Any advise in attaching an inverter to my coach battery?

[precioustime]

I have a Class C Thor Siesta 2014 with a satellite dish on the roof for easy tv reception. If camping in a state park where there is no electrical hookup would this inverter be sufficient for tv reception if the sky above me is clear? How does that work? What wattage is recommended just for tv use? How do you wire the inverter-to the coach battery? What price range is reasonable? Any good brand? Where to buy it? Will the coach battery suffer if the tv is on for 3-5 hours? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

[2oldman]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Wouls not this be bettet addressed in the TECH FORUM ? 🙂

This is 'Leave 'em where they lie" week.

In Class A there's a post about Canadian online meds and a route bypass around Birmingham.

[wa8yxm]

Advise; Mount inverter in the compartment NEXT to where the batteries live (not in the same air space) Use wire at least one size larger than the inverter maker recommends Tape the positive and negative wires side by side (Bundle) for as much of the run as possible.. Connect DIRECT to the battery via a proper size fuse (As recommended by inverter maker) do not run through disconnect switches of any kind.

That is all I can give you. Source: Xantrex customer support years ago + Experience.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Wouls not this be bettet addressed in the TECH FORUM ? 🙂

[tenbear]

I assume you are asking about running your satellite system, not just a small TV. You need to know how much current the system takes. While the antenna is searching it probably draws the most current but I'm just guessing.

Your battery must supply the current for the TV system plus whatever else is running, the refrigerator, water pump, lights, etc. Good battery management is important, don't let your battery be discharged below 50%, that's about 12.1 volts with no load.

To much to guess at.

[2oldman]

valhalla360 wrote:
Search the site for similar threads. There is a lot of info already out there.

In Tech issues.

Don Rowe site Inverter FAQ
Inverters by Phred
inverter thread

[valhalla360]

Possibly fine but you need more info:
- The TV should have a wattage rating on the back. You need to provide an inverter that at least matches that. If you are running any other a/c loads, you need to account for those also.
- Preferably the inverter should be a pure sine wave type or at least a modified sine wave or it could fry your electronics.
- Short thick wires are good but probably not critical if you are running just a small TV drawing maybe 60watts. Ideally, the inverter should be close to the batteries. The lower the voltage the more wiring length is an issue, so you want the 12v wiring to be short. Of course, that is less convienent for turning the inverter on and off. But for 4-5amps for a small TV it's not really critical.
- How big is your battery bank? A single starting battery and 4-5hrs of TV may leave you with a dead battery in the morning, particularly if the battery is getting old. You may want to consider a seperate house battery bank with deep cycle batteries but how big depends on what else you want to run off battery power.
- How many days will you sit in one spot watching TV? If you travel every day and some days are spent in a park with electricity, it's less of an issue. If you park for 4-5days, the suggestion to set up a solar system starts making more sense.

Search the site for similar threads. There is a lot of info already out there.

[time2roll]

I have and recommend 300w GoPower sine wave inverter.

I connected mine behind the electric panel. 12v supplied by the main battery connection. Add a small transfer switch to connect to the single 120v circuit needed for tv & satellite. All built in and automatic.

Yes I recommend you have minimum two batteries and change the most used lighting to LED to save additional power.

If you do this a lot and mostly park in the sun consider 100 to 300 watts of solar.

[pianotuna]

Make that fat short wires.

[2oldman]

This inverter? How does what work? 300w. With fat wires. $150. Samlex. Online. Depends on condition of battery. Welcome.