inverters, 12v receptacles

E

eric.henning

New member
Jan 31, 2000
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Well, I'm really down to the wire now. Only one week left till our big cross
country adventure. Put in a tranny cooler, re-did the front bearings (with
grease fitting added), new Hayden 2797 Fan clutch, and new exhaust pipe on the
last 5 feet of exhaust (no more exhaust smells in rear).

Just need to put the new dash a/c compressor in, figure out how to hang four
bikes off the back (no ladder or hitch). Plan on getting two
350 watt inverters and permanently mount them. One by the dinette and one under
the side couch (davo?). I planned on adding a fuse in the electrical panel and
running wires tot he mounting spots. Can I use 14 awg lamp cord? Will probably
also try an add some cigarette lighter
sockets for 12V devices. Any thoughts on this? Since time is running out I
hope to get some actual experience in these areas.

I also plan on adding a clear shower curtain to block off the rear of the coach
so hte a/c's might have a chance.

Thanks

Eric.henning
 
>
> Plan on getting two 350 watt inverters and permanently mount
> them. One by the dinette and one under the side couch
> (davo?). I planned on adding a fuse in the electrical panel
> and running wires tot he mounting spots. Can I use 14 awg
> lamp cord?

Nope - at rated load you'll be pulling 30 amps DC. Use 10awg minimum and
run both a hot and ground lead straight from the battery. Actually, you're
better off to mount the inverters close to the battery to keep the high
current runs short. Be sure that 350 is the max, better inverters have a
"surge" rating that they can handle for a minute or three, and you'll need
to size the wire and fuse to that load. Keep in mind also that a 350 watt
inverter will only handle about a 3amp AC load.

Inverters are a tough place to try to save money. The cheaper ones will
give no end of grief. Probably the best deal is the refurb'd stuff on
Statpower's web site. Check out http://www.phrannie.org/invert.html for
more info.

> Will probably also try an add some cigarette lighter
> sockets for 12V devices. Any thoughts on this?

I bought mine at Auto Zone. They have one made for panel mounting. I used
a Dremel tool to shorten the threaded sleeve that holds it in place and
mounted them right in the module panels. It also comes with a little
bracket if you don't want to be drilling holes in your panels.

HTH,
Patrick
 
> >
> > Plan on getting two 350 watt inverters and permanently mount
> > them. One by the dinette and one under the side couch
> > (davo?). I planned on adding a fuse in the electrical panel
> > and running wires tot he mounting spots. Can I use 14 awg
> > lamp cord?
>
> Nope - at rated load you'll be pulling 30 amps DC. Use 10awg minimum and
> run both a hot and ground lead straight from the battery. Actually, you're
> better off to mount the inverters close to the battery to keep the high
> current runs short. Be sure that 350 is the max, better inverters have a
> "surge" rating that they can handle for a minute or three, and you'll need
> to size the wire and fuse to that load. Keep in mind also that a 350 watt
> inverter will only handle about a 3amp AC load.
>
> Inverters are a tough place to try to save money. The cheaper ones will
> give no end of grief. Probably the best deal is the refurb'd stuff on
> Statpower's web site. Check out http://www.phrannie.org/invert.html for
> more info.
>
> > Will probably also try an add some cigarette lighter
> > sockets for 12V devices. Any thoughts on this?
>
> I bought mine at Auto Zone. They have one made for panel mounting. I used
> a Dremel tool to shorten the threaded sleeve that holds it in place and
> mounted them right in the module panels. It also comes with a little
> bracket if you don't want to be drilling holes in your panels.
>
> HTH,
> Patrick

I agree with Patrick on all of this stuff.

What I did was get a refurbished 1,000 watt (can surge to 2000 watts) inverter
from Statpower. I installed it in the area between the rear of the coach and
the generator. In my GM installed interior, there is an empty compartment
there under the rear driver's side seat. I have the inverter connected
directly to the house batteries with "0" gage wire (battery cables at the auto
parts store) the cables required are about 5' long.

I have a Statpower remote on/off switch installed right next to the ONAN remote
start panel. Next I ran 12 AWG romex from the inverter to the electrical
compartment where a relay automatically switches all the coach's AC outlets
from shore/onan to the inverter.

I don't have any accessories at all that run on 12 VDC. My TV, VCR, DVD player
and coffee maker all run off the AC that comes from either the inverter or
shore/Onan. I found this was cheaper the buying the equivalent electronics in
a DC version. Also I don't have to run the ONAN just to watch a little TV. To
keep my new microwave/convection oven from overloading the inverter I put it on
its own branch circuit. My old 600 watt microwave could run off of the
inverter. Running that put's a big drain on the batteries so I seldom ran the
microwave on the inverter unless I was driving. I found that the engine
alternator would keep up with the microwave for short periods of time.

Also, this works just like a big Uninterruptable Power Supply for my computer.
If I'm connected to shore power and the inverter is on (but just idling with no
load) and shore power fails I am immediately connected to the inverter. I've
had a couple of shore power failures and my computer kept running.

I've had this setup in for a year now and it works just fine. I'm not telling
you that you should do this, but it works for me. Good luck.
Richard Waters
1976 Palm Beach
Troy, MI
 
Hi Rich;

Was wondering what model Statpower you got and if you don't mind,
what you paid and when you bought it. Was looking for one, but couldn't tell
if the current prices were good. The exchange rate has been good lately
although the $C has increased 3% or so in the past couple of weeks. Thanks.

walter bright, 76GB.


What I did was get a refurbished 1,000 watt (can surge to 2000 watts)
inverter
from Statpower.
 
> Hi Rich;
>
> Was wondering what model Statpower you got and if you don't mind,
> what you paid and when you bought it. Was looking for one, but couldn't tell
> if the current prices were good. The exchange rate has been good lately
> although the $C has increased 3% or so in the past couple of weeks. Thanks.
>
> walter bright, 76GB.
>
>
> What I did was get a refurbished 1,000 watt (can surge to 2000 watts)
> inverter
> from Statpower.

I got the equivalent to the PORTAWATTZ 1000. According to the Statpower website
it is described as:

"-The PORTAWATTZ 1000 will produce 1000 watts of power for 5 minutes and has a
continuous power rating of 800 watts from a 12 volt DC source. It can run
anything from power tools to small microwave ovens.

A quiet alternative to generators, the PORTAWATTZ 1000 stretches your energy
dollar even farther with totally silent, maintenance-free operation, without
spikes and voltage fluctuations, for power anytime,
anywhere.

Even if you already have a generator in your system, the PORTAWATTZ 1000 can be
used for lower-power or intermittent loads and save the generator (and the
accompanying noise, fumes, and exhaust) for heavy-duty continuous loads."

I paid $182.16 US for that unit. The remote panel was about $30 from Camping
World.

I see Statpower has a refurbished PW1000 for $235.95 canadian. I paid $269.95
Canadian for mine. That seems like a reasonable price to me.

The only problem with this unit that I can see is that some cheap TVs and other
electronics may get a hum nose in their audio. I have not experienced that, but
it is a possibility.
HTH
Richard
 
Rich;

Thanks, what I wanted to hear. In fact, I was going to buy the next model
line up, which is considerably more expensive and was worried about
operating something like a 13" tv on it (I thought even that one might cause
noise on a tv). Since you seem to have acceptable performance on this with
tv, etc. and since this unit should be priced in the mid $160's today, I
will give it a shot. Thanks again, walt.

- -----Original Message-----
From: Richard Waters [mailto:digitek]

> What I did was get a refurbished 1,000 watt (can surge to 2000 watts)
> inverter
> from Statpower.

I got the equivalent to the PORTAWATTZ 1000. According to the Statpower
website
it is described as:

"-The PORTAWATTZ 1000 will produce 1000 watts of power for 5 minutes and has
a
continuous power rating of 800 watts from a 12 volt DC source. It can run
anything from power tools to small microwave ovens.

A quiet alternative to generators, the PORTAWATTZ 1000 stretches your energy
dollar even farther with totally silent, maintenance-free operation, without
spikes and voltage fluctuations, for power anytime,
anywhere.

Even if you already have a generator in your system, the PORTAWATTZ 1000 can
be
used for lower-power or intermittent loads and save the generator (and the
accompanying noise, fumes, and exhaust) for heavy-duty continuous loads."

I paid $182.16 US for that unit. The remote panel was about $30 from Camping
World.

I see Statpower has a refurbished PW1000 for $235.95 canadian. I paid
$269.95
Canadian for mine. That seems like a reasonable price to me.

The only problem with this unit that I can see is that some cheap TVs and
other
electronics may get a hum nose in their audio. I have not experienced that,
but
it is a possibility.
HTH
Richard
 
>bikes off the back (no ladder or hitch). Plan on getting two
>350 watt inverters and permanently mount them. One by the dinette and one
>under
>the side couch (davo?). I planned on adding a fuse in the electrical
>panel and
>running wires tot he mounting spots. Can I use 14 awg lamp cord? Will
>probably
>also try an add some cigarette lighter
>sockets for 12V devices. Any thoughts on this? Since time is running out I
>hope to get some actual experience in these areas.

We ran our 76 PB for over 10k mils with separate inexpensive inverters that
I powered off the cigarette lighter (rewired to the house battery). They
used exposed wires as extension cords for 12V. Things I learned:

1. manufacturers of cheap inverters generally overstate their continuous
duty power capabilities - often by 20%
2. my 300 watt el cheapo inverter wouldn't power 230 watts reliably - I
kept blowing fuses in the inverter.
3. my usage of 110V AC was generally on one side of the coach or the other
- - dinette or davo side.
4. multiple cigarette lighter sockets are very useful - but it's pretty
easy to exceed the current rating of the OEM wires that supply any part of
the coach. IF you go this way you'll need to add a circuit with its own
fuse (I suggest a breaker because you'll likely trip it periodically).

You'll find it more convenient to mount the inverters close to the
batteries and run (fused) 110 V circuits to outlets.

In my case, I bit the bullet and bought a 1000 watt inverter with a built
in transfer switch and wired it into the branch circuit that includes the
dinette and kitchen 110V outlets.

Henry
 
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