Powering my outlets with inverter: Do I need Magnum MS2000?

[boywonder]

Here is an example:

http://www.amazon.com/Samlex-SAM-1500C- ... x+inverter

Geoff: How much house battery amp hour capacity do you have?

[REF]

This is the unit I went with, as a stand alone or add on to the converter already installed. The unit sits mounted on a board under the gaucho, I installed the remote power switch next to the other switches under the sink and ran 1 dedicated outlet from the inverter and put it in the same location as the switch. Simple add on and I didn't have to mess with the existing wiring configuration, works great.
Xantrex 806-1210 PROwatt 1000 SW Inverter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002I04A74/re ... pwb16F9PA1

[geoffff]

Originally Posted by boywonder

Do you have the charge wizard option for the Intellipower? Why they charge extra for this is beyond me....what a joke.....It's actually a "dumbpower PD9160A" until you shell out another $50 to make it intelligent...anyway, I digress.
[...]
If you don't already own the charge wizard option for your intellipower, I would ditch it and buy an inverter charger.

I do have the Inteli Power 9100 Charge Wizard installed. Thank you for the description of what you did.



Thanks everyone for the inverter recommendations. I like that they only run their fans under high load.

I'll report back what I end up doing.

-- Geoff

[daveb]

What Ref did and what I suggested is a way to keep costs down a bit but I agree with Boywonder, swapping out the converter with an inverter that has its own transfer switch is the best way to go. If you get a good inverter, many come with a control panel that also serves as a volt/amp meter as an added bonus. On the down side is the price. Also the size of the inverter is something to consider. The bigger the inverter the more standby power they pull. You'd be wasting a bit more power to fire it up just to charge something like a phone. I think my 2000w pulls about 2 amps just sitting there not powering anything. And because I have a two way fridge, I have to kill that breaker or the fridge will automatically kick over to AC-inverter power and pull even more through the inverter. That would depend on how yours is wired but it's common that SMB configured it that way to run off shore power whenever the fridge see shore power at the outlets. I would be reluctant to wire in a basic inverter to the shore power circuit unless I had a dedicated AC transfer switch because you don't want to phase the inverter to shore power together by accident.

[boywonder]

My setup is essentially the same as REFs as well...and I never really need shore power.

[geoffff]

OK, here's what I'm thinking of doing.

First, I've drawn up how I believe my van is currently wired:



Now, if I instead plug the charger directly into the outside shore power, I can insert my new inverter before the breaker panel, like this:



The only disadvantage I see is that now if I'm plugged into shore power, my outlets are still going to be powered through the inverter. This is a bit inefficient, but doesn't seem to be a big deal. And I'm never plugged into shore power anyway.

-- Geoff

[boywonder]

Your second diagram is exactly how my setup is wired......and yes, you can use shore power to run the outlets, although it's through the charger, battery and inverter.......it works, just turn the inverter on.

You may still want to consider an inverter/charger, it simplifies things and powers the outlets directly from shore power......although what you are showing works fine.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by geoffff

OK, here's what I'm thinking of doing.



Now, if I instead plug the charger directly into the outside shore power, I can insert my new inverter before the breaker panel, like this:



The only disadvantage I see is that now if I'm plugged into shore power, my outlets are still going to be powered through the inverter. This is a bit inefficient, but doesn't seem to be a big deal. And I'm never plugged into shore power anyway.

-- Geoff

That would be an easy way to do it while using a small inverter and obviously the outlets load capability will hinge on the size of the inverter. That would be the same even if you used an inverter with a AC pass through but in your situation you won't have full shore power ampacity that you have now while on shore power. I guess no big deal if you never use any high load items on shore power. If you were to purchase a high amp AC pass through inverter and just cut it in between the converter/charger and the shore power plug I'd think that would be easier or just as easy. But if you want to keep inverter standby loads down by using a smaller one that is a reasonable route to go.

[BajaSportsmobile]

Not an artist so I'll try to paint a word picture:

I put in a selector switch that looks like a regular light switch but has three positions - middle is open, nothing flows through it. Up is power from breaker for the outlets and to the outlets. Down is power from my inverter and to the outlets. The inverter has a built in breaker.

This way when on shore power the outlets get full advantage of it.

[LenS]

H 1000 watt inverter
L 250 watt inverter (almost never use)
I Inverter powers outlets w modified 110v AC
I Earth (ie: shore 110v AC) powers outlets