Installing an inverter on '84 Dolphin

[lovedayjd]

Newbie here w/ some questions on installing an inverter in the Dolphin.

Driving the MH from AK to OR in a few days and the fridge has been removed. I picked up a mini fridge and a 1500W inverter on C-list and need some advice on how/where to install the inverter.

I have 1 12V Deep Cycle battery to run the coach. Will this be efficient enough to run the fridge?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jesse

[wickerman]

Here is the link to the inverter Poop Sheet:

http://www.phrannie.org/invert.html

[Maineah]

Newbie here w/ some questions on installing an inverter in the Dolphin.

Driving the MH from AK to OR in a few days and the fridge has been removed. I picked up a mini fridge and a 1500W inverter on C-list and need some advice on how/where to install the inverter.

I have 1 12V Deep Cycle battery to run the coach. Will this be efficient enough to run the fridge?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jesse

Nice web site good info. Tip: big cables big as will fit the lugs, close as possible to the battery and some place it can get some air it will get warm. A big battery would be good (120 amps) and make sure it gets a charge from the truck and your inverter. Full load (1500 watts) it will draw a minimum of 125 amps DC.

[futar]

Is 1,500 the steady state of the inverter and what is the surge rating? Electric motors usually draw double their rating on start-up. What is the wattage of the fridge?

[bufbooth]

Does anyone have any experience with Schumacher power inverters?

I found a deal that I could not pass up, it was on Clearance at a Meijer store.

It is a Schumacher PID760 Interter with an original price of $70, I ended up

getting it for $19. It is still sealed in its hard plastic. It is rate as

1520 peak watts, 760 watts continuous, Digital display indicates voltage in,

voltage out, power out in watts, High speed cooling fan, Low battery alarm,

Thermal protection and surge protection, and two 110V AC household outlets.

I was just looking for an opinion on it before I openned the plastic up. I just

needed a little bigger one, my older 400 watt was one having issues powering

the laptop sometimes.

Thanks,

Dennis...

[Maineah]

For $19 it's worth a try I see it has clamps I would advise not installing it and trying to run some thing from your truck battery good ones usually run $200 to $300 or more depending on features. Make sure it has fuses sounds scary to me or just wishful thinking on power output. Yeah if a 400 won't power your laptop it's tired they draw about 45 to 65 watts.

[jocko]

Newbie here w/ some questions on installing an inverter in the Dolphin.

Driving the MH from AK to OR in a few days and the fridge has been removed. I picked up a mini fridge and a 1500W inverter on C-list and need some advice on how/where to install the inverter.

I have 1 12V Deep Cycle battery to run the coach. Will this be efficient enough to run the fridge?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jesse

I put a dorm fridge in my Dolphin. I needed a 1800w peak surge inverter. I had a 1200w and it shut down when the fridge turned on. I had 1 battery and it ran the fridge great while driving but only lasted about 12-18 hours camping so I put in 2 new batteries and now I get almost 2 days. i usually stop only for a day then do some driving around so they get charged back up.I turn the fridge on before my trip while plugged into shore current and cool it down with stuff in it. I have a storage space under the back bed that I vented and put the two batteries and inverter. Many people told me the inverter needed to be right next to the batteries. I ran a huge wire from the isolator to the batteries, I forget the size but about as big around as your pinky finger.

[Maineah]

I put a dorm fridge in my Dolphin. I needed a 1800w peak surge inverter. I had a 1200w and it shut down when the fridge turned on. I had 1 battery and it ran the fridge great while driving but only lasted about 12-18 hours camping so I put in 2 new batteries and now I get almost 2 days. i usually stop only for a day then do some driving around so they get charged back up.I turn the fridge on before my trip while plugged into shore current and cool it down with stuff in it. I have a storage space under the back bed that I vented and put the two batteries and inverter. Many people told me the inverter needed to be right next to the batteries. I ran a huge wire from the isolator to the batteries, I forget the size but about as big around as your pinky finger.

It would be a good ideal to separate the inverter from the batteries the out gassing from the batteries does bad things to circuit boards. Unfortunately the inverter cooling fan pulls the gasses right through the inverter.