110 Power

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SSImpala

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Joined
Nov 4, 2006
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26
Location
Pennsylvania
Being new to the RV scene, my wife asked me a question I could not answer. (I hate that) She wanted to know if we have 110V power, while driving down the road, without the generator running?

I told her I would have to think about it. You guys have to help me out so that I look smart ;).

Also, can I run my furnace blower on battery power overnight when not hooked up to shore power without being dead in the morning.

Thanks in Advance
Ed
 
SSImpala said:
Being new to the RV scene, my wife asked me a question I could not answer. (I hate that) She wanted to know if we have 110V power, while driving down the road, without the generator running?
Click to expand...

Yes, if you have an inverter.

SSImpala said:
Also, can I run my furnace blower on battery power overnight when not hooked up to shore power without being dead in the morning.
Click to expand...

Depends on what size batteries you have and how long the furnace blower runs.
 
Most MHs have a small inverter to run the TV when 110VAC is not available.  This small inverter produces a a fairly low current 110VAC.  So yes, you likely have 110VAC driving down the road.  But, it is not wired to anything else in RV, except maybe a recep in the entertainment box. 

Your furnace blower runs on 12VDC and can be ran at night but as you suspected, it generally takes a big drain on the  coach battery.  If you need to use it, set the thermostat fairly low so that the furnace runs less. 
 
What is the wifey wanting to run on 110?

There are numerous options...if it is something small/low power, there are any number of small invertors that plug into the lighter. The can be found starting at around $25.
 
The wife wants to run a crockpot so that when we get to our stop for the evening there is something ready to eat.

I thought about BBQ but sometimes I get shot down.

Ed
 
Look at the wattage rating of the crockpot, then get an inverter that is larger than that requirement.

A cigarette lighter socket will overheat and/or blow it's fuse if you try to pull more than about 100 watts from it on a continuous basis, so I suspect you will be looking at an inverter that is directly wired to the battery.  This doesn't have to be expensive, you can get a 450 watt inverter at most stores for $50 or less, you'll just have to make it a semi-permanent installation instead of plugging it into the lighter socket.  Your alternator will keep the batteries charged while you're driving, so battery drain isn't a concern.

When you install the inverter, it's best to keep the 12 volt leads short, then extend the 120 volts to where you want to use it.

Or you could get a 12 volt crock pot, available at most truck stops or Amazon.com:

http://www.roadtrucker.com/12-volt-cooking/12-volt-portable-slow-cooker-crock-pot.htm

I assume the crock pot will be riding in the kitchen sink in case of spills?    ;)
 
We have used the crock pot idea and it works very well.  Just put the crock pot in the sink when on the road.

Arch
 
Are you sure you don't have an inverter already installed?

We use a crockpot often while on the road.  We set it in the sink.
 
We also put our crockpot in the sink and it works great.  One word of caution, however.  If you have a Corian sink, be sure to put a trivet of some kind under the crockpot so the heat doesn't crack the Corian.

As to the 110, we can use the microwave for long enough to warm a cup of tea or coffee (no more than a minute), but it doesn't have enough power on the inverter without turning the generator on to do much more than that.  Definitely can't use a power hog like the A/C unless the generator is on.

ArdraF
 
A friend has that year of Pace and, as I recall, it came with an inverter for the tv only. It has a pair of house batteries as standard equipment as well, so not a lot of amp-hours available for an inverter or for lengthy run of the furnace. Plenty fr the occasional cool night, though.

For occasional cooking on the road, it makes more sense to run the generator than to buy a large inverter and bigger battery bank to power it.  People tend to shy away from that solution, thinking it is expensive, but it really isn't. A gasoline 5500 watt generator like the Onan QG 5500 only uses about 0.3 gal/hour at 25% load, which is plenty to operate a crock pot (and the fridge as well, which will also switch to electric when the genset runs).  That's less than $1/hour of run time.
 
I thank everyone for the responses.

I will have to check on whether I have an inverter or not.

Running the generator doesn't bother me, so maybe we will be doing that.

Thanks Again
Ed
 
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