Crazy inverter question

[Devind33]

I just installed 2 100 watt panels on my toyhauler. Now I want to install an inverter. So what I am wondering is can I install my inverter then run my plug from the trailer to the inverter to power all the outlets in the Trailer? I have a 1200 watt inverter with transfer switch..

[FLY_4_FUN]

Devind33 wrote:

FLY 4 FUN wrote:
I just did the exact thing that DSDP Don has described. I found the circuit that I wanted to power up ( 6 plugs plus fridge) and connected just as described. My Xantrex 1800 pro has a built in transfer switch so when dry camping I just switch my fridge to lP and selected plugs are hot (including tv/stereo). If I plug into a pedestal the 110v passes through my inverter and powers all the items on the circuit and of course I put my fridge back to auto. Remote on/off for inverter is also handy. Inverters with this feature cost more but worth it to avoid having to switch breakers etc.

So do you have to turn off the converter or or does the transfer switch take care of the need to do that? Thanks I'm really inexperienced with trailers.

I chose to power up a circuit that was just my plugs and fridge at the rear of my rv. My converter was on another breaker that powers my front plugs/gfci so those remain dead with inverter operation...so pretty foolproof. Perhaps next summer I will wire up a sub-panel and do those plugs as well but then I shall move my converter off that circuit and give it a dedicated breaker. Flipping it on/off to avoid the power loop is not cool in my opinion except when doing a cheap whole house plug cord in and keep loads low scenario.

Daryll

[Devind33]

DSDP Don wrote:
"Devind33"......From the description of your inverter with transfer switch, it should "pass thru" power. This means that when you hook up to shore power, the inverter basically shuts down and uses shore or generator power.

Thanks I thought so but I keep confusing myself. I like to over complicate everything

[DSDP_Don]

"Devind33"......From the description of your inverter with transfer switch, it should "pass thru" power. This means that when you hook up to shore power, the inverter basically shuts down and uses shore or generator power.

[Devind33]

I like this idea as I only need a few outlets to run. So just to make sure I understand I can keep the inverter on all the time regardless of if the generator is running? The inverter does have a transfer switch but it's only 10 amps

[hedge]

I also wired mine the same way and this way you do not have to turn off the battery charger of the converter... but it has nothing to do with the transfer switch.

The transfer switch is between the breaker and the rest of the circuit. If it has power from the converter/breaker it uses that to feed the circuit but if no power is received from the converter the Inverter can supply the power.

The disadvantage is that it only provides power to that circuit instead of the entire rv like plugging in the shore power cord would provide.

[Devind33]

FLY 4 FUN wrote:
I just did the exact thing that DSDP Don has described. I found the circuit that I wanted to power up ( 6 plugs plus fridge) and connected just as described. My Xantrex 1800 pro has a built in transfer switch so when dry camping I just switch my fridge to lP and selected plugs are hot (including tv/stereo). If I plug into a pedestal the 110v passes through my inverter and powers all the items on the circuit and of course I put my fridge back to auto. Remote on/off for inverter is also handy. Inverters with this feature cost more but worth it to avoid having to switch breakers etc.

So do you have to turn off the converter or or does the transfer switch take care of the need to do that? Thanks I'm really inexperienced with trailers.

[FLY_4_FUN]

I just did the exact thing that DSDP Don has described. I found the circuit that I wanted to power up ( 6 plugs plus fridge) and connected just as described. My Xantrex 1800 pro has a built in transfer switch so when dry camping I just switch my fridge to lP and selected plugs are hot (including tv/stereo). If I plug into a pedestal the 110v passes through my inverter and powers all the items on the circuit and of course I put my fridge back to auto. Remote on/off for inverter is also handy. Inverters with this feature cost more but worth it to avoid having to switch breakers etc.

[DSDP_Don]

"Devind33".....There is a cleaner way with less worry to achieve your goal. On your new inverter, you should have a 110 volt (IN) connection and a 110 volt (OUT) connection, since you said it had a transfer switch.

You'll need two lengths of Romex that are long enough to reach from your new inverter to the breaker panel on your trailer. If you can identify a breaker in your 110 volt breaker panel that powers the items (outlets) you want to use, you just disconnect the wiring (Romex) from the output side of the breaker, and wire nut one of the lengths of Romex to it. The other end of that Romex is connected to the 110 volt (IN) side of your new inverter. The other piece of Romex is connected to the 110 volt (OUT) side of the inverter and connected to the breaker where you removed the first Romex connection.

Basically, you're running that one breaker through your new inverter and then back to the outlets that it supplies. It's a pretty easy job as long as you can feed a couple leads of Romex up to your breaker panel. Run the Romex through some flexible electrical pvc under the coach between the two.

If you new inverter has two outputs, you could run two circuits form your circuit breaker to the new inverter, giving you even more inverter powered outlets.

No matter what you do, the inverter needs to be mounted as closely to the batteries as physically possible. The shorter the 12 volt cables the better.

[2oldman]

Devind33 wrote:
Also is there a better way to run the outlets? Mostly looking for the two TV's one in main cabin one in the bedroom

I intercepted the shore feed to the main box with my hard-wire inverter/xfer switch. Works well. SPST kill switch on converter. HW breaker off.

Your plug-in way is by far easier, just depends on how often you have to do this.

[Fire_Instructor]

I run my converter, with the fridge on propane and the inverter breaker off, exactly as described. I have a pair of 150w panels, and four 6v golf cart batteries for my battery bank.

[DrewE]

lawrosa wrote:

ScottG wrote:
I added a HD, 20A light switch for the converter. I used its wire that went to the breaker and rerouted it to the switch. Then I added another wire back to the breaker.

Doesnt that charge wire charge more then 20 amps depending on convertor?

But I guess for whatever reason its on a 20 amp breaker...

Wouldnt a battery disconnect suffice?

You're confusing the AC side of the converter with the DC side. The DC wires can carry more than 20A and are what the converter would be rated at. (That is to say, a 60A converter is claiming to be able to supply 60A DC at, say, 13.6V.)

The AC input requires much less current due to its higher voltage. Assuming the converter is perfectly efficient and has a perfect power factor, the AC current requirement would be somewhere between an eighth and a ninth of the output current. The power input would equal the power output. Real converters are not perfectly efficient, and tend to have relatively poor power factors, so the ratio is actually closer to maybe a sixth.

Disconnecting the AC side is preferable to disconnecting the DC side because the converter uses some power even when disconnected from the DC circuitry, and also because a suitable AC switch is a lot easier to find and less expensive than a high current DC switch.

There are other things that you generally would want to make sure are turned off when using inverter power: the fridge's AC element (i.e. set it to gas only mode), the water heater's electric element if it has one, the air conditioner....

[lawrosa]

ScottG wrote:
I added a HD, 20A light switch for the converter. I used its wire that went to the breaker and rerouted it to the switch. Then I added another wire back to the breaker.

Doesnt that charge wire charge more then 20 amps depending on convertor?

But I guess for whatever reason its on a 20 amp breaker...

Wouldnt a battery disconnect suffice?

[pianotuna]

Hi,

It is possible to extract the circuits you wish to power connecting them to an external breaker box with a transfer switch to automate the operation.

I prefer to power everything in the RV.

[Devind33]

Also is there a better way to run the outlets? Mostly looking for the two TV's one in main cabin one in the bedroom