Whole RV Inverter/Charger

CA Traveler wrote:
Power off, remove the CB panel and find out what circuits are on L1 and L2. Remove lights, speakers, etc and look for access. My cabinets have decorative inside panels that are held with wire brads and glue, easy to remove. You may need to remove under rig paneling for access. Interior walls are likely hollow. I’ve run wiring in exterior walls that have insulation. Check, be creative, etc.
Yes ATS = Automatic Transfer Switch, Victron let alone 2 is high dollar. How would you use one inverter for a whole house? You’ll need to switch those wires somehow.
Some charger/inverters have a built in ATS and CB protected outputs. No sub panel needed.
Many rigs have a built in gen and an ATS is used to automatically switch between shore power or gen power. So when you read about an ATS be clear about the application.
An charger/inverter can either charge the batteries from the charger or supply 120V from the inverter. It will automatically switch when it senses AC input but it does not do both at the same time. Some like separate units for various reasons but you have to manually select one or the other. Using the inverter output running from batteries to run the charger is a sure way to run down the batteries. No free energy.

I will check into the access. I guess I haven't looked as close as you are describing. However, the walls are not hollow (at least the exterior ones aren't), they are insulated. It's a 4-season camper (tank heaters, etc).

Yes, Victron are high dollar but if a requirement of the inverter is that it has an "assist" function, doesn't the list get pretty short? I think Magnum makes one (hybrid) but I thought I looked and it was twice the cost? What other manufacturers are out there that have a "boost" function?

My rig was gen prepped but no generator. I don't think it has an ATS anywhere. Another reason I was interested in the Victron is it has the ATS built in. I dunno what a seperate ATS costs, is it better to try and split them out?

If the inverter has CB protected outputs, does that mean if you tripped the breaker on that output, you'd have to run out to the inverter to reset? Not a deal breaker, just curious. I would be mounting this in the large under-storage compartment where the converter currently is mounted.

You're right, without connecting L1 and L2, there is no way to power the entire camper with 1 inverter. Your comment is what got me thinking - maybe I can use that to my advantage. That way I could make sure things like the fridge and water heater are on the other leg, so by default they are not powered by the inverter. It seems like I could just swap breakers and wires at the CB panel to make sure the aforementioned items are not on the same leg as the inverter.

Your other example of feeding the inverter from the the CB panel and then in turn feeding select circuits from the inverter would accomplish the same thing. I would just need to be able to get wire from the CB panel down to the inverter and back to power the right circuits.

Based on the usage I described in my last post, what kind of battery Ah do you think I'd need? I currently have 2x AGM group 31 batteries, 105 Ah each.