Inverter Install?

[nu2this2]

I have a 2000W inverter and wish to use it in my trailer but have questions.

I assume that when the inverter is connected to the batteries, any A/C item plugged to the inverter will be energized. My trailer has an outside shore power receptacle meant to be connected to power supply from a trailer park. A dogleg RV adapter from the trailer,is then connected to the inverter by a heavy duty extension cord. This allows me to bypass the supplied power Am I not now duplicating the A/C from the campground? If so, why don't my A/C outlets work in the trailer:@

I am not electrically versed and am at a total loss.

Thanks for any help.

[mr_andyj]

Hard to follow your OP question.
Yes, if your inverter is connected to the battery (properly - pos and neg in the right spot) AND you turn the inverter on then the female inverter outlet should be giving 120 volts, as you confirmed by plugging a light directly into the inverter.

If the inverter is wired into the same wires as the outside connection to shore-power then the inverter should power up your entire panel and all the outlets in the camper, including fridge and Air Cond.

Inv will not run the AirCon, if Air Con is trying to come on then that is the first issue and could be shutting down the inverter, same for the fridge electric setting, same if you have a 2-way boiler set on electric. There should not be anything else hard-wired in that would make a big draw.

Re-confirm that the inverter is providing power as you could have blown a DC fuse that the inverter has on the backside.
Is there a reset switch on the inverter (built in circuit breaker)?

If you are handy with wiring you can wire it so you are not having to flip switches and remember what is plugged in and worry if the dogleg thing is going to back-feed your inverter and blow it out...

On my first rig I had shore power, generator and inverter all powering the camper.
Shore and gen went into the breaker box and that powered A/C, Fridge and Charger, and boiler. There was an A-B switch that only let one power source power the breaker box (gen or shorepower).

When I added the inverter all I was going to power was the outlets, not anything hard-wired into the camper, so made it easy.
I used a toggle switch of proper amperage to select power from the breaker box or power from the inverter.
I put this switch in-line with the wire coming out of the breaker box that fed the outlets. This isolated the inverter from the breaker box (a/c, fridge, charger, boiler), and let me power the outlets.
This made it impossible for the inverter to back-feed the breaker box or the generator or shore-line city power, which means the inverter would net get fed shore or generator power either.

I wired the toggle switch from the "hot" wires so was choosing hot from either inverter or the panel. The ground and other wire, which was grounded, was shared.

Hope this helps you or anyone

[MitchF150]

I'm just farting in the wind here... ha, ha.. I don't know much about this either, but can't you have a battery disconnect switch to the trailer's 12 v system, then wire the 2k watt invertor directly to the battery and then plug your shore power to it and then essentially be the same as hooking it up to a generator? Then get a second battery disconnect for the 2k watt invertor and switch beteen the 2 as needed?

With the trailers battery essentially 'offline' in the system, everything will be running off of your battery connected 2k watt invertor, even the 12v systems..

You might lose some watts in the transfer with the 30amp shore power plug and dog bone connection, but, when I use the battery disconnect on my TT and then plug in the shore power, everything still works, 120v and 12v stuff. Just not charging the batteries.

Dunno... Good luck! Mitch

[pianotuna]

12thgenusa wrote:
Many trailers have the non-GFCI outlets tied to the same breaker as the converter (mine was). Throwing the breaker to disable the converter also disables the outlets. If this is the case you will need to remove the outlet circuit wire from the converter breaker and add another breaker just for the outlets.

Or add a female plug powered by that breaker, and a male plug to the converter.

My converter does plug directly into the power center, so all I do is unplug. Since I do have an inverter charger, my default setting is unplugged.

[pianotuna]

nu2this2 wrote:


Thanks, A circuit breaker label says converter. If this is turned off dose not that mean that I'm bypassing it? I have power to all the items you mention when on shore power. I'm trying to bypass the built in converter because my inverter is now providing 120V, but not to my receptacles.

No, turning off a breaker does not bypass it. It turns off the
converter--and any other plugs on that particular circuit.

Could you tell us the make and model of your inverter?

[12thgenusa]

Many trailers have the non-GFCI outlets tied to the same breaker as the converter (mine was). Throwing the breaker to disable the converter also disables the outlets. If this is the case you will need to remove the outlet circuit wire from the converter breaker and add another breaker just for the outlets.

[wa8yxm]

nu2this2 wrote:
Thanks, A circuit breaker label says converter. If this is turned off dose not that mean that I'm bypassing it? I have power to all the items you mention when on shore power. I'm trying to bypass the built in converter because my inverter is now providing 120V, but not to my receptacles.

Not bypassing but disabling. which is what you want to do. So in context yes. Turn that breaker off if plugging into the inverter.

if you want to do the inverter install right.. There are 2.2 types of inverters for this post

1: a Stand alone inverter has 12vdc IN and 120 vdc out and simply plugging in after turning off the breakers for the water heater. Air Conditioners and converters and fridge (or lock fridge on Gas) is as good as anything.

2: is a "pass through design this has 12 volt and 120 volt in and 120 volt out. If it is JUST an inverter

2.1 -----120 in-----inverter (with 12 volt connection----120 out
This type will go to "Standby" when not needed like a UPS system but without the battery charger

2.2 Same as 2.1 but also charges batteries.. Like a UPS system. in fact both of the units I used were operating in UPS mode (The TV did not even blink when shore power went out)

[Lantley]

Since your just testing. Plug your shore power cord/extension cord into a 110 outlet instead of your inverter. Use the exact same adapter or cord configuration you ere using with the inverter.
Since you know the outlet is putting out 110 even if it's only 15 amps, you should be able to tell if you have a breaker setting issue or an inverter setting issue

[time2roll]

Yes, plug into a regular outlet and let the converter charge the battery with the breaker on. Do the outlets work? Then flip the converter breaker and see if the outlets go off.

BTW "conv" may not even be the converter. Many use that "conv" as short for convenience outlets.

"batchg" seems more like "battery charger" and might be the converter. But again it may control some of the outlets also on that branch.

Often there is a minimum of two branches including the GFCI branch circuit and a second branch of non-GFCI.

Also need to discover what circuit your fridge is on or just know to set the fridge to propane only.

[DrewE]

The receptacles, at least the ones you're checking, may be on the same circuit as one of the circuit breakers you turned off. An easy way to check that is to see if the outlets are live when connected to normal shore power with those breakers switched off.

[nu2this2]

KD4UPL wrote:
If you plugged your shore power cord directly into your inverter then yes, all the outlets in your RV should have power. You would want to turn off your built in converter (battery charger) when doing this. You would also want to make sure your refrigerator and water heater are set to gas and not electric.
It sound like you've done this and don't have power. That's just basic troubleshooting. Check for power at the inverter, check for power at the dog bone adapter, check for power in the RV breaker panel, etc.
You do have a volt meter I hope. If not this is a useless exercise.

Thanks, A circuit breaker label says converter. If this is turned off dose not that mean that I'm bypassing it? I have power to all the items you mention when on shore power. I'm trying to bypass the built in converter because my inverter is now providing 120V, but not to my receptacles.

[nu2this2]

KD4UPL wrote:
If you plugged your shore power cord directly into your inverter then yes, all the outlets in your RV should have power. You would want to turn off your built in converter (battery charger) when doing this. You would also want to make sure your refrigerator and water heater are set to gas and not electric.
It sound like you've done this and don't have power. That's just basic troubleshooting. Check for power at the inverter, check for power at the dog bone adapter, check for power in the RV breaker panel, etc.
You do have a volt meter I hope. If not this is a useless exercise.

Thank you. I did not plug the shore power cord to the inverter. I had heard the converter would be trying to charge the batteries and I should turn off the circuit breaker. The inverter is working because I ran an extension cord to the TV and 1880W hair dryer independently and they worked perfectly. I noticed the previous owner had circuit breaker labels for "conv" and "batchg". I assumed the built in converter automatically did the charging when needed. I assumed by the label of the previous owner must have had a separate battery charger.

[jdc1]

You need to disconnect your converter when you do what you are trying to do. That converter is sucking some major power from those batteries.

[time2roll]

Have you tried something besides the RV in the inverter? Just plug a lamp in direct.

No errors etc on the inverter? Did you check if the inverter GFCI is tripped?

[nu2this2]

2oldman

Thank you, what I'm trying to do is emulate shore power(120V) whilst boon docking purpose. My batteries will be charged with my solar system. My inverter is not a charger.

Sorry I wasn't clear on that.