2004 Southwind 32V routing inverter for TV and Sat receiver

[DAS26miles]

A friend of mine just bought a 2004 Southwind and wants to install an inverter for the 110v TV and Sat receiver. Has anyone out there done this upgrade? The MH still has the old analog TV and they may want to upgrade that to a flat screen or get the converter box which also runs on 110v.

[tropical36]

DAS26miles wrote:
A friend of mine just bought a 2004 Southwind and wants to install an inverter for the 110v TV and Sat receiver. Has anyone out there done this upgrade? The MH still has the old analog TV and they may want to upgrade that to a flat screen or get the converter box which also runs on 110v.

An over the air box, might cost as much as a new TV these days and you still have junk that has now way of bringing in crisp clear HD signals. There's a variety of ways for mounting a light LED flat screen and I've done them by closing in the hole and mounting a swing arm type mount. Then using a strap for folding and holding it still when going down the road.
My inverter installs have been more successful with hard wiring heavy cables to the batteries and using short runs. Even though it doesn't take much, I install a 1000watt and use it for other things, like the fridge as well. You can usually find a neat way to go through the floor with a new run, if not tying into the existing outlets and even if you need an extension cord to the TV for this. Some find it easier to supply the whole coach and if so, one must be careful to shut down most all other circuits, before turning on the inverter, to prevent overload and unnecessary power draw on the batteries. You can get by with two batteries for a night in most cases, if you're careful and we only run the fridge on inverter, when going down the road. Not so with a residential, of course, but they are energy efficient and it would be better with 4 batteries.

[DAS26miles]

I think the smaller inverter for just the from TV and sat receiver is the way to go.
He's not going to spend big bucks $$$ to change the system.

As for the making coffee, My DW and I use Melita coffee and filter grounds holders. Quick and easy on the stove.

[usersmanual]

DAS26miles wrote:
I got to Glamp with my friend this week and found there is a 12v power lead in the front overhead cabinet next to the 110v old Panasonic analog TV and Direct Tv receiver. I think a 400 watt inverter may be enough to power those 2 devices. But he asked about powering the bedroom TV that is also a 110v analog Panasonic TV and the DW's electric coffee maker. That's a bit over my head as an inverter would have to be hardwired from batteries to inverter to a transfer switch. I'm not sure. maybe the Southwind already has one since it seems automatic going from shoreline power to genny.
Any comments and advice would be appreiciated.

The SP/gen system transfer switch has no bearing on anything regarding adding a inverter nor will it ever come into play even if u add a inverter. Large factory inverters have their own internal transfer switch. Don't confuse the two(transfer switches) as there same theory for different reasons
If it were me I would doing the plug in 400 units for the two Tv and boiling my coffee on the LPG stove.OR for the 15 minutes it takes run the generator you will need to run it anyhow if you run a sat receiver and two TV for any length of time to recharge the batterys unless your hitting the road
Life without COFFEE sucks what can I say

[DrewE]

There's a big difference in scale between powering everything from an inverter and powering a TV (and video box) from an inverter, as you realize. For just the front and back TVs, the simplest and cheapest approach I think would be to have two little inverters that use a lighter plug to connect to the DC sockets that are there. It would not be a bad idea to replace the televisions with newer ones particularly if they're CRT televisions or if your friend would ever like to watch over-the-air television broadcasts.

Coffee makers, being heating appliances, tend to be fairly power hungry, though the exact requirements do vary considerably. Some small personal ones are around 300W, while some of the Keurig models use over 1500 watts.

While there is a transfer switch for the generator, you'd need an additional transfer switch for the inverter (or else set things up so that the shore power cord plugs into a socket powered by the inverter, which is more or less equivalent) in order to power the entire coach from it. You also need to remember to turn off various things, such as the converter and water heater (if electric) and air conditioner and usually the fridge. A more foolproof approach is to segregate the AC circuits in the motorhome and only switch some of them over to inverter power using some manner of transfer switch. Many larger inverters have a transfer switch relay built in. All in all, it is a significant project, doubly so if the battery bank must also be enlarged to reasonably power the inverter.

Using the generator for the coffee maker or using a non-electric stovetop coffee maker of some sort is in many ways easier. There are endless threads here on coffee making equipment. I find it hard to have too much of a preference myself since I personally find the taste of coffee rather revolting, though I do enjoy a good cup of tea.

[DAS26miles]

I got to Glamp with my friend this week and found there is a 12v power lead in the front overhead cabinet next to the 110v old Panasonic analog TV and Direct Tv receiver. I think a 400 watt inverter may be enough to power those 2 devices. But he asked about powering the bedroom TV that is also a 110v analog Panasonic TV and the DW's electric coffee maker. That's a bit over my head as an inverter would have to be hardwired from batteries to inverter to a transfer switch. I'm not sure. maybe the Southwind already has one since it seems automatic going from shoreline power to genny.
Any comments and advice would be appreiciated.

[DrewE]

DAS26miles wrote:
Any idea what that big square Panasonic analog TV draws on an inverter?

You'd have to look on the back or use something like a kill-a-watt meter to figure it out for sure. If it's a CRT television of reasonably large size, it might be something like 150 watts, more or less, with a pretty substantial range of "more" and "less." If it's a plasma TV, it would likely be higher; if an LCD, lower.

[DAS26miles]

Any idea what that big square Panasonic analog TV draws on an inverter?

[DrewE]

For just a modern flat-panel TV and a satellite receiver box, a little 300W or so inverter should be plenty, and if there's a lighter plug at the television set you probably could get away with just plugging the inverter in there. It doesn't get much easier than that. I have this basic setup in my motorhome.

Edit: I maybe should say in my case it's a DVD player and a TV, but the basic idea is identical.