Alternate Powers Source

[Htab]

Good morning guys! I have a 2013 Georgetown 352qs and was wondering what I can install to operate minor electrical items on the coach with out plugging in or turning the generator on. I want to be able to pretty much just operate the TVs and lights and a couple outlets. We do a lot of tailgating and want to avoid turning the generator on. Your thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated.

[fonzie]

Well you will need an inverter feeding off your house batteries. Do a search above for inverter for lots of threads. Here is one.....

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...all-41371.html

[ramair]

x2 on the inverter but you will need to figure out how much power the items will need to operate and get the inverter that will run all of them. You can also install solar panels to help keep the batteries charged so you don't have to run the gen.

[alparmer]

Does your 352 have a residential fridge? If so, you will have an inverter with two outputs and only one used for the fridge. I plan on doing this mod this season which basically entails running an extension from one of the inverter's output to one of the outlets inside the coach.

[Htab]

Alparmmer it does not have the resedintial fridge

[alparmer]

Htab, open the compartment that allows you to access the water heater bypass valves for winterization. It's just ahead of the water heater and requires the brass key to open. Remove the white access cap or the black plastic panel and you will see the inverter, and switch box. If it's just like mine, it's a ProWatt 1000 with two 110vac output outlets. The refrigerator populates one of them.

[pmsherman]

I faced the same problem with my 2011 327DS. The fridge runs on 110AC or propane and I didn't want to drive with the propane turned on. We'll frequently drive for over 10 hours so leaving the fridge turned off wasn't an option. The problem is complicated by FR's AC wiring in the RV. There are only two circuits for usable AC outlets; one for the bathroom and kitchen with a GFCI and one for all of the other outlets except the microwave. There's no easy way to add an inverter to pwoer some of the outlets.

My solution was to mount the inverter under the sink, behind the fire extinguisher. The 1kw unit I selected has an internal transfer switch which also allows the use of shore power when the generator is running or we're plugged in at a campground. Initial wiring for the inverter used the AC line from the fridge outlet for shore power to the inverter with the fridge outlet connected to the inverter's output circuit.

Since then, I added two additional GFCI protected outlets to the inverter. One is located next to the FR outlet at the sink while the other is located in the plumbing compartment right below the inverter. The one in the plumbing compartment is used for a gutter heating strip that keeps everything in the compartment from freezing when we're using the RV in the winter.

This worked well until this year when I needed a little AC power at the dining table to run a litter box. (The DC litter boxes are all an inch or two too big to fit under the table.) I solved this problem by using an automotive cigarette lighter inverter built into a standard electrical box that's mounted in a hole I cut in the bench seat. Power for this little inverter comes from the DC power line that feeds the dining and couch lights which runs along the floor at the rear edge of the seat. This little inverter will produce 100W of AC but I've limited it to just over 50W with a 5A circuit breaker. This also avoids any issues with the fuse for that circuit. The outlet also provides AC for my 25W soldering iron or our sewing machine.

I could use the big inverter to power most of the outlets in the RV but I'd want a 6 pole double throw switch to do that. That switch would allow disconnecting the fridge and shore power to the inverter and using the inverter's output to power the rest of the non-GFCI outlets. The inverter draws 25A from the battery to run the fridge and I wouldn't want that load when boondocking. That's a potential future enhancement after I install solar panels on the roof and a couple more house batteries.

Phil

[alparmer]

On ours the house batteries get charged while the engine is running. You can run the residential refrigerator indefinitely as long as the engine is running, the genset is running, or on shore power.