We have a 1995 Pace Arrow Vision. It has a converter 120vac to 12 vdc (battery charger I presume), but no inverter 12vdc to 110vac. How hard would it be to add one to the outlets. I don't care about the ac units. What else would be needed for this system. All I have is dummy lights for the battery 1 & 2, fresh water tank snd Black and grey water.
Approximate cost?
I just picked up two 1200 watt units for around 80 bucks each, used jumper cables to wire them in, put one in the front, one in the back. JM2Cents Bill
One word of caution, since you are connecting it to the AC outlets, make sure the inverter output is never connected at the same time shore power is on.
Blew the second inverter before that dawned on me.
The way our rig is wired now, is the mains (Power/Fuse panel) is either plugged into shore power or into inverter power but never both at the same time.
We use a 1750 watt modified sine inverter. When on the road it powers everything except the converter, and we have enough sense not to try using the Air Cond. I've not had any problems or strange noises while running the Micro Wave. In the mornings with breakfast, we have fresh perked coffee and toast. When we're docked I just unplug the mains from the inverter and plug them into the shore power cable.
Cheers
Willey
Vanguard VXL2000
2000 Ford V10 Triton, E350 Super Duty
Just for me,the Mrs and the mutt
Find a place near the batteries but not in the same air space
Run heavy 12 volt lines (fused of course) from the battery to the inverter
Put a plug on the end of a length of Romex Plug it into the inverter (NOTE this is the last step) on the other end put an outlet this outlet should be in your TV/Radio area, and it should be RED or ORANGE in color.
That's about all there is to it.. I suggest red/orange as this is a fairly standard indication that the outlet is powered off the "E" panel (Power there even during power failures) I also suggest a true-sine wave inverter. Your television and other radio gear will thank you by performing better.
Method two, inverter/converter "In-line" device such as a xantrex prosine 2.0 (NOTE this is a true sine wave inverter) This is the better choice by the way
Again decide where you are going to put it. I suggest going one size larger on the 12 volt side than Xantrex suggests. also tape the positive and negative cables together for as much of the run as possible or... Use a wire loom (Wire wrap)
Decide what lines you want inverter powered. Television and radio for sure, Microwave (on a prosine 2.0 you can run a microwave) and GFCI loop are suggested if. that is, the water heater and/or frig are not on the GFCI loop
Disconnect these lines from your main breaker panel, label them and remove their breakers for later use. Install a 30 amp breaker in the main box (note, you may need to re-configure slightly if you have a 50 amp rig) #10 wire from the 30 amp breaker to the Prosine. Obtain a 2nd "Sub panel) #10 wire from the prosine to the sub panel. Install the original breakers in the sub panel and connect the wires you disconnected to them as they were originally.
That about covers it.
Oh, if you go the prosine route, disable or disconnect your existing converter, you don't need it any more, Prosine is one of the converters I rate #1.
(The other is the Progressive Dynamics 9200, They both earn #1 ratings but for different reasons.. The PD is good for flooded wet cells, and the thing that earns it the #1 slot is the automatic equalize feature. The Xantrex is good for many types of batteires including a few that likely have yet to be released (you can custom program the charge settings) and comes with a battery temp sensor, thus it's also #1, for many batteries.)
Whatever you have in the trailer now is NOT better than a prosine.
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
If you just want to run the TV set for a few hours per day, without running the generator, then a small inverter that plugs into a cigarette lighter is the right one for you. It is less than $40 and rated at up to 500 watts.
I have a receptacle near my TV that has #8 wire going to it (factory installed). I use this to power my inverter and it is hooked up to a 20 amp fuse. That is plenty of power to run the TV, VCR, charge my laptop, and run the DSS all at once. The total power is less than 11 amps.
Fred.
Money can't buy happiness but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche or Country Coach!
I hooked up a 1500 watt inverter to run everything threw the outside plug in. some breakers you have to turn off like the converter breaker,it wont run ac but just about everything else,I have a built in generator that the shore power plugs into or I plug into outside power or the plug in I added from the inverter, all plug ins are in the power cord storage area.i just plug into what ever kind of power I need at the time.for TVs or radios I use a smaller cheaper inverter they don't use as much power as the larger one needs, less draw on the battery's that way.
1985 Class A Holiday Rambler Imperial 33 +1979 Class C Holiday Rambler Statesman 1000 = 24 ft
I opted for a larger modified sine wave inverter wired to a dedicated plug for now. I added a switch in the 120v line to the converter so I could turn off the battery charger and run the whole rig off the inverter if desired. The downside to running the whole rig is that I (or wife / daughter) must remember to not use the AC, electric heater, and to keep the fridge on gas.
The 1750w inverter was around $140 and it came with a remote on/off switch which was important to me. The wire, connectors, and fuse were additional as my inverter came with cables that were not large enough.
As mentioned, for TV's and small loads 500w inverters are in the 20-30 dollar price range. For the best inverter, or sensitive loads... the true sine wave units are desireable, but significantly more expensive. My real goal (when I really thought about it) was to make a pot of coffee in the morning with a standard 120v coffee maker.
But at the same time, be advised that many,....if not most 12v recepticals are not wired heavy enough to run near the full capacity of even a 300 watt inverter.
Golden_HVAC wrote: Hi,
If you just want to run the TV set for a few hours per day, without running the generator, then a small inverter that plugs into a cigarette lighter is the right one for you. It is less than $40 and rated at up to 500 watts.
I have a receptacle near my TV that has #8 wire going to it (factory installed). I use this to power my inverter and it is hooked up to a 20 amp fuse. That is plenty of power to run the TV, VCR, charge my laptop, and run the DSS all at once. The total power is less than 11 amps.
Fred.
Rich
'98 Flair, 454, Onan Microlite 4k, Intel PD 9155 w/ wizard, Sta-power 1500 watt Inv, 2 6v batts, ammeters, KingDome/sat, Oly Catalytic Heat, hauling 2 Bent Bikes and sometimes towing a Tracker F&S boat.
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