Hey everyone, I am very new to RVing as in November I purchased my first Trailer. We have taken it out a couple of times just to shake it down and see what is what. I have not had a chance to use the hot water heater or plumbing as I live in Colorado and will not de-winterize it until May. My question is about the electrical system. I know you can you lights, water pump, radio and such with the battery, but is there any way to use the 110 outlets in the trailer off of the battery. I understand that you can run a generator, but I was just wondering if there is a way to use the 110 outlets just with the batteries. Do i need to purchase an inverter to do this? Still trying to get my head around all aspects of the unit. Thanks for the help.

You will get 12V only off the battery. Your lights, water pump, furnace, stove, refrig, and water heater will all work off 12V. Your Air Conditioner, microwave and outlets all require 120V, which won't work off the battery unless you install an inverter. In 12V mode your water heater is actually running off of propane and your refrig is running off of propane but needs 12V for the controls.And also note, one cold night running the furnace will probably deplete your battery. We can get about a week running off our battery providing we don't run the furnace, and any lights or anything unnecessarily (and that is using lanterns and portable battery operated lights mostly and saving the house battery as much as possible).

Inverter is what you will need and depending on how long and often you boondock you may need multiple batteries. In turn you will need a generator to charge them backup if out for multiple days or using alot of power.

If you purchase an inverter, you can connect this to your battery and then connect your 110V "shore" power cable to the inverter. HOWEVER......- You have to figure out the size of inverter - don't expect it to run the AC or other high power consumer items.- Your battery will be depleted very quicklyWhat 110V items do you need? I rub if 12v most of the time except deep winter when I run a 1500W electric heater to keep warm

kandkbrand,As mentioned, it would be best to understand what it is that you are wanting to run via 110 AC. Something like a coffee maker uses a lot of amps to run so trying to just use an inverter with your current batteries is not necessarily your best option. If you are planning on boondocking multiple days, you will need a way to recharge the batteries. You mentioned a generator. That is very common but beware if you are planning on boondocking multiple days at altitude here in CO, you will need to look into what your needs are for amp usage and then increase the generator size to compensate for the decrease in generator power when at altitude, say altitude at around 9000'. For an example, I have a Champion 2000W (starting watts) generator and when I run it at 9000', it will not run my coffee maker, so forget trying to run a microwave too. I would need two of those generators running in parallel to run that coffee maker. Could I run my air conditioner at 9000' with that combo, unknown at this point.Solar is a great way to go but you also need to size that appropriately too. That means a good amount of solar panels along with an adequate battery bank, charge controller, inverter, etc.Just some additional concerns to think about.

OP. Welcome to the forum and RVing. If you go to the top of the page and select MyForums->MyPreferences, you can put the description of your TT in your signature and it will be added to your posts. That will help other members to answer any questions you have.

Is it possible to run 110 outlets off of the battery

2oldman
Explorer II
Mar 23, 2017
bikendan wrote:
2oldman wrote:
bikendan wrote:
What trailer, even 5th wheel, has room for 8 golf cart batteries?:h
My Okanagan.
You must have used a whole basement compartment.
My basement doesn't have compartments. I used the whole battery tray, for 6, and 2 in the basement. It's a big coach.
time2roll
Nomad
Mar 23, 2017
The largest 12 volt wire will be the main battery connection. Probably #6 wire black-positive white-negative. Negative probably through the floor to the frame. Positive snakes up to the battery.

There might even be space in the lugs or a free terminal to connect the inverter direct. If you use smaller wire than the main feed you will need to add a fuse.

Transfer switch $50 Just plug this into the small inverter. Remove the branch circuit romex and connect to the output. New piece of romex to connect from the panel to the input side. Need to place the inverter where you can turn it on/off or figure out a remote.
kandkbrand
Explorer
Mar 23, 2017
time2roll wrote:
Just mount the inverter behind the breaker/fuse panel.
Use the main battery feed to get 12 volt power.
Use a small $50 transfer switch to power the single branch that includes the outlet you need.
No pulling wire, just make connections.
This would be good for about 400 watts max.

my breaker/fuse box is at the bottom of my entertainment center. what would I look for to find main battery feed? Would it be the wire (DC Wire, not ROMEX) going into the fuse box?

Since starting this thread, I have not gone out to the storage site to look at the fuse box, so it may be simpler than I am thinking.
kandkbrand
Explorer
Mar 23, 2017
crasster wrote:
As others have said inverter is what you need. If you boondock a lot, I suggest 8 golf cart batteries if you have the room for them. Get the 6V kind and wire series parallel for 12V. Solar panels on the roof. They'll charge well off the generator and last longer. Also convert your lights to LED to save more power.

I have a generator, so 2 12v is all I really need (if that) I am looking for a simple way to run limited stuff (TV, Phone charger, laptop, fan) without having to run the generator all day and night. My thoughts are to use an inverter at night, then charge back up in the morning with generator. Trying to be a "good neighbor" while saving some gas.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Mar 23, 2017
crasster wrote:
If you boondock a lot, I suggest 8 golf cart batteries if you have the room for them.

Good grief, 8 GC-2 batteries?!!! :E If you had bothered to read this discussion in it's entirety you'd know the OP is only interested in running a few light draw items such as a laptop, phone charger, perhaps a fan, etc. Even one 12 volt battery powering a 100 watt inverter would suffice for that, if he'd like to regularly camp a couple of days at a time without shore power then a pair of 6 volt GC-2s would easily power his entire trailer. No way he needs a bank of 8 GC-2s. :R
time2roll
Nomad
Mar 23, 2017
Just mount the inverter behind the breaker/fuse panel.
Use the main battery feed to get 12 volt power.
Use a small $50 transfer switch to power the single branch that includes the outlet you need.
No pulling wire, just make connections.
This would be good for about 400 watts max.
bikendan
Explorer
Mar 23, 2017
2oldman wrote:
bikendan wrote:
What trailer, even 5th wheel, has room for 8 golf cart batteries?:h
My Okanagan.

You must have used a whole basement compartment.
2oldman
Explorer II
Mar 22, 2017
bikendan wrote:
What trailer, even 5th wheel, has room for 8 golf cart batteries?:h
My Okanagan.
bikendan
Explorer
Mar 22, 2017
crasster wrote:
As others have said inverter is what you need. If you boondock a lot, I suggest 8 golf cart batteries if you have the room for them.

What trailer, even 5th wheel, has room for 8 golf cart batteries?:h
crasster
Explorer II
Mar 22, 2017
As others have said inverter is what you need. If you boondock a lot, I suggest 8 golf cart batteries if you have the room for them. Get the 6V kind and wire series parallel for 12V. Solar panels on the roof. They'll charge well off the generator and last longer. Also convert your lights to LED to save more power.