Inverter wiring

[Patches]

Just throwing this out here. It worked in an electrical class I took some 40 odd years ago, so just wondering. We were not working with RV pieces and parts back then. Let's say you ran a short, 10 ga, extension cord from the inverter with male plugs on both ends. Using the other male end, you plugged that into an outlet. Would that supply power to the other outlets on that circuit? Just curious.

On my system I have my battery bank, and inverter very close to my 30 amp trailer receptical. From batteries, through the inverter, through the fuse, to the trailer is about 4' of #2 wire total. Yes I am running stuff I don't need, but I still get 4-5 hours run time before I need to recharge. Longer if I leave the solar and/or wind generators online.

[brockhals]

It should, but you'd need to trip the breaker so it doesn't feed back thru the box to other circuits. It's just like hooking up a generator at the house

[MrJoe]

If tying into the house, you might want to shut-off the MAIN coming in from the street. It could get ugly.....

[Tiggerdad]

Male plugs on both ends are called "deadman" for a reason.

[rbneron]

Yes, it would and no, don't even think about it. Deadly.

[BarryD0706]

Originally Posted by rbneron

Yes, it would and no, don't even think about it. Deadly.

X3

[Great Horned Owl]

A safer way to connect the inverter is to wire it to an outlet (in an outlet box) and then plug the RV's cord into that outlet as if it were shore power.

Just make sure that you turn off the circuit breaker for the converter before turning on, and connecting to the inverter. You don't want the converter taking power from the inverter and trying to pump it back into the batteries. That loop will drain the batteries rather quickly.

Once, I forgot to turn off the converter. To avoid having that happen again, I connected the coil of a normally closed relay to the inverter output, and ran the AC power to the converter through the relay contacts. Now, turning on the inverter automatically turns off the converter.

Joel

[Acableguy06]

Sure would work, but could also cause some serious issues if/when you forget a step like turning of the main breaker.

And do not ever run a generator to your house this way as someone mentioned its like doing. Very bad idea! also against code, insurance wont pay if you burn the place down, or kill yourself or kill a lineman working to restore your power.

[Kickingupmudd]

It was a lot of work but I installed DPDT (Double pole double throw) Toggle switches I picked up off ebay 20 amp rated. Installed inside of cabinet above convertor/charger and removed wire from fuse panel that ran 1. wall plugs. 2. GFC plugs. 3. Residential Fridge. Ran those wires to bottom of three switches (Shore) ran three wires from invertor to top of same switches (Inverter) ran 3 wires down from center poles on switches (Feed) back to fuse panel and through the breakers. I did this so I could run fridge while traveling mainly but decided for boondocking would be nice to have wall plugs and TV's and entertainment centers. So now even if I have them on inverter I can fire up generator for a/c or microwave and not have to worry about breakers. I just choose what configuration I want while camping. shore or inverter. I also put my inverter control switch in same cabinet. But I did have to pull 9 wires to do this (That's the job) Its pretty much fail proof. Even if you forget to switch from inverter and are on shore power your still putting in more amps from charger than your removing from battery's. Well depends on your charger. Next installing 100 watt solar. For those wondering about fridge is 18 cf with ice maker and draws 7 amps once it starts and stabilizes. I am very happy with outcome.