I think Dave's diagram is spot on. I will try to add some information and I am sure you will have follow up questions.
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To do this I plan on using a solenoid to make sure the house battery is only charging when the engine is on. This will also ensure that the house battery doesn't draw off the starter battery.
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See topic
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/vie...hp?f=14&t=8842 for information on the device you are looking for. There are a number of options, the BlueSee 7622 or 7620 are the big hitters, and are very good products for what you intend to use it for
[quoteWhat I plan to power initially: A lamp or two, my laptop charger (60W AC), and my phone charger.
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I would look at getting 12 volt versions of chargers you need, most phones have a USB charging port, Blue sea makes one that converts 12 to 5 volts and can handle 2 amps (covers most Pads even)
http://www.bluesea.com/products/1016...Charger_Socket
You should also be able to find a 12 volt charger for laptop. The reason you want to look at those is because a DC to DC conversion is going to be more efficient then inverting to AC and the using the AC supply to convert to DC. Also with your larger inverter that you are looking to install, the lower wattage range would be even more inefficient. The first 30% of any inverter is pretty low on efficiency.
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Inverter: As of right now I plan on using a 1500W inverter. This should be able to handle my biggest future load, if I choose to pursue it: the hotplate.
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There are a ride range of inverters out there, I suspect that if you really are using a turntable you will want to go with a Pure Sine Wave unit. You may want to go for a Inverter/Charger so you can plug in and charge that battery also as a back up to solar. There have been some post on Inverter/Chargers recently that I would look at. I think Magnum Energy MS2000 is a good choice.
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Circuit Breaker: I’ve been told I should use a 150 Amp fuse with the correct fuse holder. (I don’t know if Circuit Breaker is the correct term for what I need.)
Wiring Size: Based on the size of the inverter I’ve been told I should not go smaller than 2 AWG between the inverter, circuit breaker and house battery. I’ve also been told it would be best to use 0 AWG between batteries to “minimize voltage differential between the two batteries.” (I don’t know what this means.) I don’t know what gauge the green wire in the diagram is as it’s already wired. I assume this doesn’t matter. I also assume that the grounding wire should be the same gauge as the wire coming off the positive terminal
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Although I know I am starting to sound like a add for Blue Sea, they have a nice circuit wizard on their website, it is very good help about that sort of thing. What ever Inverter you purchase should have information on wire gauge and fuse size in their installation instructions.
http://circuitwizard.bluesea.com/
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I'd like to be able to monitor how many amp hours are left in the house battery so I don't go below 50% charge and damage the battery. What would be best to do this and where abouts in the wiring does it go? I’ve been told to attach a “voltage meter with a dial.” Where does this go? The same person also suggested getting an “auto shutoff” to stop the battery from giving off any power once the voltage meter gets to 50%. How would I go about doing this?
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For this I will point you to a Sportsmobile Wiki page on Battery Monitors that I recently made.
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/med...attery_Monitor
I also have a post on using one of those to have a low voltage disconnect.
Probably missed a lot of things, but that is a start.
Greg