Power Convertor Inside?

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systemcat

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Joined
Feb 9, 2017
Posts
63
I've been itching to hear back from my mechanic friend for a while on this and after months *sigh*. I want to get a power convertor so I can use the wall sockets minus a generator plugged in since my RV is no where near a campground at the moment. Thing is the current AC unit needs testing and given cold weather settling in, well I have an odd idea how to test that and not freeze on top of freeze. Plug in a heater to warm the machine and turn on the AC unit for testing.

The RV has 12 volt fuses in it and plugged in requires 30 amp at campgrounds.

Thoughts please on what power convertor I should buy? Please don't point towards the most expensive thing on the market.

Second reason I want the darn thing. The other day a TV got mounted in the lounging area. I want to be able to turn it on to confirm it didn't receive any damage during installation.
 
I think you are asking for an "inverter" to take power from the 12V batteries and "invert" it to 120V AC power.  To power the TV you can get an inexpensive 400 watt inverter, wire it directly to the house batteries and run an extension cord to the TV.  A converter, converts 120V AC to 12V DC to run the 12V DC stuff and charge the batteries in the RV. 

While it is technically "possible" to install enough batteries and a very large and expensive ($1000-$2500) inverter to power the air conditioner, it requires a lot of expertise to do all the design work and modification to do that. 

You could buy a very noisy 4000 watt contractor generator for around $300, like this at Walmart:  http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm It should run the air conditioner. 
 
With the AC unit I expect he'll plug his generator into the Georgie, that's how we learned it would still blow air which was a question mark. ( Next up is discovering if it will accept modern coolant. If that fails, a whole new AC unit needs to be installed. )

I'm planning on buying a solar generator meant for it's size down the road.

So an inverter is what I need huh? This would not only be for the TV but example further. The people who abandoned the old machine left a modern microwave in it. ( Don't worry, it's not gross. ) Thank you for the information! .. Now to go on Google shop & eBay ...
 
RV a/c units don't have ports to recharge them. If it's determined that it's low on refrigerant, it will be time for a new one.
 
Systemcat said:
The people who abandoned the old machine left a modern microwave in it.
and:
Please don't point towards the most expensive thing on the market.

Hmmm. There seems to be a conflict in your needs with these two statements. To run a microwave off an inverter, it has to be a big one along with a larger battery bank. You are getting into the "expensive" side of the market here.... For testing the viability of that unit you can simply run an extension cord to household power and plug it in. But for further use, you will need a working generator or be plugged in to a good power source that can supply up to, perhaps, 1000 watts.
 
Stu hit the nail on the head. Even with 8 fully charged golf cart batteries and a 2800 watt inverter, you'll only be able to run the microwave for a few minutes, at best, before the batteries need recharging (and you don't do that in an hour). Those things draw a huge amount of juice.
 
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