Is it possible to run 110 outlets off of the battery

[kandkbrand]

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.

[2oldman]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

bikendan wrote:
What trailer, even 5th wheel, has room for 8 golf cart batteries?:h

My Okanagan.

[bikendan]

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]

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.

[opnspaces]

kandkbrand wrote:
SoundGuy,

Last question (possibly) If I am tapping into a 12v power source, do the 12v wires look different that the AC wires (just curious), and do I need to wire in a fuse to the new tapped in line, or will the Inverter take care of that.

Yes the wires will look different. The AC wire that you run to outlets in your house is solid wire. The DC (12v) wire you are going to run for the inverter is multi-strand wire and often comes in individual spools. You will want to fuse the positive wire close to the battery so that the maximum amount of the wire is fuse protected.

Home Depot seems to have some decent prices on 12ga copper multi-strand wires. If you look at something like Amazon you'll find much cheaper spools of wire, but those are copper clad aluminum wires which I don't think are as good. If you want to know which type of wire you're looking at, Copper or copper clad, just look at the cut end of the wire. If it's copper clad aluminum it will have a silver center.

[kandkbrand]

SoundGuy wrote:

120 vac receptacles will be wired in most cases with 14/2 Romex while 12 vdc and radio speakers are often wired with paired zip cord. If you don't know one from the other then you'd be best to have someone more familiar with electrical wiring do this for you.

I agree!

I think 100w would be fine for a TV, phone charger, fan. Of course not all at the same time.

[SoundGuy]

kandkbrand wrote:
If I am tapping into a 12v power source, do the 12v wires look different that the AC wires (just curious), and do I need to wire in a fuse to the new tapped in line, or will the Inverter take care of that. I have spliced into lines in my home, so I am assuming I would do the same thing with the 12v wires.

or could I just replace my current attena connection with this...

https://accessories.lazydays.com/winegard-white-power-receptacle-rv7042-24-0450

120 vac receptacles will be wired in most cases with 14/2 Romex while 12 vdc and radio speakers are often wired with paired zip cord. If you don't know one from the other then you'd be best to have someone more familiar with electrical wiring do this for you. Sure, you could replace your current television wall plate with the Winegard model you've linked to ... simpler, because once you connect +/- 12 vdc to it you'll have that 12 vdc on the cigarette lighter receptacle. As long as you limit the size of your inverter to say 100 watts (which would draw ~ 8 amps at full load) you'd be fine ... any more than that and you'd be better to wire directly back to the battery with much heavier gauge cable ... and yes, in that case you'd want to fuse the positive cable where it connects to the battery. In my case I'm using an 80 amp fuse for my 1000 watt inverter, those with even larger inverters would use an even larger fuse.

[tenbear]

Pay attention to the wire gauge chart referenced by SoundGuy. If you have a 400 watt inverter you should use #8 wire for the 12v side for short runs. Even larger wire for long runs. This same chart applies to the wires you are tapping into. Don't tap your #8 wires into a pair of #12 wires.