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Old 02-28-2020, 08:45 PM   #1
Bbouch84
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Hard wired power inverter

So i tried searching but to no avail did i find anything close to what im looking for...

So here we go.

Has anyone ever figured out a way that you can take say a 5000w or 7500w inverter and wire it into the house power.. IE say you are boon docking and would still like to use your 120v outlets but dont have a generator but you do have the battery capacity in amp hours and a solar system?

With this i am thinking of a way to in to the main power system not have a 1 or 2 outlet thing.
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Old 02-28-2020, 11:41 PM   #2
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Just hardwire your inverter to a 30a female plug and then plug your rig into it just like a pedestal with a 30/50 adapter... With the caveat that you must disable your battery charger and not use any high electric use items like electric water heater AC...

https://youtu.be/gm4NeZCQyvY

A truely hardwired method would be to install a transfer switch like this one (note how he links the two hots together)... Again as with the above method you MUST disable your onboard battery charger...

https://youtu.be/zTjOECEhYDM

Curious... What are you wanting to power on such a high wattage (5-7.5kw Inverter - Which is huge to just feed outlets) and how big is your battery bank in amp hours?
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Old 02-29-2020, 06:57 AM   #3
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I'm no expert, but an invertor that large along with the battery bank big enough to run all the 110 outlets will most likely exceed the weight limits on both truck & RV.
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Old 02-29-2020, 07:49 AM   #4
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If your'e looking at 7500 watts (30 amps) I'm guessing you want to run an ac unit. The number of batteries required to support that power consumption for more than a few min. would for exceed the weight capacity or the space available in a camper, to say nothing of the expense.

Maybe more detail in what you are wishing to accomplish would be beneficial in someone offering advice.
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Old 02-29-2020, 08:19 AM   #5
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Not really looking to run the A/C unit. But maybe a fan or tep to circulate air..And on rainy days the television
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Old 02-29-2020, 08:41 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Bbouch84 View Post
Not really looking to run the A/C unit. But maybe a fan or tep to circulate air..And on rainy days the television
Than the inverters you quoted are way overkill. Most televisions today require very little power. I'm sure others will chime in that have done this but typically a 1,000 watt inverter is all you need.
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Old 02-29-2020, 11:18 AM   #7
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Rather than tie an inverter into the system, have "live, exposed pins" in your shore power connector and have a "combat situation" between the converter/charger trying to charge the battery bank while the inverter is discharging that same battery bank (vicious circle), you might want to think about an "isolated system with two plugs, one where you anticipate putting the fan and one behind/near the TV. That way you wouldn't need a transfer switch and you wouldn't have to remember to turn off the converter/charger circuit breaker and most important, you won't have LIVE VOLTAGE on exposed pins at the shore power connector.

I agree, all you need for the "couple of fans and an occasional TV" is a 1000 watt inverter, mounted very near the battery bank (to save expense with the large cable from the battery to the inverter) and run 14 ga ROMEX from the inverter to the two plugs.

I installed my inverter in the battery compartment (screwed to the ceiling) and ran the ROMEX from there, across the ceiling of the front storage area, up into the wall under the shower and installed the outlet box beside the existing outlet box (behind the TV). I also ran another ROMEX circuit to the bedroom to power a CPAP device.

I have two "GC2 golf cart batteries" and they provide enough power for "a light day of use". Any more than that will require a generator to recharge the batteries likely every day. Four batteries would be better, but that starts getting into "significantly more weight than desired" in an ultra-lite trailer.
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Old 02-29-2020, 05:32 PM   #8
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Look at your rig an decide what is the highest wattage item you would like to run (For me it’s my indispensable Gaggia Classic espresso machine which clocks in at ~1,500 watts) so I chose a 2,000 watt inverter to give me a little headroom... You will have to become accustomed to running only one high wattage item at a time.. So no coffee machine and toaster or microwave ar the same time... And if your wife has a curling iron these can reek havoc... as they are usually forgetfully left on...

In general you do not want to run:
Battery charger
Air Conditioner
Electric water heater
Electric space heater
Electric Fireplace
Or anything high current for extended periods

I would recommend the KISS method Tito showed in the video I posted earlier... Since we determined you are not going to need 7.5kw you could just get a nice 2 or 3,000w inverter that comes with a regular 15a plug them get this adapter to plug your rigs shore cord into... ( mount the inverter near the battery bank as this reduces 12v cable length)...

https://www.amazon.com/Proline-Power...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
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Old 02-29-2020, 06:05 PM   #9
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I have installed go power inverters with auto pass through. It was on a 50A service trailer.

We simply identified which circuits need to be powered by inverter, kept those on one leg. Then took one leg of the shore power and ran it through the inverter. When plugged into shore power both legs of the breaker panel were powered. Unplugged and inverter “on” powered one side.
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Old 02-29-2020, 06:29 PM   #10
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Quote:
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I have installed go power inverters with auto pass through. It was on a 50A service trailer.

We simply identified which circuits need to be powered by inverter, kept those on one leg. Then took one leg of the shore power and ran it through the inverter. When plugged into shore power both legs of the breaker panel were powered. Unplugged and inverter “on” powered one side.
A nice inverter for this technique is this AIM as it has a built in transfer switch...

https://www.aimscorp.net/2000-pure-s...standards.html
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Old 02-29-2020, 07:34 PM   #11
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Agree, 2000 watt inverter is what I’m doing, turn off the converter and plug shore power into the inverter.
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Old 02-29-2020, 07:59 PM   #12
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Agree, 2000 watt inverter is what I’m doing, turn off the converter and plug shore power into the inverter.
You also need to put the refrigerator on GAS (lock out ELEC) and make sure the water heater electric element is off.
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Old 03-01-2020, 06:34 PM   #13
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I installed a Xantrex pure sine 2,000 watt inverter. I used two Kisae 20a transfer switches in the two circuits I wished to power.

I can operate the microwave, two televisions, DVD player, drip coffee maker, and CPAP. Obviously not all at the same time.
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Old 03-06-2020, 02:00 PM   #14
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I installed an AIMs 3000 inverter. I pulled a 30 amp feed from the breaker panel and ran it to the inverter. The output runs to a sub panel with 4 15 amp breakers. I then just moved the stuff I want powered through the inverter to the new breakers. I now have the LR, BR, and microwave running through the inverter. I am limited to 30 amps so I do have to be careful, but it works for me!
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Old 03-06-2020, 02:12 PM   #15
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I started out thinking I needed a large inverter wired into the power distribution panel so all of the outlets would work off of the batteries. What I found out was I only really needed the 110v power when “off grid” to watch TV. So I got a small inverter with a 12v automotive style plug and plugged it into the 12v outlet behind the tv. The TV is plugged into the inverter and I’m good to go.

I carry a 2k generator to charge the batteries and I use the generator when I make coffee or run the microwave.

I have 2 6v GC batteries and I can camp easily for three days without running the generator to charge the batteries.

I guess my point is it’s easy to think, because of YouTube or whatever, that you need some huge expensive system to comfortably camp off grid, but in my opinion that is not the case.

Just my 2c

Here is a video on my setup if you’re interested

https://youtu.be/iaQZY_naOdE
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Old 03-07-2020, 07:28 AM   #16
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You don’t necessarily need a massive off grid system

When discussing power for boon docking purposes, most of what you read from others is something like “we can go for 10 days without running the generator”. While that might be true, I would guess it requires some aggressive power management and limitations. We wanted to be able to boondock for a few days without requiring a significant change in how we enjoy camping. So, we took what we thought was a reasonable approach.

Our off-grid needs: We wanted to be able to do some combination of the following for (say) about 4 hours, knowing that we would be running the generator periodically through the day for other reasons:
  • Watch TV & blue-ray player
  • Have a couple of portable 110V fans to circulate air
  • Charge camera batteries & phones overnight
  • Power DW’s sewing machine (she’s a dedicated quilter)
We found that even with (only) two group 24 deep cycle batteries, a 2000w sine wave inverter running through a transfer switch to power selected circuits in our power center combined with a small 200w solar system and shorter runs of the generator was perfect for our needs. During the day, the solar system just about keeps up with demand. Overnight, we set the generator to "Auto-Start" based on voltage [subject of a seperate thread on this forum] allowing us to keep running what we need overnight. Simple to install, affordable, & works for us.
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Old 03-07-2020, 09:40 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bbouch84 View Post
So i tried searching but to no avail did i find anything close to what im looking for...

So here we go.

Has anyone ever figured out a way that you can take say a 5000w or 7500w inverter and wire it into the house power.. IE say you are boon docking and would still like to use your 120v outlets but dont have a generator but you do have the battery capacity in amp hours and a solar system?

With this i am thinking of a way to in to the main power system not have a 1 or 2 outlet thing.

Like this without the gen set?
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Old 03-07-2020, 11:19 AM   #18
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Like this without the gen set?
Not exactly. We retained all of the OE equipment including the standard charger. We added a GoPower 2000w sine wave inverter along with a second transfer switch:
  1. The OE installed switch between the shore power vs generator. Trailers that include a built-in generator typically come with this switch installed at the factory.
  2. A second switch was installed serving selected circuits from the power panel. We wanted inverter power to the bedroom, entertainment systems, and the garage (when we are parked with the SxS unloaded, the DW calls this room the "sewing room"). This second switch allows the above listed circuits to receive either inverter power or power from the shore/generator system.
This combination of switches give us seamless power service regardless of how we have the supply side set up. We DID have one problem. Originally we pulled only the hot wire for the selected circuits into the second switch and left the neutral connected in the main power box. Under certain circumstances this would cause the inverter GFCI to trip. However, by also pulling the neutral for these circuits into the transfer switch and bonding them to the inverter neutral in the switch, this problem was resolved.

Lastly, there are some inverters that can be operated in "pass through/switchless" mode but I'm not sure how they work compared to the above. Hope that all makes sense.
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Old 03-07-2020, 11:33 AM   #19
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My Aims inverter does the pass through, so I avoided the transfer switch. I just toggle the switch on my remote panel to select shore/gen power or Battery.
I feed the inverter with a 30 amp breaker in the main panel. The return goes to a sub panel with 30 amp main and 4 15 amp breakers to feed our LR, BR, Microwave, spare. Works great...
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Old 03-08-2020, 07:50 AM   #20
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Not really looking to run the A/C unit. But maybe a fan or tep to circulate air..And on rainy days the television
That's more like 3,000 watts. Have a look at the following for an idea of what is required. https://amsolar.com/trailers. Those are likely installed prices, if you have the tools and the knowhow you can save substantially. IF you are NOT a full timer, get a generator as the cost of a full blown system will never pay back on 2 weeks a year. A single 2k generator plus an easy start for the a/c should do it.
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