Extension cord...12V/110 V inverter @ 1000W to a wall outlet

[redsnapper]

What wire size extension cord would be good to go for use with a 1000W inverter, to a standard wall outlet for 110 power?

I use 4 devices that needs 110 power.
A 32" LCD TV gets plugged in directly to the wall outlet, along with the power strip cord.

I use that power strip cord, with several outlets, for a Sirius boombox radio, a small table top fan and a laptop computer.

Only the TV and the fan are used at the same time.

This setup worked well with a previous inverter.....it took a dump and was replaced with a 1000W unit, that is just a bit larger in size and now the outgoing 110 cord comes up a bit short.

Extension cord wire size from the inverter, with a <8' run, for this setup??

 

[redsnapper]

What wire size extension cord would be good to go for use with a 1000W inverter, to a standard wall outlet for 110 power?

I use 4 devices that needs 110 power.
A 32" LCD TV gets plugged in directly to the wall outlet, along with the power strip cord.

I use that power strip cord, with several outlets, for a Sirius boombox radio, a small table top fan and a laptop computer.

Only the TV and the fan are used at the same time for the most part.
At times, the boom box, fan and laptop are running, but not the TV

This setup worked well with a previous inverter.....it took a dump and was replaced with a 1000W unit, that is just a bit larger in size and now the outgoing 110 cord comes up a bit short.

Extension cord wire size from the inverter, with a <8' run, for this setup??

 

[grashley]

With that heavy load, i would go to at least 4 Ga wire!  ;D

Seriously, you MAY draw 400 watts, for a short distance.  A 16 ga cord should be plenty.  I believe 16 ga is rated for 10 Amps, or 1200 watts, so it should handle anything the inverter can deliver.

 

[redsnapper]

With that heavy load, i would go to at least 4 Ga wire!  ;D

Seriously, you MAY draw 400 watts, for a short distance.  A 16 ga cord should be plenty.  I believe 16 ga is rated for 10 Amps, or 1200 watts, so it should handle anything the inverter can deliver.

Thank you......

On a slightly related item......

Can the battery cabling, that connects to the rear of the inverter with lug rings, be lengthened just a few inches by connecting lug ring to lug ring with a bolt, using a smaller cable size for the jumper, and then attached to the inverter terminals?

The cables from battery to inverter is some pretty heavy stuff.....almost like a vehicle's battery cables.....with lug rings. Not very flexible.
It's a struggle to get enough length to get on the terminals.
The dealer install just ran enough to get it done with no slack.
A a major chore to rerun a totally new cables, from the batteries to the inverter, when it is routed in the sealed underbelly.

Ok to use some smaller wire....1, 2, 4....for that short "jumper" ?

 

[HappyWanderer1]

No need to guess, there are numerous charts available online that show the required conductor size for a given distance and current draw.

As to using smaller wire to extend the 12 volt side of the inverter, no. If anything, you probably need larger wire to compensate for the longer length. The DC cable is more critical than the AC cable.

 

[AStravelers]

Thank you......

On a slightly related item......

Can the battery cabling, that connects to the rear of the inverter with lug rings, be lengthened just a few inches by connecting lug ring to lug ring with a bolt, using a smaller cable size for the jumper, and then attached to the inverter terminals?

The cables from battery to inverter is some pretty heavy stuff.....almost like a vehicle's battery cables.....with lug rings. Not very flexible.
It's a struggle to get enough length to get on the terminals.
The dealer install just ran enough to get it done with no slack.
A a major chore to rerun a totally new cables, from the batteries to the inverter, when it is routed in the sealed underbelly.

Ok to use some smaller wire....1, 2, 4....for that short "jumper" ?

The existing cables should have the wire size printed on the cable.  It would help to know what size the cable is to give accurate recommendation.

If the existing cable is #2 or even #4 wire size, you don't want to use a single #12 or #10 wire for a 6" to 12" jumper.  Most any big box hardware store has # 6 or even #4 cable in stock that they cut to length. You want to approximate the existing wire size.  For the short length of less than a foot going with wire that is 60% to 70% of the size of the existing wire should be fine.

 

[redsnapper]

The existing cables should have the wire size printed on the cable.  It would help to know what size the cable is to give accurate recommendation.

If the existing cable is #2 or even #4 wire size, you don't want to use a single #12 or #10 wire for a 6" to 12" jumper.  Most any big box hardware store has # 6 or even #4 cable in stock that they cut to length. You want to approximate the existing wire size.  For the short length of less than a foot going with wire that is 60% to 70% of the size of the existing wire should be fine.

Thank you....

I don't see the existing cable wire size. It is ran through the sealed up underbelly.
Where it enters under the bed box frame, and to the outside of that frame, is just 3" or 4"

Looking at cable wire diameter charts, this cable is in the 1/0 or 2/0 range. It's heavy stuff.

Even 6" of stepped down "jumper" size wire would do the trick.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

A 1000W inverter will draw about 90 amps at full load, so it does indeed need large cables.  That would mean a minimum of 4 gauge wire. 

It's hard to judge wire gauge by looking at the exterior - outside diameter or stiffness is not a reliable measure.  Unfortunately, battery cables aren't always marked, but few cables of that style are any less than 4 gauge.

It's poor practice to ever splice a smaller gauge wire inline between a power source and a larger one. The smaller wire becomes a fuse, i.e. it is the point that will burn out first if there is ever an overload (including a short circuit).  Experience has repeatedly shown that at some point in the future an overload will occur (accidentally or intentionally) and that smaller wire that was ok initially will become a dangerous failure point.  Best to avoid that situation and use the same size wire for a jumper.

 

[AStravelers]

About looking at the outside of the cable for the wire size.  I have usually had good success with looking at the printing on the cable to find the wire size. 

Absolute agreement you can't look at a cable and judge the wire size by looking at the diameter of the cable including the insulation.  Some insulation is thicker than others.

 

[redsnapper]

A 1000W inverter will draw about 90 amps at full load, so it does indeed need large cables.  That would mean a minimum of 4 gauge wire. 

It's hard to judge wire gauge by looking at the exterior - outside diameter or stiffness is not a reliable measure.  Unfortunately, battery cables aren't always marked, but few cables of that style are any less than 4 gauge.

It's poor practice to ever splice a smaller gauge wire inline between a power source and a larger one. The smaller wire becomes a fuse, i.e. it is the point that will burn out first if there is ever an overload (including a short circuit).  Experience has repeatedly shown that at some point in the future an overload will occur (accidentally or intentionally) and that smaller wire that was ok initially will become a dangerous failure point.  Best to avoid that situation and use the same size wire for a jumper.

Ok Gary got that and thank you.

That 1000W inverter is only called on to  power a modern LCD TV, a small table top fan, a laptop and a boombox Sirius radio....and not all at the same time. TV and fan only, or laptop, fan and boombox at the same time.

Inverter power source is two Trojan 6v golf cart batteries.

A previous 600W inverter suddenly died, after a year and a half of use with no problems, with the same load as above, and replaced with the 1000W unit.
I was fearful that the 600W unit was becoming "tired" of the output draw and replaced it with the 1000W unit to ease those fears, when it gave up and just died.

The system was installed by the RV dealer and they left me with no slack in the cable. Now that the slightly larger dimension inverter is in place, it comes up very tight in attaching the lug rings to the input side of the inverter.
I can get them attached ok and tight, but was concerned about the strain.

Now I think I will forgo the strain concern and leave well enough alone, rather than risking what you said.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Some battery terminal ends are longer than others - you might gain an inch or tow just by swapping cable ends.  Or add a battery disconnect switch at the terminal - that should increase the length by 3-4 inches.

Here's one that is 3" long and rated for 125A. There are others that are slightly larger (usually the higher amp models).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EH9WUC/

A knife switch is usually long - consider that as well.

 

[redsnapper]

Some battery terminal ends are longer than others - you might gain an inch or tow just by swapping cable ends.  Or add a battery disconnect switch at the terminal - that should increase the length by 3-4 inches.

Here's one that is 3" long and rated for 125A. There are others that are slightly larger (usually the higher amp models).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EH9WUC/

A knife switch is usually long - consider that as well.

Thank you again Gary......I will consider those as well.

My whole motivation was to avoid having to remove the under belly seal, to gain access to those cables.
And there is scant cable length, coming up from that underbelly, and into the floor area below the bed frame box, to splice in a disconnect device.

As far as a "jumper" wire goes, would this fit the bill ok?
I know you don't like that method...but will it do the job, based on the draw of the devices I mentioned? If indeed, a part of the equation?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X18RHW/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?pd_rd_i=B071X17TX1&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=4b9303cf-595a-449a-b0d6-15d3b199056d&pf_rd_r=HPC4T10P1P65XST6B3RA&pd_rd_wg=KOS2L&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=BZIAh&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=69d5ab73-ad36-11e8-b9b0-b9c4745829eb&th=1

 

[John From Detroit]

1,000 watts you can use most any extension cord from a common light dut 18Ga up. I'd use 14 mayself for that because ... Well I'd rather go a size bigger

If you plan to permanently install a wall outlet Suggest Romex instead of stranded cord. and hard wire if you can to inverter(or hard wire a plug and plug it in) also Suggest outlet be a DIFFERENT COLOR Red or Orange comes to mind as these colors suggest "Emergency" (How the E-panel outlets at work were coded by the way  Orange Worked off the big generator or off mains power whichever we had. and we did not always have mains).

My Net Inverter should be in my mail box.. About 1 hour from now.. I'll pick it up Tuesday.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

As far as a "jumper" wire goes, would this fit the bill ok?

Sure. At 2 AWG, it can easily handle the full load of a 1000W inverter..  Note that I never said I disapprove of using a jumper. I said the jumper should not be a smaller gauge than the wires it connects to on either end.

I don't understand how you have room to wire in a 2 AWG jumper but not a "disconnect device".  In both cases, you bolt the existing cable to a hole on the new piece, whether the new piece is a jumper of a device.  Is it the flexibility of the jumper vs a disconnect?  I'm not arguing for one method vs another - just trying to understand what is different.

 

[redsnapper]

1,000 watts you can use most any extension cord from a common light dut 18Ga up. I'd use 14 mayself for that because ... Well I'd rather go a size bigger

If you plan to permanently install a wall outlet Suggest Romex instead of stranded cord. and hard wire if you can to inverter(or hard wire a plug and plug it in) also Suggest outlet be a DIFFERENT COLOR Red or Orange comes to mind as these colors suggest "Emergency" (How the E-panel outlets at work were coded by the way  Orange Worked off the big generator or off mains power whichever we had. and we did not always have mains).

My Net Inverter should be in my mail box.. About 1 hour from now.. I'll pick it up Tuesday.

Good information Detroit....

My system does have a wall outlet installed by the dealer for inverter use. I "hope" they did it right. I don't have access to the back of that entertainment center, without tearing it down, to verify a first rate job or not
No problems at all whatsoever.

And that outlet is clearly labeled "inverter use only"

Dealer did a very good job with the entire install of the inverter system....clean, neat and cabling of sufficient size to make it all work.
They just came up short on leaving some slack in the cables from the batteries back.

 

[redsnapper]

Sure. At 2 AWG, it can easily handle the full load of a 1000W inverter..  Note that I never said I disapprove of using a jumper. I said the jumper should not be a smaller gauge than the wires it connects to on either end.

I don't understand how you have room to wire in a 2 AWG jumper but not a "disconnect device".  In both cases, you bolt the existing cable to a hole on the new piece, whether the new piece is a jumper of a device.  Is it the flexibility of the jumper vs a disconnect?  I'm not arguing for one method vs another - just trying to understand what is different.

I apologize Gary.....it is difficult to try and explain the length that is available.

And the flexibility of that heavy cable is also a big problem.....with such a short length available, now it's getting the cable bent over enough to get the lugs on the studs.

If I can attach a lug to lug connection, using a short "jumper", that would give me more flexibility to secure the lugs without the hard bend.