Inverters

Anything electric, AC or DC

Postby Keith » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:05 pm

Dean,

For my 110 circuit I have the main power feed come in to an outlet box under my kitchen counter. I have a 110 plug inside behind the tv and one coming out into the kitchen area. I have these two outlets setup to plung into the main outlet box under the counter. If I don't have shore power I unplug the outlets from the main box and plung it into the inverter that is mounted next to it. By wiring it this way there is no chance of feeding shore power through the inverter or shocking yourself.

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Postby WoodSmith » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:16 pm

I went back and looked at the wiring diagrams that Joanne and others posted, none of them showed the 120 volt outlets wired to power up with both shore power and invertor power. If you wire your TD this way you can safely have a male end attached to your 120 volt system, just like they showed. Essentially you have an extention cord or plug strip that has outlets in various places inside your TD. The problem only arrises when you have that double ended cord. Alternatively you can wire the 120 volt system to a panel plug that you mount in the side of the Tear and use an appropriate extension cord to plug into shore power. I've seen links posted to them here but havn't saved the links.

just found it, lets see if I can insert the link:
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=2710&highlight=plug
Last edited by WoodSmith on Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby toypusher » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:27 pm

Check this thread also, to get a pictorial idea of the possibilities for wiring. I have a battery for the 12VDC and a charger that will be used when I am plugged into the shorepower, which runs through the box with a 20AMP breaker (just like you would find in your house). The input to the box will be a length of 12-2 romex wire with a male plug on the end. I then will use a 12-2 extension cord to get the power from the outlet in the campground to the box with the circuit breaker.

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=2798

Please read all the entries that go along with this to better understand it.

There are lots of ways to do this, this is just the way I am doing it.
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Postby Geron » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:55 pm

WoodSmith wrote:
Dean in Eureka, CA wrote:I was wondering (Remember I'm a putz when it comes to electricity) if a short jumper cable with male plugs on each end could be used to plug into one of the outlets in the shoreline circuit to feed other outlets when shore power isn't available, or is there a better way to go about this?


I don't want to sound alarmist, but what you are talking about is known as a "suicide cord". If you really are as putzy as you say when it comes to electricity, I would reccoment a different method.



Really, Really scary. I opted for one of these

[url="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=271116&c=500&z=1"]Image[/url]

For roughly 16 bucks it's hard to beat for a safe shore power connection.

It's for a Bass Boat and Bass Pro Shop has them mailorder. I think it was called a Bass Boat Battery Charger inlet. Someone posted about them in the Electrical. This way you can use a standard drop cord and do it very safely.
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Postby Guest » Sat Apr 02, 2005 6:27 pm

Thanks Guys,
Yes... I consider myself a putz when it comes to electricity, because it's certainly not one of my stronger points, but I do have what I would consider; some decent common sense.
That jumper cable that I described, would never have a live male plug exposed....BZZZZT!!! (I don't like getting shocked) :baby:
I'm in the midst of laying out my wiring diagram and where all the electrical components and wiring are going to be placed within the confines of the trailer. (I don't want to handcuff myself or have to tear something apart later on when it comes to something electrical or plumbing for that matter)
The thought about the jumper cable was an easy remedy for me to tie into something that was already there.
I like that recessed-reversed plug for bringing shore power to the cabin.
I'm going to figure everything out as far as the wiring diagram goes and make sure that it will all fit within the confines of the walls, frame and that sort of thing, then I'l post my results for another round of "critiquing".
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Postby TomS » Sat Apr 02, 2005 6:48 pm

I picked up a 350 Watt inverter for my tear. I'm also making provisions for using shore power, when available. I plan to install a GFCI.

I have some a questions.

1. Will a GFCI work while connected to the inverter?

2. Do I need to even worry about GFCI protection while running such as small (350 Watt) inverter?
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Postby Woody » Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:54 pm

I think the real question here is what size inverter to install ?. I installed a 1000 watt inverter and find it about right for what I need. I tried a 450 and found it kind of small for my needs.
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Postby Guest » Sat Apr 02, 2005 8:01 pm

Woody,
Great point.
I think I already asked this question, but I'll ask it again just in case...
I would like to opperate a microwave oven for very short periods of time, between 30 sec and up to two minutes when shore power isn't available.
I've got a 1000 watt inverter, but the manual only recommends opperating a 600 watt microwave oven with it. The smallest microwave that I've located so far is an 800 watt oven.
Do you think that this 1000 watt inverter will handle an 800 watt oven for those short amounts of cooking time?
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Postby asianflava » Sat Apr 02, 2005 8:10 pm

Dean in Eureka, CA wrote:Flava,
Same for me in regards to opperating times with the oven when not on shore power or tied into the generator.
Curious... How many watts is your microwave and what size is your inverter?
(I'm hoping I can safely do those short cooking times with an 800w microwave, even though the manufacture of the 1000w inverter states that it will opperate a 600w oven)


I have a 1250Watt inverter. I'm not sure about the nuker but I think it is 1000W. It was the smallest and cheapest one I could find. Maybe I'll hook it up this weekend and see how it works out.

I want to use a DPDT switch for the AC. Switch it one way for shore power and the other way for inverter power. I am going to wire the inverter with a cut off extension cord. The cut off end will feed into a box where it will distribute out from (microwave & 3 outlets). I drew up a rough schematic but it's at home right now. Since it's daylight savings, I still have 10 more hours of work to go instead of 11. I'll post it when I get home.
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Postby Woody » Sat Apr 02, 2005 8:16 pm

My brother in law had the same 1000 watt inverter with a 2000 watt surge I have and he had used a microwave with his in his truck. I think he had an 800 watt microwave. I have a 1250 watt microwave and had wondered if I turned down the power level on the microwave would it work as well. Lowering the power level, would in turn lower the ovens watt usage as well an experiment I have yet to undertake. It should work at the lower power level, but I have not found any documentation to say other wise. To date I have not tried it
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Postby purplepickup » Sat Apr 02, 2005 8:55 pm

I'm not real bright when it come to electricity either. I have a cheap inverter that I got to use for low amp things sometimes at the cabin, like a 2.5 amp saber saw. It's rated at 800W but 400W continuous. Does that mean that it has a surge rating of 800 watts and I shouldn't run anything that draws over 400 watts on it?

I'm not ready to wire my trailer yet but I want to understand these things before I do.
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Postby Arne » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:37 pm

Most things draw more current at startup. The inverters can withstand these momentary demands but can not sustain the draw without overheating (meltdown).

So, best to follow their recommendations....

Do a search on 'inverter faq'.......

http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/inverter_faq.html
www.freewebs.com/aero-1
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Postby bdosborn » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:54 pm

TomS wrote:I picked up a 350 Watt inverter for my tear. I'm also making provisions for using shore power, when available. I plan to install a GFCI.

I have some a questions.

1. Will a GFCI work while connected to the inverter?


Yes. Just make sure you get the hot and neutral connected correctly.

2. Do I need to even worry about GFCI protection while running such as small (350 Watt) inverter?


Probably not, but not because its a small load. The inverter probably has output protection built into it. Check with the manufacturer. But it wouldn't hurt to use it in case you switch the receptacle to shore power.

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Postby asianflava » Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:04 pm

Woody wrote:I have a 1250 watt microwave and had wondered if I turned down the power level on the microwave would it work as well.


I'm not shure either but I think when you turn the power level down while cooking, it just cycles the nuker. Instead of being on the whole time on high, it's on only half the time on med.
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Postby Woody » Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:41 pm

If lower the cooking power level of the microwave caused it to cycle ( the 'nuker') on and off, then it (inverter) would handle or not handle the momentary higher level surges ? I don't know. If it cut the power consumption required to run the "nuker" then in theory it would work with the 1000 watt inverter by lowering the power consumption requirement of 1250 watts the microwave uses to a lower wattage consumption value. I have absolutely no idea if they work that way or not. It would be interesting to see what the operating principles are pertaining to that function(wattage consumption) in relation to the power level setting feature of a standard microwave. Does anybody know???? Does this make sense to any one
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