Future full timer - gonna have some questions

[Carterc1978]

Hello!

My names Craig. Planning on starting the full time life sometime in the next 6 months with just my dog and myself.  I just purchased a 2001 F350 diesel for the pulling 2008 Thor Wave 26 RLS for the living.  Now that ive got the rig bought I need to start figuring things out for power since I plan on mostly boondock camping in the western states. 

I plan on replacing the 19" tv with another around 26".  I have a 12v plug next to the tv.  Can I just buy a small inverter to plug in here to run the tv and dvd player off the batteries? I dont know that my power needs would require a large inverter to run all the outlets. I plan on a generator for running microwave and ac.  I upgraded to 2 6v batteries and am also wondering how long ill be able to run the tv and dvd before recharging?

Im sure my follow up questions will be about portable solar panels for keeping them maintained.

Thanks in advance for any help or knowledge passed along!

Craig

 

[SeilerBird]

Can I just buy a small inverter to plug in here to run the tv and dvd player off the batteries?

You sure can. It would last a long time on house batteries. Or better yet, get a 12 volt tv. Here is one with a built in DVD player to further save you room.

http://www.amazon.com/Axess-24-Inch-Digital-Player-TVD1801-24/dp/B00BCS1EM2/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1443231076&sr=8-8

 

[Carterc1978]

Thanks for the link! That looks like a great option. Im wondering though, would I regret not having bought a small inverter? Would it be smarter to have a small inverter for other simple things? (Toaster, razor charging, etc) If I did go with an inverter, any suggestions on a brand and number of watts for my use?

 

[Lou Schneider]

Welcome to The RV Forum, Carter!

You certainly can use a small inverter to run the TV, but instead of plugging it into the 12 volt outlet next to the TV, you'll be better off putting the inverter close to the batteries and then extending the 120 volts to the TV.

The reason is inverters have a low voltage shutoff, and if there's lots of wire length between it and the battery, you'll lose voltage along the wire and the inverter will shut sooner than it should, while the battery still has plenty of charge remaining in it.

Don't put it in the same compartment as the batteries, you don't want the corrosive battery fumes getting into the inverter and attacking the electronic parts.  Locating it in an adjacent compartment would be ideal.

Using a small inverter for an electric razor is fine, but I doubt you'll be able to run a toaster from one.  Heat requires lots of power and a toaster uses somewhere around 800-1000 watts, too much for a small inverter.

 

[SeilerBird]

You are welcome. Any one with an RV would benefit from a small inverter. 150 watts is about the biggest one you can plug into a 12 volt outlet in a vehicle. Anything larger would probably blow a fuse. That would be good for most all cell phones, cameras and laptops you wish to charge. Here is one that I like because it not only puts out 110 volts it has two USB ports for charging directly. Directly charging saves you from having to invert the 12 volts to 110 and then convert it back down to 5 volts for the USB connection. Saves electricity.

http://www.amazon.com/BESTEK%C2%AE-Inverter-Adapter-Notebook-Charging/dp/B003ODVN88/ref=sr_1_22?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1443240087&sr=1-22

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Lou S. gave good advice.

"Toaster" and "small inverter" are diametrically opposed. No electric heating device is a small 120v load, and a toaster is typically around 1000W, so you need a "large inverter" rather than a small one if that's your plan.

But to answer your question, yes an inverter is handy. You may want it to run a computer, charge a cell phone or flashlight, etc.  without starting the genset.  Most of these things have some way to use 12v directly too, but may require an adapter or special cord. An inverter is a convenient general purpose way to provide convenient 120vac power.

Battery capacity is the main constraint on inverting. A modest 120v power load of just 100 watts draws nearly 10 amps from a 12v battery via the inverter, so batteries discharge fairly quickly.  A pair of 6v GC2 batteries has a max of about 225 amp-hours, but you don't want to discharge more than about 50%, so figure about one day, or maybe two, of tv, lighting, etc. per charge. And it takes many hours to fully charge batteries, so more than likely you will be working off about an 80% charge level after the first day or two. You can typically charge to the 80% level in a few hours of genset time.

 

[Carterc1978]

Thanks for your help and suggestions everyone!  I think ive probably got more questions now but youve pointed me in the right direction to get them figured out. I think ill head down to the local Camping World with a little more knowledge and start searching.

 

[Carterc1978]

So after doing a little more research, im leaning more towards a 1000 or 2000 watt inverter. Amazon has a Xantrex pro watt 2000 for $360 that says it is a true sine wave. Thoughts on this brand and model??

Also, electricity is not my strong point, but im pretty handy and perform well with instructions. Do you think a novice would be able to handle this install with the manual and maybe some Youtube videos? Or is it more complex than that?