Running TV off Battery power - 2005 Thor Fourwinds 31P

[LANRover]

I am a new owner of a 2005 Thor Fourwinds 31P that is equipped with an older Parallax Model 7345 Power Supply.  The RV TV has been replaced with a modern household TV (vizio) that of course is running off the standard 110 outlet in the RV that requires shore or generator power to power the outlet. 

My goal is to be able to power the TV and DVD player for family entertainment while driving down the road and I am posting here to gather ideas on ways to do this.  Interesting enough, I have the RV interior disassembled right now after chasing down a GFI circuit trip problem that happens to be on the same 110 circuit branch  that powers the TV.  Turns out that the outside outlet on the side of the 4winds was collecting water inside the box and tripping the GFI and that will be solved with improving the waterproofing on the outside outlet.

So while I have the interior apart I would like to install a new outlet that runs off battery power.  Should I consider just coming off the DC battery power at the 7345 power supply and wire in a with a commercially available Inverter or can the Parallax Model 7345 Power Supply provide the power needed?  I dont think the 7345 can do this.  I am handy and capable with wiring 110 or DC but don't know a lot about electricity especially in this realm of power conversion. 

I would be fine with just hard wiring an outlet off an Inverter mounted near the 7345 Power Supply.  I would also be fine with having to manually plug the TV into two different physical outlets, one for shore/generator power and one for inverted power.

if the inverter route is viable any suggestions on sourcing and brand?  Again I have the interior disassembled right now so its prime time to route any wiring needed to accomplish this. 

Thanks in advance!

 

[blw2]

Some modern TV's power from a standard wall AC outlet...but through a transformer brick.  Any chance your Vizio is already a 12 volt unit?

 

[LANRover]

I did look for that but no the TV that was included with the RV is 110 only.  Would you recommend using 12v opposed the inverted approach?  We would also like to have a DVD/BluRay player, perhaps a combo 12v TV unit

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

An inverter is the simple approach and handles whatever 120v gadgets you decide to use.  I'd suggest wiring the inverter direct to the battery bank with suitably heavy cables (and a big fuse), as opposed to wiring to the 7345 itself.

Are you aware that using an inverter takes a LOT of battery amps?  Presumably the engine alternator can replenish those amps when running, but you know there are going to be lunch & fuel stops, etc.

 

[John From Detroit]

For your use. LIkely about a 300-400 watt TRUE SINE (About the smallest you can get in True Sine) with a double or triple pole double throw 20 amp switch (I like 20 amp switches for most electric work due to the strength of the terminals more than anything)

Google 3pst or even 4pst switches. not expensive  There's one in a thread about towing a car already linked. (I put it there)

12 volt-inverter (put in a switch or use the one on the inverter) to toggle
120 volt to toggle
Toggle to outlet
Make sure switch is a "Break before make" type (most toggles are)

 

[grashley]

Take a look at this inverter.

AIMS 1200 Watt PWRIX120012S

It includes a built in Auto Transfer Switch (ATS).  Basically, this is wired to the main 120V panel, replacing the circuit the TV is on, and wired to the battery, as Gary said.  The output connects to the TV circuit removed from the panel.  A breaker between the inverter and TV circuit is highly recommended.

When AC is present (shore power), the ATS passes that power to the TV.  When no AC is present, it automatically switches to battery power, inverting it to 120VAC.

 

[arcticfox2005]

We don't run our TV while on the road, but with our setup, we could. I mounted a 650w inverter on the side of the pedestal that the bed sits on. I did this because the house batteries are directly below that location and therefore the connecting cables are very short. Up front, the TV is above a kitchen cabinet and plugs into an outlet right there. We could simply unplug the TV from the wall and plug it into an extension cord running to the inverter. Modern LED TV's draw very little current, so this would be a workable setup for you.

 

[AStravelers]

Is your Vizio TV a LED LCD, just a plain LCD TV or a plasma?  If it is a 32"-36" LED LCD TV it only pulls 2-3 amps of DC power through an inverter.  You can buy a small inexpensive 100watt inverter and just tap into a 12V wire to power the inverter.  Also it does NOT have to a pure sine wave (PSW) it can be a modified sine wave. Search Amazon.com for "100 watt inverter" and you will find several for sale.

A small DVD player takes less than 1 amp of DC through the inverter.

If you have a Plasma TV that may pull a lot more power.

A big 400watt to 1200watt inverter is way over kill for just running a TV and DVD player.

To give you better advice as to if you have enough battery to run the TV and lights in the evening, we need to know the size and type battery(s) you have.  Hopefully you have at least 2 group 31 batteries or better year a pair of 6V golf cart batteries wired in series to make a large 12V battery pack. 

Another concern is did someone install LED light bulbs or does the rig still have florescent or incandescent light bulbs.  2 or 3 of either of those takes as much or more battery power than the TV and DVD.