pnichols
Santa Cruz Mountains
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Joined: 04/26/2005
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Kevin,
I guess we don't know what kind of RV you have.(?)
In case you have a Truck Camper, Class A, Class B/B+, or Class C/C+ RV - here's an excellent article published by an RV manufacturer that provides a guick education (before you buy an inverter) on how to heat and/or cool your RV when camping (near the end of the article):
http://www.sportsmobile.com/1_heating_ac.html
Here's a line of relatively inexpensive and excellent pure sine wave inverters with two year warranties. I have a 300 watt one of these that handles 500 watt peaks and so far has not let me down. You'll be interested in the higher power models:
http://www.samlexamerica.com/products/su........%20Inverters%20Light%20Duty%20Commercial
Phil, 2005 E450 Itasca 324V Spirit
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KDOG2010
New Jersey
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Joined: 10/09/2009
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I have a Kodiak 195 hybrid camper...thinkin, still thinkin....want to decide on one these things and hope Santa Claus can get me one...
'04 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0L I6 4spd auto
'09 Kodiak 195 hybrid, 3487lbs empty
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KDOG2010
New Jersey
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I guess I'll just have to take look around and see if a PSW inverter shows up on sale somewhere....Now I'm rethinking this whole project....
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Deen
Vancouver, WA
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Joined: 12/07/2000
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If you're going to use the inverter much you will need to find a way to mount 6 volt deep cycle batteries, not 12 volt Marine or normal car batteries. The deep cycle batteries are completely different inside, thicker plates etc. Our's are 7½ years old and still doing just fine, a starting/marine battery might give you 2-3 years and not ever have the capacity the deep cycles will. None of the better brands of RV's use anything but 6 v deep cycle unless they go to an AGM battery.
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sonicsix
Jerry n' Cynthia
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Joined: 10/11/2008
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We don't have anything that requires a lot of power... 26" LCD TV, Satellite Receiver, chargers for cell phones, 2 laptops, etc, and not all on at the same time. We just went with a 300-watt PSW Samlex Brand inverter and it does a great job. We do not use the microwave or A/C when not plugged into shore power.
We decided to go this route instead of getting a high wattage MSW inverter and worrying about how things would react to the modified wave. IIRC, we paid about $150 for the 300-watt PSW inverter from DonRowe.com.
Why We RV | Our Lighthearted Blog | Our Big List of Mods | The RVer's Library
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McZippie
USA
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Joined: 10/21/2009
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KDOG2010 wrote:Thanks guys. I'm thinking of using 3 12v batts in parallel of course. I have some more thinking to do I guess.
First, think about what you want to power and for how long.
Then design a battery bank and size aninverters to meet your needs.
There is a lot of mis-information about MSW inverters. They can power a microwave just fine with a properly sized battery bank that is fully charged.
2009 Ford E350 Diesel - Turtle Top - House Car
Info Clicky
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi KDOG2010,
With 3 five year old 12 volt batteries that were not optimized for wiring I was able to run my microwave.
It will be important to have the inverter as close to the battery bank as possible and to use the largest wire size that the terminals on the inverter will accept.
KDOG2010 wrote:Thanks guys. I'm thinking of using 3 12v batts in parallel of course. I have some more thinking to do I guess.
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts solar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries 2500 watt inverter.
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rolnrolnroln
WA
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Joined: 02/15/2004
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A response from someone who uses a high-power inverter. First of all, contrary to some of the posts, the inverters are NOT harder to use than a generator and considerably more convenient. One hour's charging will bring the batts from 50% to 90+%. Not the magic "I charge my batteries from 0 to 100% in an hour!" That is a real world number based on two Link10 ammeters, not guesses. With charged batteries, I can go for 24 hrs. if not using the AC. Everything works just as if the TT was plugged in at a campground somewhere. Want toast? Drop the bread in the toaster. Want a warm breakfast? Fire up the Micro. TV. DVD? Anytime. No changing of plugs. One of the Link10s in the TT reads the inverter batts which are physically in the truck. So, at a glance I can tell whether I need to be moving out to the generators or sauntering whenever I choose. Buying a generator instead of the inverter as suggested, would chain you to starting the generator each time you want to do something that takes power. With a large inverter, you do what you want and worry about charging some other time.
I use a Victron inverter/charger which happens to do some pretty trick stuff that none of the others will do. However, I neither recommend or not recommend the Victron. They are fairly pricey and the whiz-bang capabilities are nothing to pay for if you do not need them or don't understand the ins and outs of the generator/inverter world. I can run my 15K AC from batteries for about an hour, which has caused more than one campground discussion. I only do that for show and usually choose feed the inverter from a Honda EU2000 while the AC is on. For what all this stuff costs, we could stay in 5-star resorts. But we choose not to do that. The resorts take a dim view of ATVs running up and down the hallways.
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wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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Joined: 07/04/2006
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I will add one thing to this thread.. (Well two if I've not already added the first)
First: True sine wave inverters v/s MSW inverters
MSW are way less expensive.. BUT.. Microwaves may cook slower and the timer may run faster (In fact all digital clocks may run faster) NOTE: MAY, not will but MAY.
Televisions may not work as well (hum in the audio, sparkles or other artifacts on the screen) Digital television receivers (Both converters, TV's and Sat-TV receivers)(may not work, Radios may have hum or AM radios may not even work (Just noise) NOTE: in all of this the key word is MAY.. Sometimes it works perferctly,, It's a gamble.. Electric blankets may or may not work.. One poster says his MSW inverter fired his blanket controls.
MSW inverter ppeak at about 90 percent efficency
True Sine Wave inverters cost more than MSW.. But everyting works exactly as it would if plugged into the hole in the wall at home.. Or as it does when the Rig is on quality shore power (NOTE: this may be BETTER than when on real shore power cause not all shore power is all that good)
True Sine Wave inverter peak at 89-90 percent efficency (Who'd a thunk that)
Source on peak efficency.. Xantrex.com
The second thing:
Xantrex has an outlet store.. I assume all the other inverter makers do as well
They sell Refurburshied inveters.. Which have been completly gone over by a technician and are certified with a full factory warranty and are known to work.
For about half what they sell for "New and in the box" (A new one SHOULD work.. but sometimes.... Well that's why they have a warranty)
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
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KDOG2010
New Jersey
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Joined: 10/09/2009
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Hmmm Ok I'll have to look into a refurbished inverter. That may be the way to go....
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