Inverter question.

[Danasdaddy2002]

Alright. So I was looking around for a way to run power through my outlets without having to be connected to my house or campsite.
I came across a post somewhere on here saying that they connected an inverter close to their batteries and plugged the 30 Amp RV power cord, with an adapter, into the inverter.
Is this a safe method?
Thanks for any help.

[Danasdaddy2002]

Wow! Great feedback everyone. Thanks a lot. Deffentily a lot to take into consideration I see when doing something like this.
Gotta make sure to get a good inverter, a good battery/batteries and maybe a switch for the converter. Either that or do like mentioned and turn of breakers.
Wanna get started now! 🙂

[relaxin]

Thats_Ok wrote:
Ouch a little on the inverter prices for Canadian buyers.

😞

The 600 watt inverter looks to be the best deal.
Shipping is high though.

YUP the great Canadian gougefest,, we are use to it, why do you think alot of us shop over there, some handfull of bone heads are gouging the******out of us on some prices. what is the most ignorant of all in that is when the item is made here, in Canada and we have to pay more than south of the border or anywhere else in the world for that matter

[deleted-2]

Ouch a little on the inverter prices for Canadian buyers.

😞

The 600 watt inverter looks to be the best deal.
Shipping is high though.

[Veebyes]

$159 for a pure sine wave inverter! You know what is said about things that look too good to be true. Never heard of Motomaster either.

Be very aware of what the inverter is powering & how much available power you have in the battery bank.

If you are going to wire the inverter so that it could power everything you had better remember to turn some circuit breakers off before turning the inverter on otherwise expensive things might happen.

For a start turn the circuit breakers for the water heater & fridge off along with the circuit breaker supplying the microwave.

[wny_pat1]

Thread on wind-sun.com: Motomaster 1000W Pure Sine for 159$ - should i get it?

[relaxin]

keep in mind that if you do plug in your shore cord to an inverter, your fridge will most likely automatically switch over to AC, it will be a drain so manually switch it back to propane

if your going to get new or dual batteries I use to have a pair of srm-4d's from interstate, could run my TT for 5 days no prob with a movie each night, lights water pump, exhaust fan when cooking, so I imagine with solar panels constantly charging each day you could run a microwave or other stuff, I doubt the AC though for more than 20 minutes.

[Peg_Leg]

The problem with plugging in the 30 amp cord:

Battery supplying power to inverter,
inverter supplying power to converter,
converter supplying power to battery.

One big loop. None are 100% efficient, so each time the voltage is stepped up or down there are losses. Then you have a lot of small things drawing power that you don't even think about, lights in microwave controller, everything that has a remote and if you forget and leave the fridge on automatic.

one fully charged deep cycle battery will not make 3 pots of coffee using a Mr. Coffee. This was direct hookups with nothing else to draw power.

[time2roll]

Is the drill battery powered that needs recharge or an 12 amp 120v industrial hammer drill?

Otherwise for small stuff I use 300w Go Power sine wave inverter.
Plug the main cord in is fine as long as fridge and water heat are set to propane only and converter, microwave, air conditioner stay off. You need 1800 watts and four batteries to run the microwave.

I power my tv, dvd, laptop and charge small items with a Go Power 300w sine wave inverter. You might be fine with 150 watts.

I mounted the inverter hidden behind the fuse-breaker panel. 12v connects to the main battery feed to the panel. 120v is wired into the entertainment area circuit with an automatic transfer switch. The wiring is very straight forward if you have done any home wiring before. The Go Power 300w has a provision for a remote power switch so with the touch of a button I have instant power.

GP 300w SW $160

Xantrex 15 amp switch $49

So all in maybe $250-$300 for self install.

Morningstar also makes a good 300w inverter.

[Danasdaddy2002]

Thats_Ok wrote:
Mmmm...
Truthfully I hadn't heard of the Motomaster brand till now.
There are so many pure sine wave types out there these days.

I just bought a 300 watt Samlex pure sine to run the television and blue-ray player in our fiver.
The Samlex seems pretty efficient at half load.
Our TV and player only need 100 watts to operate.

I'm sure your choice will work fine for the intended use.

Alrighty. Thanks for your help. Time to get spending I suppose lol.
Oh yeah. That inverter is a Can. Tire brand. 😉 I may downgrade to a smaller one. What you have seems to be right around what I intend to use it for.
Thanks again.

[deleted-2]

Mmmm...
Truthfully I hadn't heard of the Motomaster brand till now.
There are so many pure sine wave types out there these days.

I just bought a 300 watt Samlex pure sine to run the television and blue-ray player in our fiver.
The Samlex seems pretty efficient at half load.
Our TV and player only need 100 watts to operate.

I'm sure your choice will work fine for the intended use.

[Danasdaddy2002]

Mandalay Parr wrote:
Batteries probably won't last long and will have to be recharged.

Thanks for replying Mandalay.
I have 120watts of solar panels on the roof. My battery is always topped off.
But yeah I was thinking the same thing you are... Will probably drain the battery in a hurry. I may upgrade the battery with 2 better ones if needed. Hopefully not but I bet I'll have to. 😉

[Danasdaddy2002]

Thats_Ok wrote:
Yes it is safe.
It's best to unplug your DC convertor when doing this in order to not have the system trying to charge the batteries while plugged into the inverter.

Thanks for the quick reply Thats_OK.
What would you recommend for an inverter? I am looking at a MotoMaster 1000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter. My main purpose for doing this is to run a drill for repairs or maybe running a tv for the kids. Nothing too extensive. I am always at a powered campsite anyways so the use for this will maybe a couple times a season.
Maybe a 1000W might be overkill.

[Mandalay_Parr]

Batteries probably won't last long and will have to be recharged.

[deleted-2]

Yes it is safe.
It's best to unplug your DC convertor when doing this in order to not have the system trying to charge the batteries while plugged into the inverter.