Powering Your Camper With An Inverter?

[longislandcampe]

We are going dry camping next week and were interested in using an inverter. Sure, we've used a small inverter inside the camper using the 12V outlets to power things like a TV, a laptop, a CPAP, etc..... We'd like to take it to the next step so that we can get electric at all of our outlets.

I don't know the rating, but my brother has an inverter that will hook up directly with alligator clips to a separate large battery he is bringing. Is it as simple as clamping the inverter onto the separate (not the TT's) battery and then plugging the camper power cord into the inverter? If not, what else is required?

[pappy437]

Put in a seprate breaker for your converter.That's what I done anyway.

[longislandcampe]

Thanks for the help everyone.

I finally got a chance to test it yesterday. I crimped the wires and then attached them to the battery. I then used the ground wire in an old piece of romex and ran from the inverter ground to the bolts holding my safety chains. I then went in the camper to shut off all the breakers and then plugged the camper plug into the inverter.

I then went in the camper to turn the breakers on but still nothing. Turns out I had to reset the GFI on the inverter and then after that I had power at all the outlets in the camper. Pretty sweet.

Now, it's my understanding that the converter should be turned off when using the inverter. I turned that breaker off but then I lost electric in the camper. My label on my panel says converter/utility and that's the one I switched off.

Any ideas?

[beemerphile1]

Harbor Freight sells an inverter wiring kit. Or you could get some 4 gauge wire and do it yourself.

[longislandcampe]

So the inverter I got, the 300w model, only came with about a 2' cord to attach to the battery. I'd like to put the inverter in my front storage. Can I just use a longer wire? How far is too far away between battery and inverter?

[longislandcampe]

Thanks guys. I purchased the 300W True Sine inverter posted in this thread. I haven't tried it yet. The first trip that it's needed will be in a few weeks and I can't wait to see how it works.

[camperpaul]

qtla9111 wrote:

Also, once all outlets are live, do small appliances detect the type of inverter that is being used (true sine, etc.)?

The ones that do will let you know by either refusing to function properly or by sending up smoke signals. 🙂

[qtla9111]

timjcarter9 wrote:

Sandia Man wrote:
When plugging the shore power cord into an inverter, it will provide 120VAC to your entire rig. You will want to turn off breakers to your converter, AC, and even microwave oven as these will require an extra large battery bank and a sizable inverter. Additionally, fridge and water heater should be set to propane mode to keep from running your battery bank down quickly.

Exactly right and what I do. First turn off the breakers, put the fridge and hot water on gas, then plug in shore power to inverter. Works like a charm.

I have even done this with my 300 watt tailgating rig. 300 watts is plenty when used this way.

timjcarter9, Do you have your inverter inside your rig or outside by your batteries to be able to connect your rig to the inverter?

Also, once all outlets are live, do small appliances detect the type of inverter that is being used (true sine, etc.)?

Thanks.

[time2roll]

Yes if you put the inverter where there is no electric you will need to pull 12v or 120v wire or both. This why I like placing close to the distribution panel... just make connections no wire to pull. The main battery feed should power a 300w with no trouble.

Big inverter needs to be close to the battery.

[longislandcampe]

Thanks guys.

As I mentioned before, I'm only looking to have power at the outlets for things like cell phones, fans, cpap, the television, etc.... Nothing too power hungry.

So I'd like to purchase an inverter to hook to my dual batteries. If I want to keep the inverter in the front storage area then how do I connect it to my batteries? The only way I can see doing it is to run the wires through the partially open door of the front storage area and then connecting them to the battery.

I'm also assuming something like a 400W inverter should suffice.

[wa8yxm]

There are two answers... First: Yes, it is that simple, and I have done that for light loads many times. (Television and VCR, Computer, that kind of light loads).

However on your trailer... Not always that easy.. First, you have some variable load devices in there like the converter, you want to disable that, You do not want to be powering a battery charger with the inverter.

Also the fridge, keep it on gas
And the water heaterr (likewise)
Disable any air conditioners
The microwave is also something you do not want to use.

This should get you power to the televisions and radios and such.

Do not use electric kitchen appliances.

Exception.... You said a big battery... I once borrowed a battery for my radio club to use on field day.. This battery was strapped to a pallet, loaded on my trailer with a fork lift and there it remained till I got it back to the battery rebuilder who unloaded it with a fork lift.

What powered the fork lift.... Identical battery..

But that puppy was easily 2,000 pounds.

[time2roll]

I power my tv, dvd, laptop and charge small items with a Go Power 300w sine wave inverter.

I mounted the inverter 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 $172

Xantrex 15 amp switch $49

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

[longislandcampe]

Thanks guys. We just got in from dry camping and this was our first test running on batteries alone in the new camper. Every light fixture in the camper is now an LED.

The Honda was turned on Tuesday night from 5-9 so the battery was full. That was the last time it was on. We really didn't use any lights during the days, only the radio from time to time. I had a 200W inverter going almost non stop to charge an ipad and phone. I also used the inverter to power two desktop fans for a few hours each day. At night the cpap was on for a few hours (350W inverter), not all night. We had to use the onboard water but not too much since the showers and bathrooms were close. The awning came out twice too.

When I left this evening (Friday) around 5pm, our dual battery setup was still reading 2/3. Granted, we were being very frugal with the lights and water pump but the inverters were in and charging stuff about 70% of the time. I was happy.

I'd still like to get an inverter that we can hook directly to the battery to power stuff the normal way in the camper. All I'm looking to do is run the TV's, some fans and charge the phones without needing inverters and extension cords IN the camper.

[christopherglen]

The inverter is 1/3 the setup. The power storage (batteries) and recharging (*generator) are the remaining parts. *the generator can be gas/diesel/propane, solar, or both.
I would start with a Kill-a-watt, plug the trailer into it (and it into shore power), then turn off the converter, microwave, and water heater. Pot the fridge on propane. The meter is able to track KWH so camp for a day in the trailer - use whatever you would be using off the inverter, for the same amount of time. Take the KWH reading, and add 10% (for inverter losses) and divide by 12. That is a starting point for battery bank size.

[longislandcampe]

timjcarter9 wrote:

skipnchar wrote:
IF you're powering everything from your inverter you need to EITHER carry a truck load of batteries or be running your generator MUCH of the time. Might be easier of you need that much power to just run off of the generator and forget the inverter.

Don't think he said that. Just wants power at all outlets.

So op be sure to know what you want to power. The less the better. If you can get away with a 300 - 400 watt inverter life is much easier.

Exactly. I'm not looking to power everything up. I'm just looking to have the ability to power certain small items up when needed without much hassle. Just having the ability to have the TV plugged in and an outlet for charging cell phones and such is all we're looking for. Perhaps running a fan at night if it's too hot.

Right now the camper is in my driveway and we have dual batteries. I disconnected the camper from my house to get an idea of our power draw from the batteries. I have all the lights and the radio on right now. That comes out to be 19 LED panels, one 921 bulb and an LED light strip we mounted to the side of the camper under the awning. Everything has been on for 5.5 hours now and I'm still showing 2/3 battery. It actually dropped from full to 2/3 in about 30 minutes but it's been holding at 2/3 ever since.

We have a 2000W Honda that can run from 9-12 and 5-9 to recharge everything during the day.