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Plugging 1000W Power Inverter


ChrisGalipo

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Is it possible to wire a power inverter this way?

I'd like to plug it on my coach battery and plug the 110v power cord in it so I would get 110V everywhere in my RV. I want to know if there is a problem with the charging system that will send 12v back into the battery so the inverter...

Thanks!

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Yes, there is no such thing as a free lunch your charger will try to run and it's not very efficient so you will end up with diminishing results. Most of the charger set ups go right to the main breaker so you can't turn off the charger too bad because without it, it probably work fine.

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Yes, there is no such thing as a free lunch your charger will try to run and it's not very efficient so you will end up with diminishing results. Most of the charger set ups go right to the main breaker so you can't turn off the charger too bad because without it, it probably work fine.

So you mean I can plug it that way no problem or I can't? Will I be able to use my 700W Micro-Wave Oven?

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No because the charger/converter will try to run you can't take power from the battery and try to put it back in at the same time with the charger, when you plug in the cord to the inverter the charger/converter in the motor home will run like it or not. If you could/can turn the charger/converter off your ideal would work just fine. If you know some one clever with electrical work convince him (a beer or two might help) to add an outlet for you just for the inverter. You can run a 600 watt microwave with the inverter but remember it will draw a lot of power from your battery so use it sparingly.

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No because the charger/converter will try to run you can't take power from the battery and try to put it back in at the same time with the charger, when you plug in the cord to the inverter the charger/converter in the motor home will run like it or not. If you could/can turn the charger/converter off your ideal would work just fine. If you know some one clever with electrical work convince him (a beer or two might help) to add an outlet for you just for the inverter. You can run a 600 watt microwave with the inverter but remember it will draw a lot of power from your battery so use it sparingly.

Ok good, that's what I wanted to know... I'll look what I can do, my Micro Wave is on top of my fridge so it's hard to run a cable there... On the fridge, there is a 12v outlet and it's told I can use it for TV only, I guess the 1000W inverter would take too much power if I plugged it there?

Thanks for your answer.

By the way, I want to use the MicroWave oven for baby food while on the go.... I'll use it like 30 seconds at a time when we are on the road. So I think my battery can handle this and more...

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Ok good, that's what I wanted to know... I'll look what I can do, my Micro Wave is on top of my fridge so it's hard to run a cable there... On the fridge, there is a 12v outlet and it's told I can use it for TV only, I guess the 1000W inverter would take too much power if I plugged it there?

Thanks for your answer.

By the way, I want to use the MicroWave oven for baby food while on the go.... I'll use it like 30 seconds at a time when we are on the road. So I think my battery can handle this and more...

I moved the wire for the charger from my main breaker to another breaker that i cut off and plug my rv into my invertor. I just turn that breaker back on when i plug into land power and turn it off when i plug into my invertor. It works great. i been doing this for about 6 months now.

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I moved the wire for the charger from my main breaker to another breaker that i cut off and plug my rv into my invertor. I just turn that breaker back on when i plug into land power and turn it off when i plug into my invertor. It works great. i been doing this for about 6 months now.

Good idea, but what if you forget to turn it off?

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Good idea, but what if you forget to turn it off?

I always pull my cord through the seat for my table to the inside and the convertor is in that seat so i always pull the cord and turn off the breaker. i wanted to run another cord to the invertor but i knew if i forgot to unplug the invertor and plug the rv into sure that would be the end ofmy invertor. im thinking about adding a switch for that purpose and hook up another cord to the invertor. that way i would have to switch either the land power on or invertor on. if i would forget to turn the breaker off for the convertor it would just kill my battery faster. i keep close eye on my battery power so i would notice that i didnt turn off the invertor.

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Good idea, but what if you forget to turn it off?

That little trick is best left to those that know exactly what they are doing it's high voltage wiring and done improperly could be deadly. Your inverter will require at least a #6 wire and be as close to the battery as you can get it the lighter socket will not cut it. Using your microwave will draw a minimum of 50amps from your battery the little socket is good for maybe 10 amps tops.

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I have my Toy set up so that everything works automatically no mater what power source I'm running.

If I'm on shore power it runs all, next level is the generator running all, then the inverter running all if there is no other power available.

It requires 2 auto transfer switches and I had to rework my circuit breaker box to prevent the charge loop. It now has 2 buss bars. The A/C, microwave and the ac outlets are on one side and the charger/converter is on the other. The first auto transfer switch has the generator and shore power into it. The output powers both sides of the breaker box. The second transfer switch has the output form the first switch on one side and the inverter on the other input. The output from the 2nd switch feeds just the A/C, microwave, outlet side. NO you can't run the A/C from the inverter, that's just the way things worked out.

It took about 2 days to set things up so it will would work the way I wanted. My inverter has a remote on/off switch that I have mounted next to the microwave. That way the inverter isn't idling and running down the battery.

BTW my inverter is hooked up with 0 cable, has a 200 amp fuse and it draws 100 amps when running the microwave, so a cigarette lighter socket ain't gonna get it..

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  • 8 months later...

okay im thinking about purchasin a 1000watt inverter designed for the 12v car socket. i wont be using 1000 watts probably 300 or 400 to run a low wattage small microwave WHILE DRIVING. this is realistic right? if its designed for the car 12v socket then why would't it work? and i think a 1000watt has something like 700 or more continuous power and 1000watt is peak.

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There is no such a thing as a 1000 watt lighter plug inverter if they say it is it is wishful thinking. 700 watts @ 12 volts = 58 amps. lighter plugs are fused at 10/15 amps to avoid wiring fires. Even 300 watts @12 volts is 25 amps. If this is some thing you have to do then hook it directly to the coach battery with HEAVY wire and use 12 or 14 gauge extension cord to run the microwave.

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Note: If you want to run a microwave oven with an inverter, make sure you get one that generates a pure/true sine wave (not a modified sine wave). It will run better (i.e. heat faster), and quieter. These inverters are much more expensive. I gave up on my modified sine wave inverter for running the microwave, and brought a generator to also run the air conditioner.

Here is a good article about inverters (it has to do with solar installations, however the information is the same), the most interesting and relevant text is below. The full article is here: http://www.wholesale...rs-article.html .

"A "modified sine wave" inverter is less expensive, but it produces a distorted square waveform that resembles the track of a pendulum being slammed back and forth by hammers. In truth, it isn't a sine wave at all. The misleading term "modified sine wave" was invented by advertising people. Engineers prefer to call it "modified square wave."

The "modified sine wave" has detrimental effects on many electrical loads. It reduces the energy efficiency of motors and transformers by 10 to 20 percent. The wasted energy causes abnormal heat which reduces the reliability and longevity of motors and transformers and other devices, including some appliances and computers. The choppy waveform confuses some digital timing devices.

About 5 percent of household appliances simply won't work on modified sine wave power at all. A buzz will be heard from the speakers of nearly every audio device. An annoying buzz will also be emitted by some fluorescent lights, ceiling fans, and transformers. Some microwave ovens buzz or produce less heat. TVs and computers often show rolling lines on the screen. Surge protectors may overheat and should not be used."

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A cheap 1000w inverter will probably run your microwave and small power tools OK but like Allen said it's not for sensitive things you get what you pay for a good 1000 watt will run $300-$400 any thing much less then that is suspect. Run away from any thing that says you can get 300+ watts out of a lighter plug.

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Hey, I just bought this one (NEW) for $195 and free shipping from Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sunforce+1000W&x=0&y=0&ih=8_1_3_1_1_0_0_0_0_1.104_185&fsc=-1

It needs to be wired into your RV battery. I've installed mine, it runs the microwave, and my audio system with no noise. Great unit. I don't know how long the sale will last so get it fast! (no connection with amazon. :) )

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In my RV, I also have a 3600 watt generator. In order to use the 1000-Watt inverter on the road (I now have a Sunforce 1000W from amazon... see my post above), I've wired mine to the vehicle battery with AWG 2 gauge cable. I simply plug into the front. HOWEVER if I wanted to put one or two of the RV circuits on a switch, I could switch between the Sunforce Inverter power and the "Progressive Dynamics PD7231" system installed in the RV which takes either generator power or external power. The wiring to the RV has to be intercepted out of the PD7231 on the OUTPUT side. You can't run the RV electrical charging system off the 1000W inverter... that would be bad... and for the same reason, it makes no sense to have the inverter installed on the RV battery.

You MUST remember to turn completely disconnect your inverter when not in use, or you run down your battery; but the best way to do this is to install a 12V relay/contactor circuit wired for a manual start AFTER the vehicle has been started, and switches the contactor to the open position when the vehicle ignition key is turned off.

I can post more details about this later if anyone is interested. Getting my RV ready for a road trip and have not actually implemented this trick, but it will work, I know it (I design military electronic systems for a living and this is a cake walk in comparison). I'm think I'll get it working and publish the details in a month or so. When the system is properly designed, it will use the forward vehicle battery, the ignition switch of the vehicle (for sense), and a single "ON" momentary contact push button. The switch of the RV plugs could also be wired into this system... that may or may not be desirable.

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In my RV, I also have a 3600 watt generator. In order to use the 1000-Watt inverter on the road (I now have a Sunforce 1000W from amazon... see my post above), I've wired mine to the vehicle battery with AWG 2 gauge cable. I simply plug into the front. HOWEVER if I wanted to put one or two of the RV circuits on a switch, I could switch between the Sunforce Inverter power and the "Progressive Dynamics PD7231" system installed in the RV which takes either generator power or external power. The wiring to the RV has to be intercepted out of the PD7231 on the OUTPUT side. You can't run the RV electrical charging system off the 1000W inverter... that would be bad... and for the same reason, it makes no sense to have the inverter installed on the RV battery.

You MUST remember to turn completely disconnect your inverter when not in use, or you run down your battery; but the best way to do this is to install a 12V relay/contactor circuit wired for a manual start AFTER the vehicle has been started, and switches the contactor to the open position when the vehicle ignition key is turned off.

I can post more details about this later if anyone is interested. Getting my RV ready for a road trip and have not actually implemented this trick, but it will work, I know it (I design military electronic systems for a living and this is a cake walk in comparison). I'm think I'll get it working and publish the details in a month or so. When the system is properly designed, it will use the forward vehicle battery, the ignition switch of the vehicle (for sense), and a single "ON" momentary contact push button. The switch of the RV plugs could also be wired into this system... that may or may not be desirable.

Good plan look into a battery "combiner" it is a smart relay that will handle your inverter load it is battery voltage sensitive neat little rig I use one as an isolator.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Alvin,

I do not understand why you want to install the inverter off of the starting-type battery, and why it makes no sense to use your deep cycle battery.

It seems your plan is never to use the inverter unless the engine is running.

I don't want to be running the engine every time I use the computer or TV, and I definitely do not want to run down the chassis battery and not be able to start the engine... To me it makes no sense to use the chassis battery. Please help me. Thanks.

John

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