Newbie power question

[EmergencyNrse]

Shore power and everything works
GenSet on and everything works

Battery power alone and I'm limited to 12-volt system only?
I have lots of battery capacity, shouldn't the inverter run the 110 outlets when not connected with a shore line?

What am I missing or doing wrong? Thank you in advance.

[time2roll]

With just 4 batteries I think best to stay with 2000 watts max.
Will run any one large item and all the small stuff as needed.

[Ivylog]

Of the items you listed, the coffee maker is the biggest energy hog at 1200 watts... no need for anything more the 1500W inverter. A 2000W inverter will run the microwave but if you are cooking, not just warming up something... crank the generator when cooking with it or an induction cook top.

I can run a Sat receiver/DVR and a LED TV on a 300W inverter. I agree with DrewE that you probably only have 460 amps of battery and if you actually used 3500W they would not last very long.

[EmergencyNrse]

Tinstar wrote:
Simplify it for me. What items are you wanting to run on 120 volt power? You'll likely get better information that will be helpful to you.

I just want the ability to pull into an area and utilize the capacity in my house batteries without shore power. Nothing that would be considered an energy hog like a space heater or A/C unit.
I want power to the 110v outlets that are already wired in the coach. I'll be powering a TV, DVD/Stereo, box fans, Coffee maker, blender, charging phones, flashlights and stuff. Right now those outlets are dead w/o running the GenSet or slave cable.
With my Kill a Watt I have estimated 110v drain @ 19 Ah/day if I'm running my stuff all the time. Plenty of capacity IF I can tap it...

I think the 3000, 3500 watt Inverter is the solution. All I need now is the right YouTube video to help me install it without burning to death or electrocuting myself.

[Tinstar]

Simplify it for me. What items are you wanting to run on 120 volt power? You'll likely get better information that will be helpful to you.

[DrewE]

EmergencyNrse wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
i have only (1)question
how do you figure you have 920 amp hrs of battery

lol..... I probably don't
I was estimating my x4 Ultra High-Cap Duracell house batteries.
Factory rated @ 230 Ah each. = 920 Ah. Perchance I miscalculated?

Those are (almost certainly) 6V golf cart batteries, connected in series-parallel to make 12V. The overall capacity of the system is 460 Ah at 12V. With a little rewiring you could indeed have a 920 Ah 6V battery bank, but of course that would not be very useful for powering 12V electrical devices. (You could also have a 230 Ah 24V battery bank, as well.)

This sort of confusion is very easy to get into partly because Ah are a measure of charge, not energy, and what we're really interested in is energy storage. I think it would be less confusing overall to think in terms of kWh, but pretty much nobody specifies RV battery banks that way.

[EmergencyNrse]

MrWizard wrote:
i have only (1)question
how do you figure you have 920 amp hrs of battery

lol..... I probably don't
I was estimating my x4 Ultra High-Cap Duracell house batteries.
Factory rated @ 230 Ah each. = 920 Ah. Perchance I miscalculated?



Thank you to everyone for your input. I'll look into adding an AIMS 3000w inverter to the mix. Should be enough to handle all my power requirements.

[Ivylog]

OP, the item pictured in your last post is a 50 amp battery charger.

[MrWizard]

i have only (1)question
how do you figure you have 920 amp hrs of battery

i have (5) 102# of AGM telco ups server batteries and thats 675 amphrs max
337 ampHrs to the 50 percent SOC level

IF you have (4) 6v golf car batteries, you have approx 440 ampHrs total discharge and 220 ampHrs to the 50 percent level

(1) 6c battery is 220ahr at 6v, (2) in series is 220ahr at 12v
(2) pairs parallel is 440ahr at 12v

[time2roll]

EmergencyNrse wrote:
Is it possible to add an inverter to the system to tap my battery stores when boondocking?

Yes!

[time2roll]

EmergencyNrse wrote:
Not all-knowing in the ways of the world is there a dual purpose unit that does both? From the responses so far I'm guessing not.

You can get an inverter-charger. This would provide 12vdc power when 120vac is available from plugged in or from Jenny.

Would also provide 120vac as long as your battery is charged up to provide the power.

All fairly automatic.

[time2roll]

EmergencyNrse wrote:
When my Jenny is running wouldn't there need to be an inverter to receive that D/C energy and turn it to 110 A/C power?

Jenny creates 120vac direct. No up conversion from 12vdc.

[time2roll]

EmergencyNrse wrote:
I'm not an electrical engineer but it was my understanding that in order to utilize 12-volt D/C power for 110-v A/C application an inverter was required.
Also, a converter applies 110 A/C to 12-v D/C power. Yea? No?

Yea, converter takes utility 120vac or jenny 120vac and makes 12vdc for general use and charging the battery.

[wa8yxm]

Oh one last item.. If adding a battery.. How much battery?
Recommended is one pair GC-2 (220 amp hour at 12 volts per pair) per 1,000 watts
If you plan on running an air conditioner.. Double that at the minimum.

[wa8yxm]

Inverters come in several "Flavors" for practical discussion

Most RV's as factory shipped: NON EXISTENT.. that is you don't have one.
I added one to mine (The 2nd flavor: After market) 2,000 watts More on that later

Factory installed, Small, medium, large And more on that

Small inverters generally 300-600 watts, Run the RV and related electronics, that's all folks (That was the factory option on my Rig)

Medium may add some outlets (say 1,000 watts)
2,000 (Well any over about 1500) adds the microwave
And really big (3,000 or more) May even run an A/C if you have enough battery (you don't trust me there you don't) and a big enough engine charge system (Alternator, and again you don't).

Mine is 2,000 watts, runs TV et-al, GFCI outlets, Optionally oher outlets, (Manual switch) and Microwave.. NOTE: when running ALL outlets I have to be careful not to overload.

And the last pair of pair of flavors

Inverter/converters or Inverter/Chargers These are the "Electronics" part of a UPS in some cases (or at least an IPS) mine switches from LINE to Inverter fast enough that the TV does not even blink...

And "Stand Alone" it only Inverts, That's 12 volt to 120 volt (Mine is configured that way, even if it can charge, I use a different converter)

Most RV's including mine, come from the factory with just a CONVERTER (makes 12 out of 120) Mine came with a darn good one.

THe final choice.. MSW or TSW (Psw) Choose the latter, avoid MSW.