Inverter question

[1930]

Im trying to make this as clear as possible. Im not giving enough information in my posts I guess so I am getting answers that dont pertain in some cases to my situation.

Sorry for wasting anyones time this is all new for me.

I have a 1998 Sunline camper, it came with a converter that allows shore power or Generator power to be converted into 12 volt power so my 12 volt amenities will work throughout the camper.

The camper also came with an inverter, I guess from what I have been told that it was placed there to power a home fridge that P.O had installed.

Ive gotten rid of that fridge and have installed a propane unit much like the original.

Ive been watching You-tube videos, evidently ( I did not know this ) if I am unplugged from shore power with no generator I will not have any of the 110 wall outlets work inside the camper!

I thought that there was a way that an inverter could be wired into my electrical system so that I would still have all my outlets work normally but according to this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWuKIWtGP-g I will need to have the inverter strategically placed and I will need to plug in individual components directly into that inverter and work with that?

Makes no sense to me, there should be a way of having an inverter back plugged into a wall outlet and having it work whatever wall outlet I would like to use.

Of course this would mean having to unplug that converter if I should ever want to use shore power or a generator.

Can someone offer some advice?

 

[Gizmo]

While you can plug individual appliances into an inverter, as they generally have up to two household plugs provided, this is not your only option.  You can wire your inverter into your coach so all outlets will be powered.  A simple solution, would be to wire a 30-amp plug from the inverter to your 30-amp connection (where you plug into city power).  There are more elegant ways of accomplishing the same thing, a visit to the Library section of this forum has some excellent articles on many topics, perhaps you might find one on inverter installs.

 

[Isaac-1]

One quick follow up to what Gizmo suggested, if you do plug your shore power cord into your inverter, you will also need to disconnect some of the loads, such as unplugging the battery charging converter, otherwise you will be trying to recharge your batteries with power being supplied by the batteries, in the end doing nothing but draining the batteries and generating waste heat from the DC-AC-DC conversion.  Also you will not want to try to run your new refrigerator on AC, as this would quickly drain your batteries.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

There are a couple of different ways to wire inverters.  Some RVs come with LARGE inverters, integrated into the electrical system via the transfer switch.  We're talking 3 and 4 thousand watt units.  these don't have built in outlets, only a place to hook a 120 volt wire up to the output.

Other people use smaller add-on inverters, and position them in strategic locations so they can provide power to a tv and dvd player, or a work area where they plug laptops in and recharge cell phones and such.

In your case, it sounds like the po bought an inverter just large enough to run the fridge, and rigged it to only provide power to that one outlet?  What happens when you are on shore power?  Would the fridge keep running off the inverter, or is there a switch of some kind, or two separate outlets that he would have moved the fridges plug between?

How big is the inverter?  And how big is your battery bank?  Keep in mind that the bigger the inverter, and the more power you want to take from it, the bigger your battery bank (in amp-hours) needs to be in order for it to work. 

 

[John From Detroit]

If I understand your question correctly the answer is yes.
Now inverters for this post come in 2x2 types  The first two is MSW/PSW and we can't do anyting about that (PSW is better but we will use what you got)

The second 2 is "Inline" These are normally Inverter/Converters or.... Stand Alone (inverter only)

The inline type have an internal transfer switch..  So if that is what you have just combine the transfer switch (ATS) and Inverter (INV) in the following diagram.  This is for a 2,000 watt. IF 1,000 watt use a 15 amp breaker  and 12ga wire (or use 10 in case you upgrade)


Main breaker box---30 amp branch---10ga wire----ATS
. . . . . Inverter  - - - - 10 ga wire - - - - ATS

ATS -  - - 2nd Breaker panel (Sub panel)- - - Devices you want the inverter to power (TV. GFCI. MIcrowave for a 2KW job)

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

BTW, Bill & Jan Moeller's RV ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS: A BASIC GUIDE TO TROUBLESHOOTING, REPAIRING, AND IMPROVEMENT is an excellent book for people who want to really understand this stuff, though the sections on solar power is badly out of date.

https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Systems-Troubleshooting-Repairing-Improvement-ebook/dp/B00B9YF9JI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542722201&sr=1-1&keywords=rv+electrical+systems+book

 

[cavie]

Im trying to make this as clear as possible. Im not giving enough information in my posts I guess so I am getting answers that dont pertain in some cases to my situation.

Sorry for wasting anyones time this is all new for me.

I have a 1998 Sunline camper, it came with a converter that allows shore power or Generator power to be converted into 12 volt power so my 12 volt amenities will work throughout the camper.

The camper also came with an inverter, I guess from what I have been told that it was placed there to power a home fridge that P.O had installed.

Ive gotten rid of that fridge and have installed a propane unit much like the original.

Ive been watching You-tube videos, evidently ( I did not know this ) if I am unplugged from shore power with no generator I will not have any of the 110 wall outlets work inside the camper!

I thought that there was a way that an inverter could be wired into my electrical system so that I would still have all my outlets work normally but according to this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWuKIWtGP-g I will need to have the inverter strategically placed and I will need to plug in individual components directly into that inverter and work with that?

Makes no sense to me, there should be a way of having an inverter back plugged into a wall outlet and having it work whatever wall outlet I would like to use.

Of course this would mean having to unplug that converter if I should ever want to use shore power or a generator.

Can someone offer some advice?

You do not plug an inverter into anything. It is hard wired to the 12 volt system. This inverter you have is a small one and will Not provide enought power for your whole trailer. You plug INTO the invert to use 120 volts provided by your 12 volt batteries.


You leave your converter on at all times. It provides 12 power to your 12 volt systems and keeps the battery charged.

 

[1930]

Thanks for the lesson, I have put a 12 volt plug over by the TV/DVD combo and thats that. At this point I have no use for an inverter apparently and thats fine for me.