What to look for in an inverter/charger?
We recently bought a new fifth wheel (see sig) and now I need to research inverters. About twelve years ago we had a Xantrex Freedom 458 installed in our Toy Hauler. It was fantastic and it never ga...
Forum Discussion
2oldman wrote:GordonThree wrote:I used to try to run air @12v with 6 batteries/inverter. Everything was ok for maybe 1/2 hour, after that, things started heating up.
Air conditioning draws over 200 amps, still no heating of cables or connectors.
Even at 48v, I got some soldering iron heating on one crimped connection (the + at the buss). Wire too small. Replaced with bigger. NO more heating.
100 pct agree, bigger wires, bigger connectors = can't go wrong.
I used 4/0 gauge welding cable and heavy solid copper lugs instead of the more common thin folded copper kind; crimped, soldered and sealed with marine grade 3M adhesive lined heat shrink.
With my 4x 12v batteries I can run the AC for almost four hours before hitting 50 pct state of charge. I've only done it a few times when dry camping and I get overwhelmed by heat. Now with twin Yamaha, I don't need to stress my batteries like that anymore. If I need the AC, I fire up the twins and get about 6 hrs of A/C before the fuel runs out.
