Tow Vehicle Battery and Alternator
My trucks alternator is rated at 150 amps. Its starting battery is your typical 600 CCA AC Delco variety. My goal is to increase charging capability through the 7 pin pigtail connector near the hi...
Forum Discussion
"6. I did install a pure sine power inverter (1500/3000 watt) in the passthrough storage bay. Don't know if it's just the brand, but it fails to run the 900 watt microwave"
A "900w" MW needs about 1200w input (check the power info on its label) so the 1500w inverter should run it ok. (but the running watts for a "1500" would be lower too, so getting close to the MW input)
However, the inverter to battery wires need to be short and fat. Also two 6s will only run that when the 6s are above about 75% SOC. To run that with the batts at a lower SOC, you need four instead of two 6s.
It is likely also that you had other 120v loads on when trying to run the MW, so "power management" is important.
Two AGMs would let you run the inverter more than two Wet 6s before it hits the low voltage alarm, but that is a costly swap for not that much benefit unless you have space and weight issues that preclude having four 6s. Also AGMs require you to know the amps going in when recharging to know when they are full, which means an ammeter (I use the Trimetric for that) which is more money instead of a $10 hydrometer.
The generator mentioned is way over-sized for the job at hand, so unless you already have it, a 2200 would be easier and lighter too. If air conditioning off grid is the idea for a bigger gen, that is another story. For that now the problem is how long can you run the gen before it runs out of fuel. Apparently propane gens are the answer to that one, where you can share your BBQ's propane to run the gen!
A "900w" MW needs about 1200w input (check the power info on its label) so the 1500w inverter should run it ok. (but the running watts for a "1500" would be lower too, so getting close to the MW input)
However, the inverter to battery wires need to be short and fat. Also two 6s will only run that when the 6s are above about 75% SOC. To run that with the batts at a lower SOC, you need four instead of two 6s.
It is likely also that you had other 120v loads on when trying to run the MW, so "power management" is important.
Two AGMs would let you run the inverter more than two Wet 6s before it hits the low voltage alarm, but that is a costly swap for not that much benefit unless you have space and weight issues that preclude having four 6s. Also AGMs require you to know the amps going in when recharging to know when they are full, which means an ammeter (I use the Trimetric for that) which is more money instead of a $10 hydrometer.
The generator mentioned is way over-sized for the job at hand, so unless you already have it, a 2200 would be easier and lighter too. If air conditioning off grid is the idea for a bigger gen, that is another story. For that now the problem is how long can you run the gen before it runs out of fuel. Apparently propane gens are the answer to that one, where you can share your BBQ's propane to run the gen!
