Joannes wiring question, inverter

[diverguy]

Hey electrical experts,
We have all enjoyed and found Joannes thread so very helpful (it was for me). but in that thread Kerry posted the final drawing. all looks good but here is my question. with no shore power, how do you power your 120v outlets. i see a charger converter but no inverter. maybe this sche'matic is in there somewhere but i cant seem to find it. what i want is a converter to power my 12 v stuff on shore power and my 120v outlets when on shore power. but i also want an inverter so when going down the road or no shore power my frige and AC can still be used. so ? is there a simple way to include an inverter into that final sche'matic.
thanks for all of your great help and advise.

[Sonetpro]

I tried to run a AC off an inverter. It didn't work, not for long anyway.
If I don't have shore power they run off a genny

[toypusher]

There was never a drawing with an inverter in that thread. If you were using an inverter then the converter would not be necessary. Just wire the 12Volt with the battery and then wire your 120Volt with the inverter and put in a switch for when you have shore power available. If you wish you could still have the converter for when shorepower is there and just unplug it when there is no shore power. I personally would not recommend using an inverter unless it is getting power from your tow vechicle and the vehicle is running. You will kill a battery pretty quick if not careful. JMHOYMMV!

[diverguy]

thanks for the info sonet, lookig at the specs on the ac i can understand that. no big deal on the AC i can run it on shore power or a genny also. i really want the inverter for the fridge. so i can get it cool, and and then stuff an stay cool on the road and i could actually have a switch to move that outlet to shore power when available. does that make since. i really dont see the need for a converter because i plan on having plenty of battery power with to batteries tied together. so my ?. for a small compact fridge. 1.7 cf. i believe pulls 515 watts and cant remember the amps. about hat sze inverter should i need. i am thinking about the 2000 watts canverter from Harbo feight. anyone have any experience with these? i think thatshould handle and fidge needs pluss a little extra.

[Q]

I've run the little 1.7 cubic foot Sanyo refrigerators from a 400 watt inverter with no problem. Even worked with a 225 watt inverter but not all inverters have the same surge capacity. Right now I am running a 4 cubic foot Sanyo refrigerator off a 1000 watt Xantrex inverter in the garage.

Q

[diverguy]

ok here is my plan so far. let me know if this sounds ok. using joannes sche' matic. remove the charger converter. replace with inverter. shore power with two outlets. inverter with two outlets. seperate circuits. when pluged into shore power, i can or will have a small charger pulgged into one of the shore outlets and hooked to the battery, to keep a charge while inverter is powered. basically my entire TD is a 12 volt system. i only want a couple of outlets for shore power stuff like the AC. but i want the inverter to be able to run a fridge while traveling. so when i have shore power i have 4 outlets. if no shore power i just have to be conserative and only have two outlets. it will also be wired to my tow so while driving i am keeping a charge on the battery.

and another question? on the sche'matic there. on the neg battery post. it shows that to be grounded. is that to the trailer frame, to a ground rod, exactly where. and if grounded to the trailer frame, how would that affect the the tow vehicle electrical since it is also grounded to the trailer frame. i hope this does not sound to dumb. i only want to make sure i have everything correct.
here is what i am think about. if you can see it.

[Cutterpup]

I've run the little 1.7 cubic foot Sanyo refrigerators from a 400 watt inverter with no problem. Even worked with a 225 watt inverter but not all inverters have the same surge capacity. Right now I am running a 4 cubic foot Sanyo refrigerator off a 1000 watt Xantrex inverter in the garage.

Q what size battery did you use for this and how long did you run it for?

I have the same set up,a 400 watt inverter and a 1.7 refrigerator but I never have run the refrigerator off the inverter.

Thanks Dan

[madjack]

...if you wanna do this with an inverter, I will mention a couple of things...1)use an inverter sized properlly...the bigger the inverter, the higher the losses due to increased inefficiencies(don't use a 2000w inverter to run a 500w appliance, 2) there is 10fold increase of amperage when going from 12vdc to 120vac so size your 12vdc wiring that feeds the inverter accordingly(a 1.7a @ 120vac appliance will require 17AMPS of 12vdc electricity to produce the stated wattage(plus the loss due to the previous stated inefficiencies)...oh yeah, one last thing...the inverter should be mounted as close to the battery as possible, since 12vdc has a bigger loss over wiring than 120vac has.
madjack

[Q]

Dan,

I ran the 1.7 CF refrigerator year round for a couple years on the 400 watt inverter. The battery bank was about 1000 AH.

Q

Q what size battery did you use for this and how long did you run it for?

I have the same set up,a 400 watt inverter and a 1.7 refrigerator but I never have run the refrigerator off the inverter.

Thanks Dan