Inverter only serving one outlet for bedroom tv

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scottj

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I have a 2006 Fleetwood Bounder 35ft, when not connected to shore power or using the generator, I want to be able to use all the outlets. The house batteries are connected to an inverter and I am only able to use ONE outlet near the back bedroom TV. This TV has a sticker indicating that in order to use the outlet, the inverter must be switched ON. But no other outlets come on. How can I use the other outlets? This would include driving to charge phones etc. Need help understanding my RIG. Thanks
 
On mine the only outlets powered by the installed inverter are the ones for the TV sets, fore and aft. Mine is a pretty low power inverter, just enough for the 2 TV's. Practically speaking it would be difficult to reconfigure using this inverter through the outlets in the RV and not other AC devices that are part of those circuits. One option would be to install a whole-RV high power inverter with changeover that can handle the power and automatic switchover to shore power. What I did was mount a power strip in a cabinet adjacent to the inverter, and that's my "garage" for powering wall warts and chargers for various gadgets. I also added an outlet that's supplied by the inverter next to the front TV shore power outlet , so I can plug something into one or the other depending on what I want to do. I put an "outlet multiplier" on the rear TV outlet which allows plugging in small devices and chargers back there. So I can't run the microwave or hair dryer as a high power inverter would allow but for small sundry electronics just fanning out the front and rear outlets offers plenty of capability for what I need to do.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Great answer. I was just wondering if that was how the rig was wired and I was not missing something. Do you have a Bounder around 2006?
 
Rewire your RV. It aint rocket science, but you do need some knowledge. Now, how big is the inverter? Im assuming the bedroom outlet is a dedicated inverter outlet? To run the others your going to want some sort of switch so you dont backfeed stuff. Instead of all that look at wiring a dedicated outlet for the living room TV. That way its just a move one plug.
 
Rewire your RV. It aint rocket science, but you do need some knowledge. Now, how big is the inverter? Im assuming the bedroom outlet is a dedicated inverter outlet? To run the others your going to want some sort of switch so you dont backfeed stuff. Instead of all that look at wiring a dedicated outlet for the living room TV. That way its just a move one plug.
Got it. Thanks for your reply. Current Inverter is 300W (60hz). Guessing it does not allow for much.
 
The house batteries are connected to an inverter and I am only able to use ONE outlet near the back bedroom TV. This TV has a sticker indicating that in order to use the outlet, the inverter must be switched ON. But no other outlets come on. How can I use the other outlets?
The issue is they don't want you to try to use the inverter for stuff that draws many amps, such as almost anything used in the kitchen (MW oven, Coffee makers, etc).

What I think is stupid in modern RV design, is as they did with my 2022 RV listed below. When the genny (or shore power) is on, every AC outlet works. When the inverter is on with no shore power all the outlets in or near the kitchen stop working, but every outlet far from the kitchen (even has AC outlets up front)work with the inverter.

What I find to be stupid is I have a MW oven that draws 1,550 watts. My 160K$ RV's inverter is only 1,200 watts. If they spent $200.00 more on my RV, then it could even run the kitchen stuff.

So here is the fix in message number 59.

Now without running the genny, I have all the AC power I need in the kitchen.

-Don- Auburn, CA
 
Got it. Thanks for your reply. Current Inverter is 300W (60hz). Guessing it does not allow for much.
OK, thats like 3 amps. So basically one TV. To utalize a larger inverter you would also need more than 1 battery. It can be done, I did it on my fiver. I ran a dedicated cord from the inverter to a dedicated new outlet where I wanted it. Then it was a simple matter of moving the power strip cord from A to B.
 
To use all the outlets you need a large powerful inverter that includes a transfer switch. Inverters from 2000W and up usually include it as standard equipment. You rewire the fuse box area so that the shore power goes directly to the inverter and the output of the inverter runs to your fusebox. Then all the outlets from the fusebox will run on shore power when plugged in and all will work on inverter power when on battery. It's a good idea to wire your air conditioners separate from the inverter so that they don't accidentally try to come on while on inverter (bad news!)

You're looking at spending thousands to get it all done and as mentioned above you'll likely need more batteries and maybe new heavier cables between them and the inverter.

If all this is so that you don't have to get up and go to the bedroom to plug in your phone you'll have to decide if it's worth the $$.

An alternative is to find something that runs on 12V like a built in stereo and install a 12V outlet beside it. I bought a dual outlet on Amazon for 15 dollars that has a cigarrette lighter on one side and two USB ports on the other. I bought a 300W inverter that plugs into the cig lighter port for $35 and some charge cords for the phone and all of the charging/laptop/electronics goes there. Total cost was less about $50 and an hour for installation.


 
An alternative is to find something that runs on 12V like a built in stereo and install a 12V outlet beside it. I bought a dual outlet on Amazon for 15 dollars that has a cigarrette lighter on one side and two USB ports on the other. I bought a 300W inverter that plugs into the cig lighter port for $35 and some charge cords for the phone and all of the charging/laptop/electronics goes there. Total cost was less about $50 and an hour for installation.
I charge phones and my tablet off of 12v car chargers in the RV. I don't have to worry about loss through an inverter, I don't have to worry about being plugged in. My RV has a 12v power point and I bought a deal that plugs into it that has 2 power ports and a couple of USB ports. I can charge all my electronics except the laptop with 12v.
 
I can charge everything but one tablet. I have an Asus tablet that requires more power than a standard USB port will deliver. I've left it plugged into a regular port for days and it didn't charge but if I plug in an inverter and use the charger Asus gave me with the tablet it charges up in a few hours. It's kind of dumb to take 12VDC and make 120VAC only to take that 120VAC and make 5VDC but that's what's required. I think it's a current thing, most USB ports don't put out enough current for this particular tablet.

We plug our phones and e-Readers directly into the two USB ports in the dual port thing and only use the inverter for the tablet.
 
I can charge everything but one tablet. I have an Asus tablet that requires more power than a standard USB port will deliver. I've left it plugged into a regular port for days and it didn't charge but if I plug in an inverter and use the charger Asus gave me with the tablet it charges up in a few hours. It's kind of dumb to take 12VDC and make 120VAC only to take that 120VAC and make 5VDC but that's what's required. I think it's a current thing, most USB ports don't put out enough current for this particular tablet.

We plug our phones and e-Readers directly into the two USB ports in the dual port thing and only use the inverter for the tablet.
Makes sense. I have one of those wireless charging pads for my phone. My kid gave it to me and I didn't get the 12v adaptor it came with. I had to find one labeled "fast charger" to get it to work. I think it puts out 2 watts instead of 1(had it for a year and don't remember the exact output).
My Samsung tablet sometimes will only charge to like 89%, but the next time you plug it in, it'll go to 100%. No rhyme nor reason to it. I put it down to the tablet being 4+ years old. I know the older I get the longer it takes to recharge my batteries.
 
I have a 2006 Fleetwood Bounder 35ft, when not connected to shore power or using the generator, I want to be able to use all the outlets. The house batteries are connected to an inverter and I am only able to use ONE outlet near the back bedroom TV. This TV has a sticker indicating that in order to use the outlet, the inverter must be switched ON. But no other outlets come on. How can I use the other outlets? This would include driving to charge phones etc. Need help understanding my RIG. Thanks
This is fairly common... The factory inverter is just a few hundred watts and designed to run ONLY the TV or TV's and/or "house" radio.

Suggest a 2 or 3 thousand watt inverter install and battery bank upgrade Mine was 2KW and could run TV, Microwave and other outlets.. NOTE A couple I wanted still did not make it due to the way the Rig was factory wired (But I edited it later)
 
I charge phones and my tablet off of 12v car chargers in the RV. I don't have to worry about loss through an inverter, I don't have to worry about being plugged in. My RV has a 12v power point and I bought a deal that plugs into it that has 2 power ports and a couple of USB ports. I can charge all my electronics except the laptop with 12v.
Same here. I have a 32 inch TV that runs on either 12v or 120v .I never run it on 120 always 12v off grid or on .
 
There are a couple solutions...
The best is to use a second selector switch. You already have something to choose between generator power and shore power so when one is selected the other cannot feed power into the breaker box. Your second selector switch will need to bypass both the roof AC and the fridge (if you have a 3-way as you dont want to run fridge of the inverter, keep it on gas).
Then have it to power up all the remaining AC outlets. I can give more details, but you need knowledge to do this safely and if you have that knowledge you dont need instructions.
On my first rig I did this. The switch selected Gen or Shore power. My second switch was downstream from both the roof AC and the fridge power feed, so would turn off the power coming from the breaker box (which would be either shore or gen) and only feed inverter power to the outlets. I could plug in safely and the roof ac would run on shore power and the outlets still could run on inverter power with nothing back-feeding.
However you wire it it must prevent two power sources from being connected to each other.

The other method is very dangerous and is called a suicide cord. You come out of the inverter and into any outlet. This reverse powers the breaker box and powers the roof ac and the fridge so requires you not turn on the ac and that you force the fridge to not use ac power. I did this a few times but as fast as possible wired the system correctly as even I make mistakes and the risk is too great.
With your small inverter there is no fire risk, but people try this in their houses by feeding power into any outlet from their generator and the whole house tries to run through that one circuit (15 amp circuit is not much) and the wiring gets hot, catches fire, burns the house down...

If you ware wanting all the outlets to be powered off inverter, then I assume you either will be moving the laptop charger from room to room or you plan to have power for all your ac appliances. This will eat up battery. Your situation it is best to just plug the inverter in where you plan to use it. I would wire the camper to have DC outlets everywhere instead of making the inverter able to power outlets, then just plug the inverter into the nearest DC outlet and use the inverter ac outlet as needed for your minimal power needs such as laptop charger or tv.

Your phones all can be charged off DC power from a DC/cigarette lighter outlet.
IDK why RVs do not have DC outlets. I have seen some with only one DC outlet. Mine end up with 6 or more DC outlets as that is what the RV has (batteries) and that is what I use in an RV. The inverter has significant efficiency losses.
 
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The other problem with a suicide cord is that they sometimes kill the linesmen for the utility company. Power sent into a house or trailer also leaves it, if you are plugged into shore power and the power goes out and you inject power with a suicide plug that makes everything live all the way out to the power pole. The linesman comes along to repair the street and gets electrocuted and dies. This happens in houses when people hook their gennys up in blackouts and fail to flip the main breaker off. I believe it's highly illegal, like manslaughter-illegal. Be careful!
 
thus the name suicide cord... kinda self explains it all.
In RV situation it will not kill a linesman. In a campground if you run the inverter into the city electric system then you will be powering up every camper in the campgound too, and every house on that grid. Your inverter will let you know right away there is too much load and will turn itself off and no power will be sent to any lineman. Let's not over react here. Yes, suicide cord is dangerous, but it will not murder anyone in an RV situation. for that matter, in a house situation the same will happen. The inverter will shut down because the entire area is trying to power off that little inverter. In any situation it is very illegal to power your house while still connected to the grid. You need to pull the globe out or have a master switch to select generator power or city power, and it does not matter if you have a rigged-up cord or a proper set up, it has to be disconnected from the grid.
 
In the CG I’m in right now, my electricity comes from a distribution panel where there are multiple meters. One for each site. Yes, the power company goes into the panel occasionally to do whatever so yes, it could kill a lineman while he’s working so don’t do it. EVER. It’s like pointing a gun at someone even if you know it’s not loaded. You just don’t do it.
 
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And in some places you kill someone else there is a chance the state will do the same for you. but Suicide cord because if you touch the exposed plug after the live plug is connected..... Well...
 
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