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Old 05-30-2009, 01:45 PM   #1
Festus2
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Inverter Installation

I am planning to purchase and install a 1750W inverter. Before doing this, I have a few questions for those of you who have installed one:
1) Can you plug the RV's 110 V electrical cord directly into one of the outlets of the inverter? I am guessing that the 110v coming from the inverter would go into the converter as if you were plugged into 110v at a CC or at home.
2) Is it usual to add additional 110v outlets in the RV that are then wired to the inverter?
3) Inverters generate heat -- is this heat buildup a problem? I know some inverters have built-in cooling fans. Some run continuously others run when the temperature reaches a certain point.
4) I have read that you should mount the inverter as close as possible to the batteries to reduce long electrical runs. Is 20 ft too long a run - providing one uses heavier gauge wires?
5) Some inverters have remote switches. Are these useful and what exactly do they do? Turn it on and off?
6) For using the usual RV stuff (except A/C) , is 1750w a good choice ? I am not talking about firing up several appliances at once .. just wise and reasonable use.

I like the KISS principle -- keep this in mind when replying - and not too technical either...
thanks-- Richard
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Old 06-26-2009, 08:36 PM   #2
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Well Festus2, no one has responded to this thread and your questions yet, so I’ll take a shot at it. First off, I’m assuming that we are converting 12vdc to 110vac with this inverter, is this correct? If so then as to question #1: no inverter that I know of has a 30amp RV plug on it so if your planning on an alternative to a generator using an inverter I don’t think it exists in a 1750 watt version, you can however plug in individual devices using a standard 110vac plug into the provided outlets but this is a far cry from powering the whole trailer. As to question #2: no, the inverter is not used to add more 110vac outlets to your trailer, it just provides a couple of 110vac outlets that are on the inverter that you can plug some devices into. As to question #3: I don’t think that the heat produced by the inverter is that much to have to worry about, they usually have a built in fan if the design calls for one. As to question #4: Yes, the inverter should be mounted as close as possible to the RV’s battery so as to keep the size of the needed wire small and yes 20ft is to long for a draw of 1750 watts, that equates to a current draw of more than 140 amps dc! That’s a lot of current to ask of your RV’s battery, if you were to supply that current over 20ft you would need at least # 2/0 awg wire, that’s like feeding your house. As to question #5: I think that you are correct, the remote switch is to turn the inverter on and off, that wouldn’t be a high priority for me. As to question #6: I don’t think that any inverter for RV use is going to do what you want except to power a limited number of devices for a short period of time, if your boon docking it, your going to have to recharge your RV’s battery in short order, IMO you just can’t beat a 3500 watt generator that has a 30 amp RV plug built into it and yes, it is noisy.
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Old 06-26-2009, 09:12 PM   #3
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Flyguy:
Thanks for your very thoughtful and comprehensive reply. Since I posted this, I have since been doing some additional "research" and asking around. I am getting the idea that a 1750W inverter (and yes, there are some in that size available - or very close to it) would simply be too big a drain on my 2 6V golf cart batteries. They would, if we were dry camping, have to have some means of keeping the charge up - either by solar panels or by a generator. We do have a 85W solar panel but it wouldnt be sufficient to keep the batteries charged up if we ran into a long stretch of cloudy, overcast weather.
We have also taken a look at what we want to run in the way of appliances or electronics and have decided that since we have gone without an inverter for 35 years, we can do without one now.
There is really nothing that we HAVE to have going (microwave, etc)..... dont watch TV so..... the short answer for us is to forget about it.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. All of your points were reinforced by others that I have spoken to.....
Not to the generator stage yet....... "yet" is the operative word here.
Thanks again
Richard
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Old 06-27-2009, 05:08 AM   #4
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If and when you do get interested in a generator, take a look in my homepage and then in the "generator" folder, this is the one that I bought from Cabella"s for $299, they only seem to put it on sale for that in December, you can download the manual for it from my "generator" folder.
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