How do I Properly Integrate my Inverter?

[Tom Langley]

Hello all,

I have a 2019 Forester 3271S Motorhome and I've recently purchased a 400 W solar kit that inclues a 1500 W Inverter. The inverter is pretty big and there's nowhere inside that would be convenient to mount it and besides, it would be an eye soar. So I'm wondering if any of you smart folks wire it directly into the panel somehow. I'm thinking I could mount it in an external locker and then have it power the outlets inside through the RV's electrical system. I know I would be limited to what I could use and even how many small items but I'd like to use my coffee maker and microwave (not at the same time of course). Is there an easy way to do that? If so do I need any additional items like a switch to make the system work properly when switching between battery, shore power, and charging modes?
Thanks,
Tom

[ejohnson1144]

1500 watts is just enough to ru a coffe pot not the whole camper.

[Tom Langley]

Right, I know I would be limited to what I can do at any given time. But I don't want to have to drag an extension cord across the camper to my coffee pot from the inverter.

[A32Deuce]

How close to the batterys is your kitchen. Mine is next to the heater under the fridge and about 5 ft. from the batterys.

[richp]

Hi,


I don't know the layout of your rig, but the rule of thumb is to mount the inverter as close to the battery as possible, properly fused, of course. In general, try to get it within a few feet, and do your research on the gauge of HD wire to use.



FWIW.


Rich Phillips

[Tom Langley]

My batteries are under the entry steps across the room from the kitchen.

[richp]

Originally Posted by Tom Langley

My batteries are under the entry steps across the room from the kitchen.

Hi,


Shortest possible runs of the appropriate HD wire are the general answer. There are tables out there to help select your 12 volt wire size after you have a location.



I'm supposing an immediately adjacent lower compartment is the direction you will be looking. Others with your model may be able to chime in with more useful specifics.



Good luck getting it sorted out.


Rich

[UT_Grandpa]

I have a 800 Watt pure sine wave inverter and a 150 watt inverter. Nothing is hard wired in (reason later). 1500 watts will not run a microwave oven unless it is really small. Microwaves run full tilt on all the time or cycled off and on.

As a rule of thumb, inverters will pull 10 times the current (Amps) as the AC load pulls. 1000 Watts AC = 100 Amps DC. Inverters are not 100% efficient. 100 Amps DC = huge copper leads to the battery (#1-2 AWG). This would pull two Group 24 batteries to dead in a little over an hour at 1000 Watts AC.

What I do if I wanted to "heat up" my outlets would be this: Connect the inverter to the batteries using big clips, run an extension cord to the shore power outlet AND turn off the breakers to the fridge, converter, water heater, all big resistance heaters. It stands to reason that using an inverter to recharge the battery you are drawing from (converter) makes no sense.

I have a Honda EU2000i generator I use when I want to run the stuff listed above but that makes no sense because it will all run on propane. It is use to recharge the batteries if the solar panels can't. The 150 Watt inverter powers the TV set if the grandkids want to watch a movie without running the generator. The TV pulls maybe 60 Watts - easily handled by a 150 Watt inverter.

[rlh1957]

If you have a basement or bin put mount the inverter as close to batteries as possible. You have run AC Romex to where you want the 110V and install a new receptacle. That way you don't have to mess with tying it in to a circuit that serves an outlet or other outlets in the rig. 1500 watts won't run much and 1500 watts and the inverter draw off your battery bank won't run that long so be sure you have at least a voltage display to indicate % charge or when battery voltage drops to 50% or 11 volts. Beyond that you risk killing your batteries.

[OldBob]

Originally Posted by ejohnson1144

1500 watts is just enough to ru a coffe pot not the whole camper.

I Disagree. We have a smaller inverter (1000 watts) but when traveling or boon-docking I always hook up the entire trailer to the inverter. The trick is however, to make sure you do not have your converter turned on. If you forget to turn the converter off the INVERTER will be powering the CONVERTER trying to charge the batteries while they are in use.
I simply turn off the converter, plug the trailer into the inverter. This way all of our lights and outlets are live. We can run just about everything except the A/C and Microwave. It powers my small Kurieg coffee maker and our toaster perfectly. It also powers my wife's CPAP and Water Pick, just about everything. Even the Vacuum. I'm VERY pleased with our setup and that's only with 1000 watt inverter. We use 2 Trojan 6v golf cart batteries for battery power. I ran a 4 gauge charge cable from the truck's engine compartment so the batteries charge properly when traveling. I also have a 2000 watt Yamaha inverter generator for charging the Trojans when boon-docking.

[Scottmarm]

I installed my inverter underneath my RV, as close to the batteries as possible and in a dry location. I also installed an auto switch that detects when I’m on AC or DC. Then I wired it to the receptacle breaker so that all my receptacles would have power regardless of where they are.

[Tom Langley]

Thank you Scottmarm. Can you tell me more about the switch? I assume it's installed between the inverter and the circuit breaker. What about the converter that others above mentioned so you're not using the battery to charge itself (very ineffiently)?

[rlh1957]

Originally Posted by OldBob

I Disagree. We have a smaller inverter (1000 watts) but when traveling or boon-docking
We can run just about everything except the A/C and Microwave. It powers my small Kurieg coffee maker and our toaster perfectly. It also powers my wife's CPAP and Water Pick, just about everything. Even the Vacuum.
.

Obliviously not all at once. But helpful to everyone you point out what can be run. Interesting to know how long before you begin recharge.
I think most interesting that many would find helpful is your statement of running the CPAP. Will it run CPAP all night long without fear of batteries depleting? While running CPAP at night what else do you run?
Great point that an inverter will expend battery power trying to recharge batteries, and to turn that off to prevent additional draw. Many don't realize you can do that.

[rlh1957]

Originally Posted by OldBob

I Disagree. We have a smaller inverter (1000 watts) but when traveling or boon-docking I always hook up the entire trailer to the inverter. The trick is however, to make sure you do not have your converter turned on. If you forget to turn the converter off the INVERTER will be powering the CONVERTER trying to charge the batteries while they are in use.
I simply turn off the converter, plug the trailer into the inverter. This way all of our lights and outlets are live. We can run just about everything except the A/C and Microwave. It powers my small Kurieg coffee maker and our toaster perfectly. It also powers my wife's CPAP and Water Pick, just about everything. Even the Vacuum. I'm VERY pleased with our setup and that's only with 1000 watt inverter. We use 2 Trojan 6v golf cart batteries for battery power. I ran a 4 gauge charge cable from the truck's engine compartment so the batteries charge properly when traveling. I also have a 2000 watt Yamaha inverter generator for charging the Trojans when boon-docking.

I would be interested in seeing pictures of your setup and how it operates.

[rk06382]

Originally Posted by Tom Langley

Hello all,

I have a 2019 Forester 3271S Motorhome and I've recently purchased a 400 W solar kit that inclues a 1500 W Inverter. The inverter is pretty big and there's nowhere inside that would be convenient to mount it and besides, it would be an eye soar. So I'm wondering if any of you smart folks wire it directly into the panel somehow. I'm thinking I could mount it in an external locker and then have it power the outlets inside through the RV's electrical system. I know I would be limited to what I could use and even how many small items but I'd like to use my coffee maker and microwave (not at the same time of course). Is there an easy way to do that? If so do I need any additional items like a switch to make the system work properly when switching between battery, shore power, and charging modes?
Thanks,
Tom

To integrate an Inverter to your 120AC you will need a transfer switch. Before purchasing my 2200W Inverter/charger, I researched what was needed to power the microwave.

My Samlex EVO-2212 Inverter/Charger has two transfer switches and an input for the solar charge controller.
See Expanding compartment space for 2200 Watt Inverter/Charger for info on my install.

I also use a CPAP. I found we can use the Mr. Coffee & the Microwave at the same time as long as the TV is off. The EVO-2212 is on all the time, it is like having a UPS for my motorhome.

[OldBob]

Originally Posted by rlh1957

Will it run CPAP all night long without fear of batteries depleting? While running CPAP at night what else do you run?

The CPAP doesn't use too much power. We used to run it off of a 150 watt inverter without issue. Yes, the CPAP runs all night along with our outside light and dim lights on in the trailer. We can use our battery power for about 3 nights before charging is necessary. We frequently run many things without even thinking of the power inverter it works that well. ALL of our lights are LED which helps a lot and we are not TV watchers. Having the Trojan 6v Golf cart batteries makes a huge difference.

[Scottmarm]

I purchased this…Xantrex 8080915 PROwatt SW Auto Transfer Switch. You can find it on Amazon.com. The installation instructions are simple with the cables clearly marked. I ran an extension from my inverter to this switch, then from the switch to the breaker. I also have a remote control switch for my invertor. The transfer switch is there to make sure I don’t do what you’re afraid of doing…which is pushing a voltage to charge the batteries. When I have no 120 volts AC, I switch on my inverter and I have power to only my receptacles. That way I don’t have to worry that someone will inadvertently try to start something that will put a strain on my batteries.
If you have more questions you can contact me anytime.

[Tom Langley]

Thank you so much!

[pmsherman]

Last Fall, I replaced my 2011 Georgetown's 1kw MSW inverter with a 1kw PSW unit. Both of these inverters contain an internal transfer switch which eliminated the need to add a separate one. The old one, an add-on that was installed when we purchased the Georgetown, had failed and I now needed a PSW inverter to provide emergency power to a medical device, not a CPAP. My house batteries are located in a basement compartment just in front of the entry steps while the inverter is located in a dead space under the sink on the other side of the steps.



The original installation, done by the dealer, had the inverter wired to provide power to only the fridge outlet. I wanted the new one to power most of the outlets which required disconnecting them from the circuit breaker and running a new AC line from the breaker to the inverter. The output from the inverter was then easily hooked up to all of the non-gfci outlets in the rv. This arrangement means that all of these outlets are powered through the inverter at all times; with shore power, the generator, or house batteries. The 10A circuit breaker in the inverter does limit the total power available from these outlets but with a normal load of a couple of televisions and low power electronics, I've never tripped the inverter's breaker. When shore power is available and it's cold, I can also run a small electric space heater from one of these outlets without problems.


Good planning and some careful thought should help you develop a solution that meets your needs.



Phil