic transfer switch and a remote panel. Really nice for under $500

[N-Trouble]

Probably get more responses in the "Tech" section as inverters are not TH specific but FWIW if you want to power all the outlets then just use the shore power cord to plug into an inverter. You'll have to switch the fridge to gas only mode and disable the converter (breaker) when doing this. I use a GoPower 300W pure sine wave inverter and have been very happy with it. My goal was to power/charge small electronic equipment, LED TV's, and electric blankets without having to run the genny. For making coffee we still have to run the onboard 4K Onan but not a big deal. I have 2-6V batteries and 160W solar