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RV-Dreams.com Home -> RV-Dreams Community Forum -> Boondocking, Solar Power, and Related Items -> Inverter to get us by for a while...
Post Info TOPIC: Inverter to get us by for a while...
Dave and Denise


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Inverter to get us by for a while...
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Well, I guess there is nothing like the real thing when it comes to living in the trailer.  Even though we researched for years and thought we had planned things pretty good, we are now realizing some of the things we didn't even know to ask about!

So, we get this new Arctic Fox and we get a 300 AMP ZAMP Solar System, with a couple decent 6 volt batteries and think we should be good to do some light boondocking.  At the trailer park I throw off the main breaker and we decide to give it a go off the grid.  OK, all is well, fridge running, switch hot water heater to propane and we have lights.  DW turns on TV...nothing...hmmm, I turn on ceiling fan...nothing...hmmm.  Let's check the microwave, uh-oh no time is displayed.  We talk about what the dealer told us when switching to the batteries and review our notes and don't see where we missed anything.  Then we wonder what is wrong. Don't know, but I'll Google and find out...Oh my, we don't have an inverter.  The converter doesn't do us any good when running off the batteries and no generator running?  Gosh, I didn't know that!  OK, so let's get a decent inverter and we will be set.  Uh-oh, not so fast, that isn't just a plug and play and lots of information/decisions go into getting the right one for our needs. Plus good ones are pretty pricey and we have already invested everything but the air we breathe in this unit now.

So, that brings me to my question here. Eventually we will get what we feel like is a good inverter for us, but we would like something in the cheap now.  In my old truck I had this little inverter unit that cost about $30 that I could put into the cigarette lighter and then plug all kind of things into it.  Is there something similar that we could do now in our trailer?  Say we wanted to watch TV or use our computer (plugged in), does anyone know of a fairly cheap option that would let us run one or two items? I am not talking about the A/C, microwave or coffee maker (though that would be nice).  From the best I can determine we have one 12 volt outlet in the trailer by the TV.

Never a dull moment learning all this new stuff!



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Terry and Jo


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Dave and Denise,

I really can't help a lot, but if you've got any appliances that have computerized circuits, and if you plan on hooking up a computer, I strongly suggest a pure sine wave inverter.  They are best for computerized circuits, and I doubt any cheap ones would be PSW inverters.  Cheap ones would likely be MSW (Modified Sine Wave).

Terry



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bjoyce


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This might be a good time to look at the main RV-Dreams website's electrical section - http://www.rv-dreams.com/rv-electrical.html.

Check http://www.donrowe.com for inverters.  They are helpful and have good prices.  I agree that you want a pure sinewave inverter and DonRowe.com has a 400 watt on sale for $119 right now, which is more than $30, but 12 volt plug inverters are normally limited to 150 watts or less, due to the plug not handling more power.  Your TV might need more than 150 watts.  You might have to buy a Kill-A-Watt meter, $20 (Amazon) to $30 (Home Depot), to find out.

There are inverters, inverter/chargers and inverters with built-in transfer switches.  Stand alone inverters are the cheapest, which is what you are talking about, but might not be what others are talking about.  A transfer switch allows the inverter to be included in the 120 volt circuit and will come on when the shore power goes out.  Inverter/chargers are the most expensive, but will also charge your batteries and also have the transfer switch built in.  

Two 6 volt batteries will not run a microwave off an inverter, so get ready to size a larger battery bank.



-- Edited by bjoyce on Wednesday 6th of July 2016 09:23:41 AM

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Dave and Denise


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Thanks for the suggestions. Reading the RV Dreams Electrical Section was one of my first reads. I find that almost everything you need to know is somewhere on the site.

We are not ready to expand our batteries or add a decent inverter this year. I assume the most we will boondock will be maybe 4-5 days at a time on occasion. We certainly can go without some of those creature comforts for that short of time and if we can't we do have a 5500 watt generator we can run. I did buy a little 160 watt plug in inverter and it ran the TV just fine and I am sure we can use it to charge our other electronic equipment.

That has me thinking, I wonder if our USB ports in the trailer are 12v or 110?

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NorCal Dan


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I've never heard of a USB port with 110VAC.

I have a USB dongle that shows me volts and current on USB port and all mine are 5VDC.



-- Edited by NorCal Dan on Saturday 9th of July 2016 04:50:00 PM

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MarkS


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They are most likely driven by 12v.

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LarryW21


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"DW turns on TV...nothing...hmmm, I turn on ceiling fan...nothing...hmmM"

Many RV TVs are 120, not 12, so an inverter is necessary but most RV fans are 12. They should work. Get that checked.

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